In that case you are indeed out of luck and forced to buy more new hardware. Or use the laptop + external monitor as you described.
That's a lot of screenspace, @maxinger Is that due to trading multiple markets or do you simply use a lot of charts for your chosen market? I also day trade. One market only (ES). Current set up: Main screen - Live charts/order entry Second screen - Historical analysis (charts) Laptop - Excel stuff What I'd like to have: 1. Main screen - Live charts/order entry 2. Second screen - Additional live charts (faster charts, volume charts, etc.) 3. Third screen - Historical charts 4. Excel stuff So, in actuality, I'd actually like 2 additional 24" screens. I don't think my current laptop would support that or I would at least be pushing it in terms of performance. Actually, the "Excel stuff" is linked to my trading platform, so I might in fact be needing one computer for all this. Hmm...
I started with one futures, one screen one computer. Now I trade about 10 to 20 futures at any one time. for each futures, I have about 2 to 3 charts plus a ladder displayed. I also display trading platforms open order, working order, closed order windows. I plan to add more futures from another Exchange and I will be running out of space soon.
While I like the idea of separate screens - I'm now seriously considering getting an ultrawide 40+ " screen which I'll be running off my laptop. This means I won't have to worry about pushing it in terms of performance as most people seem to think that while 3 monitors on a laptop can work, it's generally not a good idea. Also, I won't have to buy a docking and a new screen mount. I can also clean up clutter and have less cables. In terms of cost, it will probably be a bit more expensive, but it might just be worth it. I do like having separate screens better as of now as things does seem more separate. But it might just be a matter of habit I suppose. Here's a guy using the 49" Dell:
I've been doing a bit more research on this and am pretty much sold on getting a single 49" to use for my trading operations. The Dell is simply too expensive, IMO, but it seems like Samsung have a happy medium: Should I need more screen space in the future (not likely, but you'll never know), I can stack 2 screens on top of each other. This means I won't have to worry about a docking station, excess cables or needing a workstation to fuel a multi-monitor set-up. Did I say that already? I suppose I did.
8 GB RAM is plenty for Rithmic and Multicharts, i run the same setup with 8GB RAM and i only use about 40%. To me it seems like your processor is the issue (my previous desktop had a processor with similar benchmarks and it caused my lag problems). Open up your task manager while running all the programs (on a busy trading day) you are usually running when trading and see which one or which part is running close to 100%. Also note that Rithmic isn't made for running on multicores so it should stay below 25% on your 4 core processor, otherwise you will see issues.
Is that the 43" Dell? It looks a bit tall to me. I think I'd prefer to have a lower and wider screen. Considering the 49" ultrawide now: The 43" is on sale at my local hardware store, so I can get it for approximately 50 % of the cost of the 49", but I feel the 49" is better for my purposes. 2 x 27" could probably also work and is far cheaper, but still...