Anyone trades with quad core?

"Does anyone here have similar data/charting/order entry setup that performs perfectly in all market conditions? If so what hardware do you use?"

Hey Flip,
In my office I have esignal running on a p4 2.4ghz 2 with gigs of ram. Thats it no other aps. On my other system p4 3ghz with 2 gigs ram I have my trading platform running. I will occasionally open ie on this computer. Average download for me is 23000kbps and 4000 kbps upload.

I have basically no problems and everything runs great. The only problem I think you might have flip is if you are runnung multiple tws on the same computer. When I have esignal and my tws running on the same computer in my house I run into these problems sometimes.
 
Thanks gnome and lucky for the replys. I have an itch to buy a computer lately so I guess I'll buy a core 2 duo from dell refurbished. I have seen many of these in the vostro desktop line for under $400 with xp pro and 2 gigs of ram over the last couple weeks.
 
Quote from gnome:

OK, I'm going to say this just ONE MORE TIME, and that's it.

If you were running a single app which is single threaded, then additional cores might not help (except even using only one core is faster than a P4)

However, independent tests have concluded a SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN OVERALL SYSTEM PERFORMANCE FOR MULTI-TASKING. (I don't know for sure because I don't yet have a dual/quad core myself.)

TRADING IS USUALLY MULTI-TASKING. Therefore you should expect better overall performance in a trading environment with either a dual or quad core.

Don't just take my word for it and go buy one. Look for the reviews on THG or X-Bit, or BeHardware, or wherever....

Multi-tasking is NOT the same as multi-threading applications.
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Thanks, so if I have multiple apps do they each connect to a different core and build up queues in a round robin fashion? If so this may help with performance. Even so when my computer slows my CPU is hardly ever throttling above 50% so maybe my issue is from another weak link.

Thanks all for the replies.
 
Quote from wilburbear:

Interesting. I got all excited about my top-of-the-line dual core machine when it came about 18 moths ago. But I was quickly frozen out during busy parts of the trading day. I discovered that my front end trading software only loads up one chip at a time. Your trading software most likely does this as well. I could have a 20-core machine, and it wouldn't make a difference. My dual core machine was probably even slower than my old machine, because I gave up 2.8 CPU for a 2.4 dual core.
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What OS do you use? May make a difference. How much RAM do you have and are you paging to disk?
 
Quote from flipflopper:

Thanks, so if I have multiple apps do they each connect to a different core and build up queues in a round robin fashion? If so this may help with performance. Even so when my computer slows my CPU is hardly ever throttling above 50% so maybe my issue is from another weak link.

Thanks all for the replies.
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When you're multi-tasking, Windows has to allocate CPU time to each app in an effort to "get everything done and keep everything current".

With more than one core, Windows has more to work with... overall performance SHOULD be better. Testers claim that to in fact be the case.
 
Check out Toms Hardware guide. On the right, it lists "Latest Charts". Click on "CPU" and compare a proposed new one vs your current one with a variety of tasks. I think the "MS Powerpoint" task is a good measure of overall comparative performance.

Depending upon the test, the Core2Duo's are MUCH faster than any of the P4s... except the "EE Extremes". The C2Ds are still somewhat faster than those and much lower cost.
 
Quote from flipflopper:

I use esignal for data, Ensign for charting, have 3 TWS's open, and Ninja trader for order entry. It runs smoothly the majority of the time but will slow down during fast market conditions. I was told that using dual/quad core and 4+ gig RAM was useless for XP. The point being that the apps have to be designed to take advantage of multi-processor systems.

I am not looking to make the Vista switch for a at least another year and I am running 2.4 P4 with 2gig. I will do what it takes to improve my performance during fast market conditions but don't wish to buy a system that wil not accomplish this.

Does anyone here have similar data/charting/order entry setup that performs perfectly in all market conditions? If so what hardware do you use?
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Flipflopper

Can I know what's your processor speed is (ie Intel processor E???) and your hard disk space and RPM? Sorry not technical savvy.

Don't plan to buy too expensive (eg: E6850) but don't want to get too lousy one. Initially was thinking of Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 processor (ie Dell vostro 200 desktop) but now after reading this thread, it may not be sufficient. Am just going to use it for trading and reading the financial news. Thanks
 
about to buy a dell xps 420.

default processor is the Q6600 quad core (8mb, 2,4ghz, 1066fsb)

I could pay 50 extra for this:

the core 2 duo e6850 (4mb, 3.0ghz, 1333fsb)

which one will be the fastest for day trading?
 
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