Building My Trading Rig (A Documentary)

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I am long overdue for a new computer.

I am going all out for an overkill.

In the next couple of weeks, I will document my journey down the extreme gamers' path.
Yes I am building a trading computer, but if you didn't know it, you would think I was building a gaming machine.

There will be trials and tribulations.
All lot of questions will be asked.
Different opinions will be offered.
Mistakes will be made.
Probably stupid mistakes too.
But hell, what the heck, I need a challenge.
 
Professional traders require maximum security/stability and typically have a box dedicated to trading. Gaming and other types of personal computing are best isolated to a separate box. One avoided crash pays for a second box.

Having said that… For the retail trader and gamer, here is a silent, ultra high end PC config.

Each component is best-of-breed.

Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 3GHz OEM: EU80569XJ080NL
Motherboard: Asus P5E3 Deluxe X38 chipset
Video card: MSI nVidia GeForce 8600GTS 2xDVI fanless PCIe x16 NX8600GTS-T2D512EZ-HD
Memory: Corsair 2x2GB matched pair DDR3 TWIN3X4096-1600C7DHX
Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar 250GB SATA 3Gb/s WD2500AAKS
Optical drive: Samsung DVD±RW DL 20x SATA black SH-S203N
Power supply: Corsair HX520W
Case: Antec Solo quiet mini tower
Case fan: 1 x Nexus 120mm Real Silent D12SL-12
Monitor: Dell UltraSharp 3007WFP-HC 30-inch 2560x1600 LCD
Keyboard: Logitech Media 967560-0403
Mouse: Logitech G-9 Laser 910-000173
Speakers: Logitech Z-5500 970115-0403
Processor heatsink: Scythe Ninja Plus Rev B SCNJ-1100P
Heatsink bolt kit: Thermalright LGA775 Bolt-Thru-Kit
Thermal material remover: ArctiClean Surface Purifier 2-PC-SET ACN-60ML
Thermal interface material: Shin-Etsu 1cc syringe X-23-7762
UPS: APC Back-UPS RS 1500VA BR1500LCD
Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition ZAT-00008-cd
Productivity suite: Microsoft Office 2007 79G-00007
Firewall: Comodo Firewall Pro
Active antivirus / antispyware: ESET NOD32
Passive antispyware: SpywareBlaster
OS optimizer: TuneUp Utilities
Drive optimizer: PerfectDisk

This configuration is designed so that only one case fan is needed to cool the entire system. No CPU fan, video fan, or other case fans are needed and thus it is silent.

The specified video card supports 2 x 30” monitors.

Alternative components to consider:

There are more powerful video cards for gaming purposes (of no benefit to trading), but none are fanless/silent.

Two RAID0 striped WD Raptor hard drives would be a little faster, but the Raptors are noisy.

An excellent UPS upgrade is an APC Smart-UPS RT 2000VA SURTA2000XL.

64-bit Vista probably will be ready for prime time by Jan 2009 with service packs, mature drivers, etc. At the moment Vista is not compatible with certain professional trading software, such as TT X_Trader.

If internet security is of particular concern, a hardware firewall would be very effective: Juniper Networks NetScreen-5GT Extended Ethernet NS-5GT-201.
 
What is your definition of "COOL" ? :)

I fail to see a Quad chip (which run hot and can have HOT spots) will NOT require a active fan. A single 120mm fan in the entire case, i think not, a cheap power supply as you memtioned surely will have a fan in it, maybe two. But, to each their own. it is your money. .. :D
 
Just my personal opinion, but you could probably spend far less on your processor with reasonable performance.

For example, you could go with the new Core 2 Duo E8400 for about $250 CND (dual core, 3.0GHz) or Core 2 Quad Q6600 (quad, 2.4GHz). I would personally choose the E8400 out of the two, question is - do you really, really need quad cores?

I would also suggest a different case, perhaps the Antec P182. It's not going to be fanless, but at least you could likely run the fans at relatively low speeds. I'm probably going to choose this case myself when I build my next computer.
 
I have heard some good things about Intel's Skulltrail motherboards. Apparently they're the latest and greatest, especially for gamers.

A gamer's machine is usually the best platform since it's I/O optimized for greatest performances. So if you want the best machine, you can't go wrong with a gamer's machine.
 
Definitely a very nice configuration. I would definitely opt for a RAID 0 setup just for added peace of mind. I've looked into an external HD RAID-0 setup with an eSata connector. Performance is just as fast but you can store your data somewhere else.

Quote from EllisWyatt:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 3GHz OEM: EU80569XJ080NL
Motherboard: Asus P5E3 Deluxe X38 chipset
Video card: MSI nVidia GeForce 8600GTS 2xDVI fanless PCIe x16 NX8600GTS-T2D512EZ-HD
Memory: Corsair 2x2GB matched pair DDR3 TWIN3X4096-1600C7DHX
Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar 250GB SATA 3Gb/s WD2500AAKS
Optical drive: Samsung DVD±RW DL 20x SATA black SH-S203N
Power supply: Corsair HX520W
Case: Antec Solo quiet mini tower
Case fan: 1 x Nexus 120mm Real Silent D12SL-12
Monitor: Dell UltraSharp 3007WFP-HC 30-inch 2560x1600 LCD
Keyboard: Logitech Media 967560-0403
Mouse: Logitech G-9 Laser 910-000173
Speakers: Logitech Z-5500 970115-0403
Processor heatsink: Scythe Ninja Plus Rev B SCNJ-1100P
Heatsink bolt kit: Thermalright LGA775 Bolt-Thru-Kit
Thermal material remover: ArctiClean Surface Purifier 2-PC-SET ACN-60ML
Thermal interface material: Shin-Etsu 1cc syringe X-23-7762
UPS: APC Back-UPS RS 1500VA BR1500LCD
Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition ZAT-00008-cd
Productivity suite: Microsoft Office 2007 79G-00007
Firewall: Comodo Firewall Pro
Active antivirus / antispyware: ESET NOD32
Passive antispyware: SpywareBlaster
OS optimizer: TuneUp Utilities
Drive optimizer: PerfectDisk

This configuration is designed so that only one case fan is needed to cool the entire system. No CPU fan, video fan, or other case fans are needed and thus it is silent.

The specified video card supports 2 x 30” monitors.

Alternative components to consider:

There are more powerful video cards for gaming purposes (of no benefit to trading), but none are fanless/silent.

Two RAID0 striped WD Raptor hard drives would be a little faster, but the Raptors are noisy.

An excellent UPS upgrade is an APC Smart-UPS RT 2000VA SURTA2000XL.
More...
 
Recently had this built. It is running perfect.
I am testing it out as is till I decide how I will change things. This setup ran $1400. complete with everything listed.
Had it built by a local small shop where I do a lot of business.

This was the best price I could find locally on this but maybe there are sites for gaming that can beat this.
http://www.velocitymicro.com/category.php?cid=12
http://www.widowpc.com/index.php
http://www.adkgaming.com/
http://www.stealthmachines.com/

Running multicharts, OEC data feed, even recording the day and cpu is low.

* 1 Asus P5N -E SLI motherbord

* 1- COOLMAST REAL POWER PRO 650W PS

* 1- INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q6600

* 1- WD 150 GB RAPTORX SATA 10K

* 1- ANTEC 900 ATX CASE

* 1- MS OEM WINXP PRO SP2C SB OEM CD

* 1- SAMSOEM SAM 20X DVD+RW

* 2 - CORSAIR 2X1GB XMS2 DDR2-800 CAS4

* 2 - EVGA E-GF 8600GT 256MB PCIE

This is still in progress, but I find it great as is.
I am running Fios into this for connection and the security suite that comes with Verizon.
So overkill yes, but completely ended all cpu problems in the past I had.
I wish you success on your challenge.
You will be very happy that you made the change.
 
Quote from lwlee:

Definitely a very nice configuration. I would definitely opt for a RAID 0 setup just for added peace of mind. I've looked into an external HD RAID-0 setup with an eSata connector. Performance is just as fast but you can store your data somewhere else.
More...
RAID 0 for peace of mind?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID
RAID 0 -- Striped set without parity. Provides improved performance and additional storage but no fault tolerance. Any disk failure destroys the array, which becomes more likely with more disks in the array. A single disk failure destroys the entire array because when data is written to a RAID 0 drive, the data is broken into fragments.
More...

Maybe you meant RAID 1?
 
Quote from EllisWyatt:

...Having said that… For the retail trader and gamer, here is a silent, ultra high end PC config.
Each component is best-of-breed.
Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 3GHz OEM: EU80569XJ080NL
More...
Thanks for the suggested configuration.

After checking out the price of the "extreme" CPU... maybe I should lower my definition of "Extreme". LOL
 
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