Can anyone recommend a company to build a workstation?

Scataphagos said:
Here's one on Dell Outlet

https://outlet.us.dell.com/ArbOnlineSales/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=us&cs=28&l=en&s=dfb&sign=PXhcOSHtr1T4IOw/PR7UdfC0cF0CdNpI2174Y7ew92e78rv0nL3hsYlPXRcMvbLBq26JnNBvHE0CGqMOAkp5jFhLoBnJIgIvX+qHNt0DhVtu0zE6U5DjN4RELR7IKEwDUsOrd8/GjuxqTnDqGcB24YSUzwHKlLUBc+LGTSlaJ4oGGVMr627ZLgap7pEAfO9x

$841.00. Free ship, full 3-yr warranty.

This is a good price, already equipped with the video card to run 4x, 4K monitors and enough RAM (8GB).
Freestyle888 said:
For a traveling workstation, I would recommend a DELL Xeon class laptop, maybe something like a 6-core. Most laptops and desktops will support 3-displays (including the laptop display), and for the extras, you can use an external displaylink adapter that you can add individually or as a hub to go to as many displays as you want. The only downside with a displaylink setup is that it does add extra burden on your CPU, probably in the region of 5-10%. I find a 6-core setup with 32gb ram is sufficient unless you are doing large-data algorithms, running virtual machines and multiple instances of excel or matlab, in which case you go dual-socket++ machines.

For non-travel workstations I prefer a custom SUPERMICRO motherboard/EVGA power supply route (absolutely bulletproof), however the canned route I have had good experiences with Lenovo workstations (former IBM PC unit) as their chassis has been bullet proof and extremely quiet. The problems with DELL/Lenovo units i have found in the past is their power supply/motherboards are vendor specific, and so if either the power supply or motherboard goes, you need to replace both if you want to go aftermarket. Cant just replace one part with aftermarket. Within warranty, everything is ok.

Same deal with workstations, they generally support at least 3 videos as standard, just add an external USB displaylink adapters and you're good to go. There is no need to crack open the case and add more power hungry video cards 24/7 if you are using only 2D trading graphs, except if you require openGL acceleration.

Most important of all these, make sure you use ECC memory in all your setups (error code correction). Most "workstation" class machines will generally have ECC, but Ive been seeing some cheaper ones, even DELL, start to offer non-ECC so to reduce the starting price. This means all your CPUs generally MUST be either Xeons or AMD ryzen/zen/EPYC to support ECC. What ECC ensures is that no errors creep into your machines while running 24/7, especially if you dont reboot your machine alot, and avoid your machine flipping wrong order numbers ...

I would also highly recommend a double conversion UPS so that your PC always runs on clean filtered power separate from your home.
More...

.
More...

I agree with you that Dell workstations are reliable. However I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a workstation configured with 8gb ram. I mean a few tabs of chrome and your pretty much smoked in the contiguous memory department. 8gb workstations are definitely in the minority
 
Freestyle888 said:
I agree with you that Dell workstations are reliable. However I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a workstation configured with 8gb ram. I mean a few tabs of chrome and your pretty much smoked in the contiguous memory department. 8gb workstations are definitely in the minority
More...

Well, they come in 16 & 32G also.

I don't use Chrome, and I rarely use even 3GB including the OS.
 
Freestyle888 said:
I agree with you that Dell workstations are reliable. However I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a workstation configured with 8gb ram. I mean a few tabs of chrome and your pretty much smoked in the contiguous memory department. 8gb workstations are definitely in the minority
More...

My view...

1. The majority of workstations are initially offered with 8GB of RAM, not 16. So... try 8GB and if it's not enough, add more.

2. The ones offering units with "16GB" as base, are likely taking advantage of the preconceived notion of what a workstation is supposed to do.. and "16GB is necessary for that ", when it's likely not. (But "mo RAM is mo money".)

3. Since W7, the OS has "tried to maximize the use of RAM" with cache... and is ready to eject "low priority RAM occupiers" as necessary to make room for other required functions. IOW... "having a high percentage of your RAM occupied is intentional and a good thing". No need to keep a significant percentage of your RAM "free" for whatever. The OS has got it.
 
Last edited:
I got a computer from tradingcomputers 8 years ago, without a spec of trouble. I had a laptop built so when at home I could have 4 external monitors. Thing runs like a champ. The processor I paid more to upgrade it is just as fast as some of the new Dells and the likes of Dell computers offer today. I am getting ready to get another one that supports 6 monitors, 3 thru a dockingstation and 3 ext ports. I had to say something just because I read a few really bad comments about them. I have never had a problem. Matter of fact I still get the same guy that built it to help when I need something (Nathan). Its been an awesome computer for me.I hope the 2nd one last as long.
 
tpg said:
I got a computer from tradingcomputers 8 years ago, without a spec of trouble. I had a laptop built so when at home I could have 4 external monitors. Thing runs like a champ. The processor I paid more to upgrade it is just as fast as some of the new Dells and the likes of Dell computers offer today. I am getting ready to get another one that supports 6 monitors, 3 thru a dockingstation and 3 ext ports. I had to say something just because I read a few really bad comments about them. I have never had a problem. Matter of fact I still get the same guy that built it to help when I need something (Nathan). Its been an awesome computer for me.I hope the 2nd one last as long.
More...

Other than "overclocking the crap" out of the machine to justify charging a higher price, probably no other legit criticism of TradingComputers. (After all, everybody mostly uses the same components.)

Value conscienous as I am (I don't buy "a" computer, I usually buy 5-6 at a time), I'd probably never buy from TradingComputers just because of price. My choice for 10+ years has been Dell Precision from their outlet store.
 
I have a computer from falcon trading systems. (Tradingcomputers.com). At first there were a couple hiccups, but in all Scott did me justice. I am pretty happy with the 52GT and I went with the skylake. I have 8 screens and for $4800 I’m pretty pleased with performance. The problem I run into is TDAs lack of severs during liquidity events. Other than that. I’m really pleased. I’ve had a Mac, dell, Asus, box systems, and this system is what I was planning on building except the mobo. He put in a different one, but by no means less on performance basis. My 2 cents..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top