Discretionary Day Trader Computer

Quote from DJM:

Thanks. I already use a quad graphics card and have another one ready to be used.
Does that mean I can put a quad graphics card in an xps system?
Thanks.
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Probably.
 
Seems like you only have one hard drive running, you need to install an extra hard drive set in mirror mode(raid 1) in case the main hd dies on you. Its all about redundancy. the new hd can either be a duplicate of the one you already have or an SSD, depending on your budget.
 
Quote from DJM:

Thanks to everyone who responded.
Looks like I'll continue to use this computer for my options trading and look to purchasing a new one for day trading futures.

I noticed that the XPS is cheaper than the precision, with the main difference being that processor i7 vs Xeon and the XPS will give you more bang for your buck form a RAM perspective - any thoughts?
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Any decent computer will do. In the end, it's a very small part of the success equation.
 
you can sell your Q6600 CPU on ebay for ~$100. I sold (today 12/30/2011) a Q9650 on ebay for $240.

For <$200 you can bump up to a legit CPU on the same motherboard.

Buy or upgrade to 8GB of RAM

optimize your software

tweak hardware (i don't mean overclock)

I bet $50k that you'd crush most i7's on a legit Q9650 with 8GB DDR2 and a spinner HDD vs. DDR3 with SSD, i7 and some off the shelf OS configuration.

you don't need a thing - SSD is a joke - you boot faster. ignore it.

you need a 64-bit OS and decent quad-core with 3ghz clock speed. For $350 you can pimp your ride.... for $1,200 you can get into whatever else these guys say is faster.
 
Quote from DJM:

Thanks. I already use a quad graphics card and have another one ready to be used.
Does that mean I can put a quad graphics card in an xps system?
Thanks.
More...

Today ( Friday ) the Dell Home Outlet site is showing two XPS-8300's in inventory with the i7-2600 Processor ( 8MB of cache, 3.4 GHz ) with Windows 7 Home Premium and 12 GB of DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz with 1.5 TB Sata II hard drive and a 16x DVD +/- RW Drive for $709.00

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...x?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh&brandid=2202&fid=3628

If you only need to support 2 monitors, I would stick with the XPS 8300.

The i7 processor and all of that DD3 memory will be screaming!
:)
 
Quote from DJM:

Been trading for some time now, but with all the automated trading around I was wondering if my system is still sufficient - any advice would be appreciated.

I day trade futures with the catalysts being economic numbers, news releases, technicals as well as some statistical correlation models that I built in Excel over the years. ( no back testing/optimization in the system, nor trying to arb in seconds - though trades can be a few seconds long) Have about 7/8 charts open through TWS (IB) and an excel spread sheet connected to a data feed.

Will use gchat and yahoo messenger at times through the day and oen or 2 other live news feeds via the computer.

System:
Vostro 400, Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 (2.40GHz, 1066FSB, 8MB L2)
4GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz, Dual Channel DT
500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive 7200RPM, 16MB Cache
OS Windows 64
Nvidia Quadro Nvs 450 PCIE16 512MB GDDR3 4PORT To Dvi Cable
4 Dell 24 Inch Monitors (use a TV for CNBC)

Thanks for any advice or ideas!
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My previous computer, circa 2008 (still using it occasionally) is very similar, but with 8GB, an OCZ Z-Drive (will go in the new system - previously used two 2.5" SSDs) and 1080p 24" monitors. Frankly it still works fine for anything under tick by tick analysis. The SSD's are what make the biggest difference - regardless if you upgrade or not, you must buy an SSD of at least 200mbps r/w.
 
Quote from tenthousandmen:

- regardless if you upgrade or not, you must buy an SSD of at least 200mbps r/w.
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Likely not true.

Most of what traders experience is done in RAM... very little I/O with the drive.
 
Quote from Scataphagos:

Likely not true.

Most of what traders experience is done in RAM... very little I/O with the drive.
More...

I couldn't agree more! My SSD is amazing in my netbook - extended battery life by almost an extra hour.

Outside of mobile device users I see very little point in SSD for desktops. So much is done in ram and I have no earthly idea what any trader executing from a desktop would need that kind of read/write speeds for. Everyone goes out and picks up cheap MLC SSD and the joke is a halfway decent raid card plus a few 5yo used HDD on ebay puts you in the ballpark of the cheap ssd's for less money and gives you more space plus redundancy.

The solid state industry isn't even close to mature yet. Enterprise and industrial are switching over to PCIe interface while mobile is using imbedded and weighing propriatary expansion interfaces.

Stick with a HDD. A decent set of older raptors is cheap on eBay.

And bumping up to a Q9550 would do you some good too
 
Quote from WinstonTJ:

you can sell your Q6600 CPU on ebay for ~$100. I sold (today 12/30/2011) a Q9650 on ebay for $240.

For <$200 you can bump up to a legit CPU on the same motherboard.

Buy or upgrade to 8GB of RAM

optimize your software

tweak hardware (i don't mean overclock)

I bet $50k that you'd crush most i7's on a legit Q9650 with 8GB DDR2 and a spinner HDD vs. DDR3 with SSD, i7 and some off the shelf OS configuration.

you don't need a thing - SSD is a joke - you boot faster. ignore it.

you need a 64-bit OS and decent quad-core with 3ghz clock speed. For $350 you can pimp your ride.... for $1,200 you can get into whatever else these guys say is faster.
More...

Very well said

Even if you are backtesting and there is a lot of I/O, it won't make a difference (maybe you'll spend 10%/20% more time)

For those who wouldn't believe the Q9650 vs i7:

(You can check the tech specs on Intel's website)

Q9650 has a 12 MB Cache,

The only 2nd Gen Non-X processor with 12 MB Cache is the i7-3930K

"Caches tend to minimize the impact of differing RAM speeds" - Tom's Hardware

Mainstream today is DDR3-1066 and DDR3-1333, I wouldn't go with DDR2 nowadays but that's just a personal thing. The biggest thing is your software - there's a lot of hacker/coding sites that have stripped Windows and components of it down (I come from a Reverse Engineering background and I've built computers), but your computer doesn't need to be the top 1% in this case
 
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