We used to have dual core or even single core. That's true. Heck we used to use XT or 486 to trade just the same too. But things changed over time, the market changed. We trade in decimals, market prints are faster, more market makers, level 2 changes many times in sub seconds.
Do you need a powerful CPU? It depends on how you trade. Do you need a powerful CPU for charting? It depends on how you set up your charts. Do you need a powerful CPU if you have many indicators? It depends on what indicator(s) you use! Not all indicators are created equal. For example, MACD - moving averages... those are straight-forward. But when you get to Bollinger Bands, which does a square root (big CPU power sucker, as all scientific functions, logarithm functions) of summation of squares. And what periodicity do you use. The standard 20 would be light (look back only 20 bars). Try to play with something like that: change the look back period to 200 on a Bollinger Bands just for kicks. The "Squeeze" indicator - based on Bollinger Bands. And I developed some multi-squeeze indicators... when the market runs fast, my TradeStation charts instantly froze (thus prompted me to upgrade to i7-930 about three years ago).
Also, we are in a relatively quiet time since year 2008. I remember trading on vacation in September from a hotel when the Fed and Paulson did this and that, driving the market went extreme, to up, and down and back and forth. I watched GS can dance around for $10 in minutes! The spread was $1! And that was only a $100 stock at the time! The markets are relatively quiet since 2008. When volatility comes back to the market (or it may not come back for a long time, you never know), price prints will go fast. Market maker quote will change much faster. More communication between your broker and your computer will happen. Indicators will be recalcuated many times over.
When USA rigs up another few trillion dollars debt, Starbuck coffees selling at $10 a cup, USA announces intention that we will default on our loan...
Have you ever driven in Los Angeles Area? Have you ever passed by the San Gabriel River or Los Angeles River from the freeway? Sometimes I passed by those rivers, I saw that the government built the river water channels so wide - and you must have seen it from movies like Grease where they raced cars in the water channel. I wondered about that... The river was only a tiny creek. Los Angeles is so dry all the time! Why built a river channel so wide??? What a waste of concrete!
The answer will come to you when you drive there again during a winter rain storm. And you see why they overbuilt the river channel.
No you don't need it 99% of the days. Like Los Angeles. But that one day when you need it, and you don't have it. It takes you out for good.
