Let me reverse the order of thought on this matter I imagine most traders have better use of their time than worrying about their computer once they are trading. Hence, I think its cost effective to be sure before one trades that your/my machine can handle anythig thrown at it, and if there is a problem you/I know immediatly its the feed or the DSL/cable link and can take appropriate action.
The FSB used to be a fashionable standard as to how fast a machine was, no more since most computers are now better than 800FSB and a lot of dual cores 2000FSB. On the computer hardware side here's what I look at:
2MB Ram it's so cheap now there's simply no excuse to use less and it greatly improves performance. Indeed most desktop MOBO's are 4MB or 8MB ready.
128MB Video Card. It's the standard now, 32MB and 64MB cards are as scarce as hens teeth already, worst would be to rely on an integrated card unless it's included in a very high end MOBO already with a good card likely an Nvidea offspring. Nvidea, Matrox and Appian specialize in multiple displays I am not knowledgeable which is better than which, just go for the best - I like Matrox QID 128MB
Then there's the L2 Cache, I am not a techie so I shan't elaborate on it's function other than to remark it's the fast RAM in you processor - on a seperate chip to itself. Plenty of L2 can improve refresh rates enormously - if time is of the essence be sure to have not less than 1MB L2cache, preferably 2MB. Here's the deal on this: generally a single core CPU sporting 2MB of L2 cache (like a P4 640 64Bit cpu) runs about 1/3 the cost of a dual core (like AMD Athlon Toledo 64 bit cpu). Both are 90 nm and they should both perform at the same speed yet one is 1/3 the cost! Mind you I am just talking processor not complete systems (approx $200 for the single core cpu v $600 for the dual core cpu)
If the computer still runs slow with the above configuration there's a bug and it's a software problem, feed or the DSL/cable link.
My Nephew will tell me the above hardware configuration is overkill, but he's a computer junky and isn't happy unless he's challeged by some problem or other. I just like to eliminate my computer from actual/potential problems as much as possible and at todays prices none of this I believe is too expensive for its intended use. Although I would agree definately overkill for the casual investor/trader where time is not of the essence.
that's it, hope its of some use to someone!
The FSB used to be a fashionable standard as to how fast a machine was, no more since most computers are now better than 800FSB and a lot of dual cores 2000FSB. On the computer hardware side here's what I look at:
2MB Ram it's so cheap now there's simply no excuse to use less and it greatly improves performance. Indeed most desktop MOBO's are 4MB or 8MB ready.
128MB Video Card. It's the standard now, 32MB and 64MB cards are as scarce as hens teeth already, worst would be to rely on an integrated card unless it's included in a very high end MOBO already with a good card likely an Nvidea offspring. Nvidea, Matrox and Appian specialize in multiple displays I am not knowledgeable which is better than which, just go for the best - I like Matrox QID 128MB
Then there's the L2 Cache, I am not a techie so I shan't elaborate on it's function other than to remark it's the fast RAM in you processor - on a seperate chip to itself. Plenty of L2 can improve refresh rates enormously - if time is of the essence be sure to have not less than 1MB L2cache, preferably 2MB. Here's the deal on this: generally a single core CPU sporting 2MB of L2 cache (like a P4 640 64Bit cpu) runs about 1/3 the cost of a dual core (like AMD Athlon Toledo 64 bit cpu). Both are 90 nm and they should both perform at the same speed yet one is 1/3 the cost! Mind you I am just talking processor not complete systems (approx $200 for the single core cpu v $600 for the dual core cpu)
If the computer still runs slow with the above configuration there's a bug and it's a software problem, feed or the DSL/cable link.
My Nephew will tell me the above hardware configuration is overkill, but he's a computer junky and isn't happy unless he's challeged by some problem or other. I just like to eliminate my computer from actual/potential problems as much as possible and at todays prices none of this I believe is too expensive for its intended use. Although I would agree definately overkill for the casual investor/trader where time is not of the essence.
that's it, hope its of some use to someone!
You must mean an SLA, and SLAs are worth snot, IMO.