Question about RAM

The NVME SSDs are 6x faster than SATA SSDs. An NVME SSD is nearly as fast as DDR4 memory. So in theory, if an application caches to SSD after the memory cache is full, an NVME SSD is as good as memory...Ignoring the higher latency of SSD.

For my day job (seismic data processing) I buy retired HP xeon workstations, typically 16 or 20 cores with 64 GB RAM for ~$2K then throw about 20 TB of SSD inside. Unfortunately these older machines don't have NVME connections. Something to be aware of when you buy retired machines (which is the way to go!).

For high-end processing, I rent i3.8xlarge instances from Amazon EC2. Those puppies have 32 cores and 7 TB of NVME SSD. Plus insanely fast networking between instances. I am moving a lot of data around, and I don't have to wait long. ;-)
 
Also keep in mind that you should use both slots not one. It is the D in DDR.

So two 8Gb, or two 16Gb are the choices. Personally I would go 16gb x 2, 2x 32 is for special cases. (You can do 3 slots and still utilize DDR, I believe, but all must be same size-type).

Browsers keep on using more every year. They are real RAM hogs with multiple tabs open. You can burn up 2Gb in a browser pretty quickly.

Just with ET open in Edge, it is using .2 gb. add NYTimes, WAPost, CNN, and 1Gb is used.

If you use IB TWS, it is a real PIG. 1 Gb is no problem for that, 2 Gb is common. Add MultiCharts, and I am at 6Gb already.

In general, I like to keep normal usage way below 50%. Go 2x 16gGb or 3x 8Gb.
 
You guys are so smart lol.

So last week I finally got around to assembling my new desk I got for xmas. My trading desk. It has shelves going up the sides, from the desk level, to reduce the clutter right(?).

So i take everything apart, sweep the floor in the parts I could never get to because of all the chords, assemble this beautiful new desk, put everything back, hook up the cables, blah blah blah.

And then it happened, the virus from hell. Every time I left the room the computer would shut down. I was pissed. I'm like wtf?! I walk away and my computer turns off?

So I get on Google and read and read about stuff I have no clue about.
I figured out how to check the log files.
Power supply breaking down.
Well this is a relatively new computer so now I'm really pissed.
I have to call someone that can fix the damn thing?
Replace the power supply board or whatever.

So I'm bitchin out loud to myself and in walks the spousal spending unit that bought the damn desk in the first place. She says to me: "Did you plug it in right?"
"Wtf does that mean? Yes It's plugged in".
"Maybe you used the wrong plug."
"Huh?"
"Is it the plug on the switch?"

I had no idea.
The friggin bottom plug on the wall outlet, it goes thru the light switch.
I'm just in the life-long habit of turning off the lights when I leave the room.
I was turning the damn thing off everytime I walked out of my study. :D

Moral of the story.... at least in my case.... I'm not as smart as I thought I was.

Sorry for the off topic.
 
vanzandt said:
You guys are so smart lol.

So last week I finally got around to assembling my new desk I got for xmas. My trading desk. It has shelves going up the sides, from the desk level, to reduce the clutter right(?).

So i take everything apart, sweep the floor in the parts I could never get to because of all the chords, assemble this beautiful new desk, put everything back, hook up the cables, blah blah blah.

And then it happened, the virus from hell. Every time I left the room the computer would shut down. I was pissed. I'm like wtf?! I walk away and my computer turns off?

So I get on Google and read and read about stuff I have no clue about.
I figured out how to check the log files.
Power supply breaking down.
Well this is a relatively new computer so now I'm really pissed.
I have to call someone that can fix the damn thing?
Replace the power supply board or whatever.

So I'm bitchin out loud to myself and in walks the spousal spending unit that bought the damn desk in the first place. She says to me: "Did you plug it in right?"
"Wtf does that mean? Yes It's plugged in".
"Maybe you used the wrong plug."
"Huh?"
"Is it the plug on the switch?"

I had no idea.
The friggin bottom plug on the wall outlet, it goes thru the light switch.
I'm just in the life-long habit of turning off the lights when I leave the room.
I was turning the damn thing off everytime I walked out of my study. :D

Moral of the story.... at least in my case.... I'm not as smart as I thought I was.

Sorry for the off topic.
More...

Hey, it was plugged in...some of the time. :D Awesome story.

If computer literacy had any bearing whatsoever on investing skill, there would be a lot more guys like this:

 
morganpbrown said:
The NVME SSDs are 6x faster than SATA SSDs. An NVME SSD is nearly as fast as DDR4 memory. So in theory, if an application caches to SSD after the memory cache is full, an NVME SSD is as good as memory...Ignoring the higher latency of SSD.

For my day job (seismic data processing) I buy retired HP xeon workstations, typically 16 or 20 cores with 64 GB RAM for ~$2K then throw about 20 TB of SSD inside. Unfortunately these older machines don't have NVME connections. Something to be aware of when you buy retired machines (which is the way to go!).

For high-end processing, I rent i3.8xlarge instances from Amazon EC2. Those puppies have 32 cores and 7 TB of NVME SSD. Plus insanely fast networking between instances. I am moving a lot of data around, and I don't have to wait long. ;-)
More...

Nice ! such insane processing power. What type of machine learning models are you running?
 
traider said:
Nice ! such insane processing power. What type of machine learning models are you running?
More...

Sadly im not really doing anything compute intensive for trading, just doing some light data mining. It is for my day job (seismic data processing for oil and gas). The Amazon stuff is pricey. $6.50/hour per machine. I have 35 spooled up right now and they will run a few days. It adds up but is preferable to my company relative to hosting those machines in house
 
Scataphagos said:
No need to spend as much as they charge.
More...
Agree, and it wasn't a recommendation to buy something from them, or even to buy a pre-assembled trading computer in general. I just thought that their explanation of RAM requirements for trading might be helpful to the OP. For example, I rarely see people mention that rule-of-thumb regarding number of monitors -- i.e., "roughly 4-6 GB RAM per 24-27” monitor being actively used for trading." Do others here agree with that?

I've personally appreciated your various posts/threads regarding using used workstations, and will give that serious consideration down-the-line.
 
S-Trader said:
Agree, and it wasn't a recommendation to buy something from them, or even to buy a pre-assembled trading computer in general. I just thought that their explanation of RAM requirements for trading might be helpful to the OP. For example, I rarely see people mention that rule-of-thumb regarding number of monitors -- i.e., "roughly 4-6 GB RAM per 24-27” monitor being actively used for trading." Do others here agree with that?

I've personally appreciated your various posts/threads regarding using used workstations, and will give that serious consideration down-the-line.
More...

I would think that a machine's ability to drive multiple monitors depends almost exclusively on the graphics card (or lack thereof)
 
S-Trader said:
For example, I rarely see people mention that rule-of-thumb regarding number of monitors -- i.e., "roughly 4-6 GB RAM per 24-27” monitor being actively used for trading." Do others here agree with that?
More...

Completely disagree. The amount of RAM you'll need is primarily determined by the software and a bit by the monitor(s) resolution.

For example... right now I'm running browser, email, data, and charts/DOM (likely typical for retail screen jockeys like us)... on 4x, UHD monitors. The rig is using 1.2GB of VRAM and 1.6GB of system RAM. My rig has 8GB of system RAM, running at ~20%.

I bought the rig used on eBay... a Dell Precision T5810 workstation...for $225. I shelved the video card it came with in favor of a quad port... an Nvidia Quadro P620, 2GB VRAM, for $120. This is plenty enough horsepower for most traders.
 
Last edited:
morganpbrown said:
I would think that a machine's ability to drive multiple monitors depends almost exclusively on the graphics card (or lack thereof)
More...

Mostly correct. You can often "get by" with onboard graphics... they are much better these days... but for 4 or more hi res or UHD montors, you're almost certain to want/need a quality video card with a minimum of 2GB VRAM. Fortunately these days such cards are plentiful and affordable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top