Hey all,
I was told by a company that my latency can be affected by CPU GHz and Cores.
I think it make sense that my code compiles faster with higher GHz and Cores, but how faster are we talking about? Does it really makes an impact? How many
ms can GHz and Cores affect my order execution?
DISCLAIMER: if I don't care about e.g. 0.1 ms vs 0.3 ms difference, I wouldn't ask this question, therefore, if you are going to reply something like "what do you care? 0.2 ms it doesn't matter" save your breath
The company advised you wrong.
Latency typically refers to network latency, the 0.1-0.3 ms you referred to.
Lag often refers to a slow computer. As someone else mentioned, computers today are so fast, they should be able to handle real-time stock data. Today, CPU's
instructions per cycle or clock (IPC) are efficient and they get better every year.
How fast your code
runs or executes depends whether it is multi-core capable. You mentioned "your code compiles faster." This is vague. Does this mean you are
compiling your own written code, such as
C++ or
FORTRAN? Do you want to
compile your own written code faster using a compiler,
run your own written code faster, or simply
run a company's code faster?
If you are referring to running a company's code faster, such as a trading platform, it depends on whether the program supports multiple cores. Most programs today are multi-core capable so it probably does not make any difference as long as your CPU has 4 or more
hardware cores. In addition, having a dedicated video card, even a slower one, helps offload the workload from the CPU. Unfortunately, today it is virtually impossible to buy a video card unless you buy from a scalper. This makes it very difficult to build a PC.
You did not mention which O/S, operating system, you use. If you are using Windows 10, you should know W10 can have many unnecessary processes running. These unnecessary processes can greatly slow down your computer, using up as much as 30% of your CPU and even GPU (graphics card) cycles. Whenever you build or receive a computer, after installing and updating your software, a priority is to
tweak your system by reducing the number of unnecessary programs and services.
As someone mentioned, upgrading to an
SSD or
M.2 NVMe will speed up your system by at least 3 times. Moving your spinning hard drive to secondary status is the best way to speed up your system.
As a side note, next year
AMD's Zen 4 CPU's are expected to arrive. Zen 4 CPU's are predicted to be at least 30% faster. So maybe it doesn't matter if video cards are not available now. It's probably better to just wait for Zen 4. Also,
Intel's DG2 video cards are expected later this year. This will help make more cards available for everyone and hopefully AMD users can also use Intel's DG2 cards in their systems.
BTW, I don't believe Intel Xeon CPU's with ECC RAM are required for general computing. However, what you want to do is test your non-ECC RAM using free
MemTest86 every 6 months. Once RAM on a system is tested to work correctly for a year, failures are said to be rare. Just make sure you use a high quality
power supply and a high quality
surge suppressor or
UPS system.
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Use all software and hardware at your own risk. Make all changes to your system at your own risk.
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