Over the years people come in here asking about the ultimate trading rig, high end trading rigs, trading rig on a budget, best video cards, computers, etc. etc. So hopefully this can help everyone out and provide a very good baseline of what is REALISTIC and needed for a trading computer vs. what is wanted as "nice to have" or for bragging rights. It's your money....
I'm a big fan of Dell. Always have been. Dell and HP are both great however in my experience HP tends to be slightly more expensive and optioned out a little higher - meaning apples to apples the same HP machine would normally have a slightly faster clock speed CPU and possibly more or slightly faster RAM - but that's about it.
I've never been a big fan of homebrew, custom machines. I purchase Dell computers, workstations and servers and highly modify them quite often - but the motherboards and BIOS are all locked - no overclocking, no customization outside stock options like Software RAID, Virtualization settings and Hyperthreading. In my experience a homebrew computer may be faster and quite possibly cheaper but the amount of time required to upkeep, maintain and service them (and if there is a failure good luck) far outweighs a stock "bulge bracket" solution.
I've been working on a big desktop virtualization project for a company that recently launched a suite of ETF products. They built out a trading desk for 48 guys (portfolio managers, assistants and managers/supervisors) with existing hardware and then they commissioned a few consultants to engineer a thin/zero client solution to get the computers off the floor and locked up in a secure location. This means I've been playing around for a few weeks with hardware and software trying to break things, blow stuff up, max out CPU, LAN bandwidth, blow up/break video cards, etc.
For this solution these are professional Portfolio Managers or Traders who are running HEAVY Excel applications in combination with either Thomson Eikon or Bloomberg Professional. Additionally they are using a proprietary OMS (order management system) which I do not have access to.
My goal is to build a stock machine running quad-monitors. Get it set up and 100% functional - then test out the max and average loads so I can spec appropriate Thin Client hardware as well as Server Resources... That's what got me thinking about this thread. All you guys do is talk about these massive "Ultimate Trading Rigs" which are 99.999% of the time overkill by orders of magnitude and in my opinion that money would be much better off deposited into your trading account, not on a box from NewEgg.
This is a very well known company with roughly $3 Trillion under management. These are professional traders working for a company with essentially unlimited funds to give their Traders/PMs the resources required to run a solid trading business.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
HARDWARE:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sorry for that long intro - Here is what I started with - A Dell Precision 490 Workstation that I had laying around collecting dust. These things are a dime-a-dozen on fleabay and sell for under $250 shipped all day long (see eBay link below). Normally I'd say buy the base model and upgrade it - but in this case the machine I had was absolutely as shipped from Dell. I provide links below with the Service Tag where you can see it shipped on 3/8/2012 with 8GB of RAM and 2x Xeon x5160 CPUs. These are two (2) dual-core CPUs WITHOUT hyperthreadding running at 3.0ghz clock speed. Nothing special - paired together it's a straight quad-core without HT, similar to a Q9650. This computer had been stripped out so I added 16GB of RAM (because all I had was 2GB sticks) and the video cards I had laying around. For reference a modern i3 CPU with 9GB of DDR3 RAM would be about the same as this base performance.
Into the chassis I put what I had - 8x 2GB sticks of DDR2 ECC RAM (Hynix brand)... a 160gb WD 10k RPM Raptor HDD for drive C:\ and an 80gb WD something (super old) drive I had as a D:\ drive just to throw stuff on for ease of formatting the OS as I switched between W7 Pro x64, W8 Pro x64 and W8.1 Pro x64... I also had a Seagate 2TB drive laying around that I thought was dead or having smart errors so I threw that in so I could run SeaTools diagnostics on it - so 3x HDDs in total. Nothing fancy, no SSD's, etc.
I then put two fairly low-level NVIDIA cards in there because it's all I had. Normally I insist on exact matching video cards but for these I didn't have any so I used what I had laying around (Nvidia NVS 285 and 295). Normally I'd say that'a a VERY BAD idea to mix & match - and it usually is. In this case there is something funky going on with the Windows 8.1 "windows update" NVIDIA drivers so if you select the Windows Update video drivers it breaks - so this confirms why it's a bad idea to mix and match video cards. Additionally, I'll point out that the PCI slots on a P490 motherboard http://www.redplanettrading.com/images/D/gu083-top-700.jpg) require you to use one x16 (full length) and one x8 (short PCIe) video card - or one quad-card. The NVS 450 is a great card but you can buy the NVS 285/295 for less than $40 shipped vs. the NVS 450 is going to be about $150-$175 shipped (links below).
"Dell Precision 490 dual 5160" - $250 or less shipped
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk...ll+Precision+490+dual+5160&_sacat=0&_from=R40
"Nvidia NVS 285" - $10 shipped (maybe $20 for the x8)
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...RRENCY=0&_sop=13&_dmd=1&_ipg=50&LH_Complete=1
"Nvidia NVS 295" - $20 shipped - maybe $40 for the x8
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...RRENCY=0&_sop=13&_dmd=1&_ipg=50&LH_Complete=1
The "nvidia nvs 450" is also another GREAT card but it's $150 shipped with the pigtails.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...RRENCY=0&_sop=12&_dmd=1&_ipg=50&LH_Complete=1
So this is the machine/chassis I used. I didn't touch a thing other than plug in the RAM, HDD's and video cards. I didn't even turn it upright - it's still configured to lay on it's side in "desktop" configuration. Again - this is a 2-year old dell box in stock configuration:
Dell Service Tag: 924TTF1
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/servicetag/924TTF1/configuration?s=BSD
I loaded up Windows 8.1 because I'm trying to virtualize on Hyper-V 2012 R2 running RemoteFX. I installed Office 2010 x64 because that's what the client has volume licenses for. So we have a $500 machine with a W8.1 trial and Office 2010 running...
Here comes the fun part:
I don't have access to the client's OMS so I decided I'd run my E*Trade Power Pro platform in it's place - I figured it would use at least an order of magnitude more system resources than their thin OMS. I also took the liberty of loading up a Thomson Eikon demo and Bloomberg Professional (paid). I also installed iTunes, iCloud, Google Hangouts, Skype, SnagIT (screen capture software), and a few other odds and ends. I provided a photo of the installed programs on the machine.
The thing is completely set up as if the PM were to sit down and start trading. Go through the normal routine in the morning... plug in your iPhone... log into Bloomberg/Thomson, your OMS, pull up your many Excel data spreadsheets... then check Zero Hedge, Barstool Sports, Finviz, browse the internet, skype your friends, etc. I found that I was running at or about 8%-15% CPU and 10%-16% RAM. I will say for full disclosure while applications pull up (E*Trade, Thomson or Bloomberg - or the spreadsheets with realtime data feeds) that the CPU does momentarily peg close to 100% - but then it quickly pulls back down to normal. RAM didn't spike nearly as much as I had thought it would and never once exceeded 50% (of the 16GB). This could have been avoided had I staggered the startups - but I just double clicked them all as most of the traders do every morning without thinking.
So that was that - I was shocked and very pleasantly surprised. A $500 box could handle orders of magnitude more than that average professional PM/Trader running anything and everything they could ever need.
++++++++++++++++++++
So what would it take to blow this thing up and give the ET'ers a reference point???
++++++++++++++++++++
I opened everything I possibly could. All at once. On my E*Trade platform it's a Java based application - and has a "streaming CNBC" window - I opened CNBC. I went to Chrome and also opened up Bloomberg TV. Just for fun I launched my favorite radio station and started streaming that online as well (an iHeart Radio broadcast). Next I opened up Bloomberg and Thomson Eikon in addition to my E*Trade platform. I then proceeded to open the E*Trade excel plugin and start pulling 5x tabs of my watch list (a little over 100 symbols)... Same with Bloomberg and Thomson - I pulled the S&P 500 constituent list streaming realtime on Bloomberg and the Russell 1000 streaming realtime on Thomson.
Two TV stations
One Radio Station
Massive Excel pulls
Bloomberg
Thomson Eikon
E*Trade Pro
One Note (I use that for work)
iTunes and iCloud
Skype
Google Hangouts
Multiple Chrome and FF browser windows with Finviz heatmaps pulling
All of this pushing to four monitors so graphics are as max'ed as possible as well.
I'm a big fan of Dell. Always have been. Dell and HP are both great however in my experience HP tends to be slightly more expensive and optioned out a little higher - meaning apples to apples the same HP machine would normally have a slightly faster clock speed CPU and possibly more or slightly faster RAM - but that's about it.
I've never been a big fan of homebrew, custom machines. I purchase Dell computers, workstations and servers and highly modify them quite often - but the motherboards and BIOS are all locked - no overclocking, no customization outside stock options like Software RAID, Virtualization settings and Hyperthreading. In my experience a homebrew computer may be faster and quite possibly cheaper but the amount of time required to upkeep, maintain and service them (and if there is a failure good luck) far outweighs a stock "bulge bracket" solution.
I've been working on a big desktop virtualization project for a company that recently launched a suite of ETF products. They built out a trading desk for 48 guys (portfolio managers, assistants and managers/supervisors) with existing hardware and then they commissioned a few consultants to engineer a thin/zero client solution to get the computers off the floor and locked up in a secure location. This means I've been playing around for a few weeks with hardware and software trying to break things, blow stuff up, max out CPU, LAN bandwidth, blow up/break video cards, etc.
For this solution these are professional Portfolio Managers or Traders who are running HEAVY Excel applications in combination with either Thomson Eikon or Bloomberg Professional. Additionally they are using a proprietary OMS (order management system) which I do not have access to.
My goal is to build a stock machine running quad-monitors. Get it set up and 100% functional - then test out the max and average loads so I can spec appropriate Thin Client hardware as well as Server Resources... That's what got me thinking about this thread. All you guys do is talk about these massive "Ultimate Trading Rigs" which are 99.999% of the time overkill by orders of magnitude and in my opinion that money would be much better off deposited into your trading account, not on a box from NewEgg.
This is a very well known company with roughly $3 Trillion under management. These are professional traders working for a company with essentially unlimited funds to give their Traders/PMs the resources required to run a solid trading business.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
HARDWARE:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sorry for that long intro - Here is what I started with - A Dell Precision 490 Workstation that I had laying around collecting dust. These things are a dime-a-dozen on fleabay and sell for under $250 shipped all day long (see eBay link below). Normally I'd say buy the base model and upgrade it - but in this case the machine I had was absolutely as shipped from Dell. I provide links below with the Service Tag where you can see it shipped on 3/8/2012 with 8GB of RAM and 2x Xeon x5160 CPUs. These are two (2) dual-core CPUs WITHOUT hyperthreadding running at 3.0ghz clock speed. Nothing special - paired together it's a straight quad-core without HT, similar to a Q9650. This computer had been stripped out so I added 16GB of RAM (because all I had was 2GB sticks) and the video cards I had laying around. For reference a modern i3 CPU with 9GB of DDR3 RAM would be about the same as this base performance.
Into the chassis I put what I had - 8x 2GB sticks of DDR2 ECC RAM (Hynix brand)... a 160gb WD 10k RPM Raptor HDD for drive C:\ and an 80gb WD something (super old) drive I had as a D:\ drive just to throw stuff on for ease of formatting the OS as I switched between W7 Pro x64, W8 Pro x64 and W8.1 Pro x64... I also had a Seagate 2TB drive laying around that I thought was dead or having smart errors so I threw that in so I could run SeaTools diagnostics on it - so 3x HDDs in total. Nothing fancy, no SSD's, etc.
I then put two fairly low-level NVIDIA cards in there because it's all I had. Normally I insist on exact matching video cards but for these I didn't have any so I used what I had laying around (Nvidia NVS 285 and 295). Normally I'd say that'a a VERY BAD idea to mix & match - and it usually is. In this case there is something funky going on with the Windows 8.1 "windows update" NVIDIA drivers so if you select the Windows Update video drivers it breaks - so this confirms why it's a bad idea to mix and match video cards. Additionally, I'll point out that the PCI slots on a P490 motherboard http://www.redplanettrading.com/images/D/gu083-top-700.jpg) require you to use one x16 (full length) and one x8 (short PCIe) video card - or one quad-card. The NVS 450 is a great card but you can buy the NVS 285/295 for less than $40 shipped vs. the NVS 450 is going to be about $150-$175 shipped (links below).
"Dell Precision 490 dual 5160" - $250 or less shipped
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk...ll+Precision+490+dual+5160&_sacat=0&_from=R40
"Nvidia NVS 285" - $10 shipped (maybe $20 for the x8)
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...RRENCY=0&_sop=13&_dmd=1&_ipg=50&LH_Complete=1
"Nvidia NVS 295" - $20 shipped - maybe $40 for the x8
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...RRENCY=0&_sop=13&_dmd=1&_ipg=50&LH_Complete=1
The "nvidia nvs 450" is also another GREAT card but it's $150 shipped with the pigtails.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...RRENCY=0&_sop=12&_dmd=1&_ipg=50&LH_Complete=1
So this is the machine/chassis I used. I didn't touch a thing other than plug in the RAM, HDD's and video cards. I didn't even turn it upright - it's still configured to lay on it's side in "desktop" configuration. Again - this is a 2-year old dell box in stock configuration:
Dell Service Tag: 924TTF1
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/servicetag/924TTF1/configuration?s=BSD
I loaded up Windows 8.1 because I'm trying to virtualize on Hyper-V 2012 R2 running RemoteFX. I installed Office 2010 x64 because that's what the client has volume licenses for. So we have a $500 machine with a W8.1 trial and Office 2010 running...
Here comes the fun part:
I don't have access to the client's OMS so I decided I'd run my E*Trade Power Pro platform in it's place - I figured it would use at least an order of magnitude more system resources than their thin OMS. I also took the liberty of loading up a Thomson Eikon demo and Bloomberg Professional (paid). I also installed iTunes, iCloud, Google Hangouts, Skype, SnagIT (screen capture software), and a few other odds and ends. I provided a photo of the installed programs on the machine.
The thing is completely set up as if the PM were to sit down and start trading. Go through the normal routine in the morning... plug in your iPhone... log into Bloomberg/Thomson, your OMS, pull up your many Excel data spreadsheets... then check Zero Hedge, Barstool Sports, Finviz, browse the internet, skype your friends, etc. I found that I was running at or about 8%-15% CPU and 10%-16% RAM. I will say for full disclosure while applications pull up (E*Trade, Thomson or Bloomberg - or the spreadsheets with realtime data feeds) that the CPU does momentarily peg close to 100% - but then it quickly pulls back down to normal. RAM didn't spike nearly as much as I had thought it would and never once exceeded 50% (of the 16GB). This could have been avoided had I staggered the startups - but I just double clicked them all as most of the traders do every morning without thinking.
So that was that - I was shocked and very pleasantly surprised. A $500 box could handle orders of magnitude more than that average professional PM/Trader running anything and everything they could ever need.
++++++++++++++++++++
So what would it take to blow this thing up and give the ET'ers a reference point???
++++++++++++++++++++
I opened everything I possibly could. All at once. On my E*Trade platform it's a Java based application - and has a "streaming CNBC" window - I opened CNBC. I went to Chrome and also opened up Bloomberg TV. Just for fun I launched my favorite radio station and started streaming that online as well (an iHeart Radio broadcast). Next I opened up Bloomberg and Thomson Eikon in addition to my E*Trade platform. I then proceeded to open the E*Trade excel plugin and start pulling 5x tabs of my watch list (a little over 100 symbols)... Same with Bloomberg and Thomson - I pulled the S&P 500 constituent list streaming realtime on Bloomberg and the Russell 1000 streaming realtime on Thomson.
Two TV stations
One Radio Station
Massive Excel pulls
Bloomberg
Thomson Eikon
E*Trade Pro
One Note (I use that for work)
iTunes and iCloud
Skype
Google Hangouts
Multiple Chrome and FF browser windows with Finviz heatmaps pulling
All of this pushing to four monitors so graphics are as max'ed as possible as well.
