What do the tech savvy recommend for component parts of a new PC build or pre-built?

jmiles301 said:
First thing I think I want to try is just doing a basic RAM upgrade from my current 16gb to 64gb, I'm currently using DDR3, do I have to stick with that or can I go up to DDR4 without any issues?
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Motherboards are designed for one type of RAM. Since your existing mobo uses DDR3, you'll have to stick with that. Upside is DDR3 should be cheap, downside is you won't be able to move it over to your next PC.

Given what you're noticing, upgrade from 16gb to 32gb of RAM and see if that tides you over for some time. Hopefully you have 2x8gb sticks so you can just buy another 2x8gb sticks. To upgrade to 64gb, you'd have to buy 4x16gb sticks, since it's unlikely your existing 16gb is in the form of 1x16gb stick, and I don't see much point in buying 64gb of RAM you can't bring to your next PC, unless you can get it very cheaply.
 
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jmiles301 said:
Thank you everyone for your replies, it gives me some good info to consider/brainstorm on atm..

First thing I think I want to try is just doing a basic RAM upgrade from my current 16gb to 64gb, I'm currently using DDR3, do I have to stick with that or can I go up to DDR4 without any issues?

So for instance, something like this.. ?

https://www.newegg.com/crucial-64gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820156238?Description=crucial 64gb desktop&cm_re=crucial_64gb desktop-_-20-156-238-_-Product


When I look at my GPU in the task manager only 10% or so is being used (it does occasionally spike up near 30% however), but over 60-70% of the memory is.. and that's right now with the market not being open so I'm hoping/thinking that a basic RAM upgrade will at least fix/reduce the lag for the time being which would then allow me more time to brainstorm how I want to move forward with my next comp.
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When you have all your charts open, what does your CPU usage look like? You'll want to see the utilization on each core. Are any cores pegged near 100%? Your application is likely threaded, but it might be the case that one or two threads are bottlenecked and that's slowing you down. If your CPU usage is low, then you can try upgrading the memory to 32 GB, but I wouldn't spend too much money on it. If you want to save money, you could replace the motherboard, CPU, and memory, keep everything else. You'll probably have to buy another license for Windows if that's what you are running. Since you have to do that, it might be a good time to upgrade the SSD and you're basically looking at a new computer except for the video card and case.

I thought about just recommending a laptop as that's what I use, but I doubt there is a solution that supports 7 monitors. Also, desktop CPUs are usually speced to be more powerful since they are not constrained by power and heat dissipation limitations.
 
vic38 said:
Given what you're noticing, upgrade from 16gb to 32gb of RAM and see if that tides you over for some time. Hopefully you have 2x8gb sticks so you can just buy another 2x8gb sticks. To upgrade to 64gb, you'd have to buy 4x16gb sticks, since it's unlikely your existing 16gb is in the form of 1x16gb stick, and I don't see much point in buying 64gb of RAM you can't bring to your next PC, unless you can get it very cheaply.
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Good to note on the DDR3 memory, thank you.

Is there a way to check to see how many slots I have total/available and what type of sticks I have in my system without opening it up? I thought something like that would be easily visible within the device manager but I didn't see it anywhere as far as I could tell..

EDIT - So I just noticed there is a section under the 'memory' section within the 'performance' tab in task manager and it says that I currently have 2 of 4 slots used, so I'm assuming I have 8GB x2 installed..

I should/need to order two more 8GB sticks of the exact same brand, correct?
 
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jmiles301 said:
EDIT - So I just noticed there is a section under the 'memory' section within the 'performance' tab in task manager and it says that I currently have 2 of 4 slots used, so I'm assuming I have 8GB x2 installed..

I should/need to order two more 8GB sticks of the exact same brand, correct?
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Yes, you have 2 x 8GB. Doesn't need to be same manufacturer, but probably* should be same specs such as frequency. But if the same mfr, same brand is about the same price as everything else, then might as well go for that.

*Someone more knowledgeable than me can let us know how closely specs need to match to work optimally.
 
ET180 said:
I thought about just recommending a laptop as that's what I use, but I doubt there is a solution that supports 7 monitors. Also, desktop CPUs are usually speced to be more powerful since they are not constrained by power and heat dissipation limitations.
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Just out of curiosity, what type of laptops would you recommend? I am actually in the market for one of those as well but it's not a priority compared to upgrading my trading rig. Still would be informative to see what others are using these days because I haven't shopped around for one of those in years. I personally would prefer one with a wide screen for charting purposes.
 
jmiles301 said:
Is there a way to check to see how many slots I have total/available and what type of sticks I have in my system without opening it up? I thought something like that would be easily visible within the device manager but I didn't see it anywhere as far as I could tell..
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Download SIV.. System Information Viewer... it's free and will tell you everything.
 
I have some RAM coming today, which will double what I currently have from 16gb to 32gb.

I have replaced/installed RAM before but I have never switched out a CPU, I have noticed in my task manager that my CPU does get bogged down during the open/times of heightened volatility (up to 80%+ at times, although atm it's down to 35% with my memory at 48%), just wondering if there is possibly another CPU that I could buy that would work my current motherboard that isn't necessarily a major upgrade (therefore hopefully not too expensive) but would still be at least a slight improvement.

I currently have a i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60GHz and my motherboard is a Z87-HD3 (images attached for exact specifications).

How do I go about shopping around for a different CPU that would fit that board, I'm not even sure what to type in/look for..
 

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I'd go with a Ryzen 5900x or 5950x if you're feeling fancy. Faster and quieter than what Intel has to offer.
 
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