Opinions On A New Build

[Bullgod06]

I'm trying to build workstation for Daytrading stocks. I'd like to build one similar to IBMs Intellistations. I'd appreciate any ideas or opinions on how to go about this.

Case Size

Primary reason why I need a computer that has a large case is because I will run several monitors at once, which will require the use of several video cards, or preferably, the use of a hig-performance multi-monitor video card. Half-length cards measure about 6" long while full-length cards are a little over a foot long.

Recommended: Between 16" and 19" deep.
Cases to avoid: Small Form Factor, Slim Desktop, Micro ATX

CPU

Recommended: Pentium III, Pentium 4, AMD Athlon.
Not Recommended: Multi-processor machines.

Motherboard

Recommended: A decent motherboard should have 4 PCI slots, 1 AGP slot, and support for 1 GB or more of system memory.

Memory

Recommended: As a general guideline, you should install 192 MB of memory for every montor you will be using. For example, if you were building a four-monitor workstation, you would need to install 768 MB (4 x 192) of memory. This would be enough for your system to handle any peaks in memory demand without having to use the hard drive unnecessarily.

There are many types of memory available, so it's really easy to buy the wrong type if you're not careful. Pentium III systems use PC100 or PC133 SDRAM, while the Pentium 4 systems use the newer RDRAM

Hard Drive

Recommended: IDE drives, SCSI drives are not necessary for daily trading tasks, but it's nice to know that if I need to install a big program like MS Office or work with some other large file, I have the high-end drive it takes to get th job done as quickly as possible.

Operating System

One of the most important decisions I will need to make when buying or building a trading workstation is what operating system I will use. One system crash can lock you out of the markets long enough to wipe out several weeks, or even months, worth of profit. I want to run a successful trading business without constantly dealing with lock-up, memory leaks, and "blue screens of death", I need an operating system that will stay up and running for extended periods of time.

Listed below (in order of importance) are three qualities of an operating system that traders need to be concerned with:

1. Compatibility
2. Reliability
3. Speed

Compatibility

Recommended: If you want to have a broad choice of trading software and services, then Windows is the platform of choice, hands down.

Reliability

Recommended: The benefits of Windows XP over Windows 2000 are clear: Fewer critical problems occur, problem resolution is faster and easier, and backups and system updates are easier than ever before. The winner in the reliability battle: Windows XP

Speed

There is no debate as to whether speed is an important issue for day traders. Lagging system performance is clearly something to avoid, as it can cause poor executions, missed opportunities, delayed data and unnecessary losses.

Recommended: The speed winner: Windows XP (but barely, and only because of the reduced startup times).

[jayb1234]

Here's the case. comes with a high quality 500W power supply.

The reccommendations you are using are a little dated, PCI-Express is the newer standard for video card interface, AGP is getting hard to find on decent motherboards.

Processor: Intel Pentium 4 6xx series or Pentium D dual core.

Motherboard: Intel chipset on an Intel or Asus board, match to processor.

RAM: Match to processor and motherboard, Corsair or Crucial are good. 1Gb or more.

OS: Windows XP or XP Pro.

Hard drives: Seagate 7200 rpm with 16Mb cache

Optical Drives: Liteon

[glc]

In this case, I'd actually recommmend older tech.

Motherboard: Asus P4P800SE
Processor: 3.0 GHz or so Pentium 4 Socket 478, 800 FSB, Northwood 512k cache if you can find one.
Ram: 2 gb Corsair Value Select PC3200 (2x1 gb dual channel kit)
Hard drive: Seagate or Western Digital SATA, size as desired
Video card: PNY Quadro NVS 400 quad head PCI

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec....iteria=1879824

This will run 4 monitors - if you need more, add more cards. I have a customer driving four 19" LCD's with one of these cards and it works great. It's a fraction of the cost of high end workstation quad head cards from Matrox or 3D Labs. Sure, you can rack up the box with a bunch of dual head cards, but the more cards you have, the more conflicts and configuration hassles you will have. The Nvidia multi-display manager is excellent.

You don't need a monster case for this stuff, and you don't need that 500w power supply for this class of hardware. A standard mid-tower is plenty big, just get one with a decent power supply, 350 watts is plenty. ATX 2.0 spec not needed, that motherboard is only 20 pin. Look at the Antec SLK3700.

[Bullgod06]

Is this what you are refering to about the hard drive? I found this one at best buy for $259.

400GB maximum storage capacity
Ultra ATA/100 (parallel) interface
16MB cache buffer
7200 rpm for fast read/write times
Self-monitoring technology enhances data safety and drive performance
Whisper-quiet FDB (fluid dynamic bearing) motor
350 Gs shock-resistant construction
Quiet 25dB operation
DiscWizard software simplifies installation; SeaTools diagnostic software also included
Interface cable, mounting screws and quick installation guide included
Compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux and NetWare operating systems

Product Details
Warranty Terms - Parts 5 year
Warranty Terms - Labour 5 years
Internal or External Internal
Drive Capacity 400GB
Drive Connectivity Ultra ATA
Rotation Speed 7200 rpm
Cache Buffer Size 16MB
Software Included DiscWizard; SeaTools
System Requirements Windows NT, 98 SE, 2000, ME or XP; Linux; Mac OS;
NetWare; ATA/IDE interface; available 3.5" bay or slot
Additional System Requirements Ultra ATA/100 interface recommended; 48-bit addressing required to exceed 137GB capacity limitation imposed by 28-bit addressing

[glc]

No. Thats IDE. Do you really need 400gb?

Don't buy parts at Best Buy - mail order is cheaper and better.

[Bullgod06]

Here's some software that I will be using and it minimum system requirments.

TeleChart has the following minimum system requirements:

Windows 98SE or higher (WinXP recommended)

400mhz CPU (800mhz or faster recommended)

1 Gigabyte of free hard drive space

128mb RAM (256mb RAM or higher recommended)

Super VGA monitor that supports 256 colors or higher

Minimum screen resolution of 1024x768

Keyboard and a Mouse or compatible pointing device

An Internet connection (Dial-up is sufficient)

Some web-based services such as Chat Support and training videos require MacroMedia Flash 7+ (The training videos also require Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher)

TeleChart Platinum users will need Media Player 9 to participate in live Audio Chart Shows

Notes: A 32X CDROM drive or faster would be required to install by CD instead of from our website.

Users of Windows 2000 or Windows XP will need a profile with Administrator Rights. This is the default setting for home computers. If using TeleChart on a work computer you may need to contact your system administrator.

A video card with strong 2-D support and up-to-date drivers is recommended.

[glc]

This is WAY stronger than those minimums.

Hard drives are ridiculously cheap these days. You can get 250gb for 100 bucks, I don't see HOW you would need anything bigger than that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148065

[Bullgod06]

I have no clue which hard drive to get. I'm new at this and wanted to try to put together a computer for exactly what I need it for. What is the real difference between a IDE and SCSI Hard Drive? Here's some info that I got from www.elitetrader.com on building a trading system.

In a nutshell, IDE hard drives are mainstream products that are standard equipment in just about every desktop computer on the planet. SCSI drives are faster, more expensive drives that are usually found in servers and workstation-class machines. A separate controller is needed for SCSI devices whereas IDE drives have their controllers built in. The necessity for an external disk controller is the main reason why SCSI configurations are twice as expensive as their IDE counterparts. As you investigate hard drives a little closer, you will probably see many of them listed as being ATA, UDMA, or EIDE. There's no point in really knowing the details of these terms. The important thing to remember is that they all describe the same general type of drive, which is IDE.

Having used SCSI hardware daily for several years, I can tell you from experience that SCSI hard drives will not bring a lot to the table in terms of real-world benefits. The fast speed of SCSI drives can be seen most easily when huge files are being read into memory or written to the disk surface. Real-time trading applications do not need to work with large files, so the speed advantages of SCSI are barely noticeable. I recommend you stick with IDE drives.

Ok, you might be wondering why I use SCSI drives myself but tell you to go with IDE instead. Well, it's basically because I'm a little warped and I respectfully assume that most people like you have a more practical approach to choosing computer hardware. See, I look at SCSI vs. IDE in the same way that I look at sports cars vs. regular cars. Although I don't need a sports car to get back and forth to the grocery store, I drive one anyway because I like knowing that I CAN go fast if the opportunity arises and I feel like doing so. In the same way, a SCSI drive is not necessary for my daily trading tasks, but it's nice to know that if I need to install a big program like MS Office or work with some other large file, I have the high-end drive it takes to get the job done as quickly as possible! Get it?

[Bullgod06]

TradeStation Minimum System Requirements:

Processor: 450 MHz Pentium II or better

RAM: 256 MB

Hard Drive: 65 MB free space

Monitor: 1024x768 monitor resolution or higher

Operating System: Windows 2000/XP

Software: Microsoft Internet Explorer
(Version 5.5 SP2 or higher)*

Internet Connection: Dial-Up (56K bps) or Direct (ISDN, Cable Modem, DSL, T1) connection to the Internet

Recommended System Requirements (If Buying a New Computer)

Processor: Fastest Available. TradeStation also takes full advantage of multiple CPUs and hyperthreading

RAM: As much as possible. We recommend upgrading existing machines to the maximum memory supported by your computer.

Hard Drive: As large as possible. TradeStation utilizes approximately 100MB of hard drive space, but will use more if available. We do not recommend upgrading your hard drive on existing machines.

Video Card: Fastest Available

Monitor: 1280 x 1024 monitor resolution or higher. TradeStation also supports multiple monitors.

Operating System: Windows XP
(Home or Professional)

Software: Microsoft Internet Explorer (Version 6 or higher)

Internet Connection: Direct (ISDN, Cable Modem, DSL, T1) connection to the Internet with a backup through a dial-up (56K bps) or better

Power Supply: Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) to protect against lightning and power outages. Attach computer, monitor and modem to UPS

Download Information:

T1 (1.54 MB/sec) - 84 seconds

56k - 39.3 minutes

33.6 - 65.5 minutes

28.8 - 76.4 minutes

[Bullgod06]

I appreciate the help.

[Bullgod06]

Is this the processor you were refering? I found it at www.powerleap.com for $199. I don't know if that's a good price or not but that's what it list for.

Intel® Pentium® 4 processor

sSpec Number
SL6PG
Processor Frequency
3.06 GHz CPUID String
0F29
Package Type
478 pin Core Voltage
1.550
Bus Speed
533 MHz Thermal Guideline
81.8W
Core Stepping
D1 Thermal Spec
69°C
L2 Cache Size
512 KB Manufacturing Technology
0.13 micron
L2 Cache Speed
3.06 GHz Bus/Core Ratio
23
Spec Update
http://developer.intel.com/design/Pe...umentation.htm
Product Order Codes

Box Order Code
BX80532PE3066D
OEM Order Code
RK80532PE083512

Notes

[glc]

No, that's a 533 FSB processor. You want a 800 FSB.

Tell ya what - I'll spec out the whole system for you right here, and let's go from there.

Case: Antec Solution SLK3700-BQE Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case Single fan 350W SmartPower ATX12V Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129140

Motherboard: ASUS P4P800SE Socket 478 Intel 865PE ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131484

Processor: Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz 800MHz 478pin 512KB CPU,Retail
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=3.2_800BX&c=pw

Ram: CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145579

Video card: PNY QUADRO4 NVS 400 64MB DDR PCI 4X (Retail) (NO STOCK - Estimate arrival on 3/29/2006)
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec....iteria=1879824

Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3250824AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148111

Optical drive: LITE-ON Black IDE DVD Burner Model SHW-160P6S - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106014

Add a floppy drive and speakers if desired, add a keyboard and mouse of your choice, monitors of your choice. If you need to buy a copy of Windows XP, order the OEM version with your parts order from Newegg, save about $100 over buying a retail copy.

[Bullgod06]

I've got a keyboard and mouse, but what kind of floppy drive and monitors would you recommend for this setup. I was thinking 19" or 21" monitors. I will not be watching movies or playing games so I won't need nothing special. Just something that will get the job done.

I will need to download charting software from a cd so which CD-ROM would you recommend. Like I said earlier I won't be playing games or watching movies so I won't need something special.

I will need to buy a copy of XP, how complicated is it installing XP? I've been told that it's not simple.

Anyways, I appreciate your help. I hope that I can return the favor one day.

[glc]

I'd personally get one of the Mitsumi combo floppy drive/card readers.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16821104104

Do not connect the internal USB cable from it to the motherboard till after XP is installed or the card reader will steal drive C and D.

The DVD burner I suggested will read and write both CD's and DVD's, that's all you need.

XP is an easy install, you just boot the computer with the CD and install it.

Do you want LCD flat panels or standard CRT monitors? I assume you want LCD to save a lot of space if you are going to be using 4 of them. My customer uses four Xerox 19" LCD's that have glass front panels to protect the screens. They are NOT cheap.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....&ref=06&loc=01

If you just want a decent lower end 19", here's my choice:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824014104

[Bullgod06]

I like the LCD Flat Panels and since they're not cheap I'll go for the lower end version. Even those aren't cheap. But it will be a while before I get all four monitors. I've got a generic crt monitor that I've been using. But it's time to do some upgrading.

Aight, what keyboard would you prefer? How reliable are the wireless keyboards? I've looked at few of those but I would hate to be in the middle of a trade and not get to finish executing an order because my keyboard is wireless.

[Alaron]

I don't think that today's wireless keyboards have any noticeable lag. However, since you could be in a critical situation, I would go with a wired keyboard to be safe. I personally like Logitech. The best way to choose is to go to a store like BestBuy and see which one feels best to you.

[glc]

The most reliable keyboards are Microsoft and Logitech, and connect it PS/2, not USB. Same goes for a mouse.