Need a Build for Trading(stocks/currencies/etc)

[cgleckman]

Approximate Purchase Date: within 30 days

Budget Range: I am willing to spend what I need to as this is my job, however id prefer under $1000 as I do not need anything extravagant..

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Watching charts(charts take up about 2 gigs of ram on my current i7 870 comp), Internet(email, watching live news such as CNN or bloomberg), microsoft word/excel/powerpoint

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, mouse

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg, amazon(since I have the student thing that gives me free 2 day shopping), superbiz, im open to pretty much any trusted website.

Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: by brand or type: I have always been partial to INTEL over AMD however if someone can tell my why it may be a better choice I am open to it.

Overclocking: No (unless someone can tell me why it would be a good thing to O.C a machine for what I need to do)

SLI or Crossfire: Someone told me that this is required to have 3 monitors or more.. I am very unsure what this really is so I will leave that up to the communities digression

Monitor Resolution: I run my current computer on 1920x1080 x 2 monitors(extended not mirrored)

Additional Comments: Windows 7 is going to be my OS no questions. I need to be able to hookup 3 + monitors(i need atleast 2 to start so if there are any good deals currently.. Also if the monitors cant be included for under 1000 its not a problem.)

I am going to use this section to go a bit more indepth for what I am looking for. Hopefully this will help anyone, who is here to try and help me, understand what I want.

Currently I own a Intel i7 870 with an nvidia 275 GTX 1gb card, 8 gigs of ram, windows 7 x64 etc etc. Nothing special but back when windows 7 came out i7s were new and this was pretty high up there from what I remember.

Anyway the point is that right now I run my trading platform and play WoW or Rift and it maxes out my ram (which until today was 4 gb.. now with 8 I don't think it will max out anymore). Anyway I trade currencies for a living, as well as follow stocks/equities/etc. I need to eventually have 3-4 monitors but I am ok with 2 for now as that is what I currently use. For some reason I seem to think I can get what I want minus the monitors for around 5-600, am I being naive?

Anyway I would really appreciate any help or builds.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

Here's my suggestion, all from newegg. A few combos may also lower these prices

i5-2500 + 8 GB Mushkin DDR3-1600: $251.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.723951
a good combo with 8 GB of Ram for basically $40. The 2500 is selected because you won't want or need to overclock on a business machine.

AS Rock Z68M Motherboard: $94.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157270
excellent quality in an inexpensive form. You won't need more than 1 video card for what you are doing.

OCZ Solid 3 120GB Sata III SSD: $169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441
for fast loading of your software. Rather than add an additional HDD to this, just cannibalize your old drive from the 870 build, using it as a storage drive. the 120 GB shoudl be enough to hodl Win 7, and your most common apps, including WOW and RIFT

Acer 23" 1920x1080 monitor: $149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009266
(assuming your other two are this size)

Sapphire HD 6870: $174.99 w/ $20 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948
The 6870 will handle 3 screens for most non-gaming applications, but will probly be best if you keep your games to a single screen.

Rosewill Challenger U3 case: $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147060
2x Rosewill 120mm fans: $10.98 ($5.99 ea)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200048
This is a solid case (A Tom's Recommended buy!) with USB 3 front panel
for $2 extra per side fan, you can have blue LEDs, I went with the standards.

Antec BP550 550W 80+ Modular PSU: $64.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016
Plenty of power for the single 6850, and modular to reduce cable clutter.

Lite-On DVD burner: $19.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106334
Chosen because it has free shipping.


$997.89 total.

 

[cgleckman]

ScrewySqrl Thank you very much for the response. I like the build but I am not scrapping the gaming rig. I am making the new rig specifically for trading.

Like I said, I like the build, however I came accross a build about 5 minutes ago on this forum. I was searching for anyone recently asking for something similar. Anyway I found this post and response and i was wondering what you thought of this build by proximo? http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/315324-31-help-dedicated-stock-trading-desktop


I hate to challange what you posted since you did the effort and I do appreciate it, however i am just asking because I want to get the best for what I need and for the cheapest I can at the same time (arent we all?)

If you dont mind can you tell my why which build may be better?

Also if anyone else has some input it would be appreciated


EDIT: A quick note, will your build, or the build on the other page, allow me to upgrade later to add more monitors? To add more monitors would I have to get into SLI? I saw a build on a website that had 2 graphics cards and allowed for 8 monitors? I dont know how this would be possible... website: http://www.tradingcomputers.com/TC_V12_general.html

 

[randomstar]

There are some of the professional FireGL cards that support 4 monitors on the one card, with rediculous resolution. 8192 effective?
(I saw an entry on the Tom's landing page referencing the card in a Dell workstation- not sure right now and cannot look it up, will update this later..
definitly go with a i7 quad core sandybridge, , clock speed not really important, with the applications you are referencing.
grab all the ram you can afford - its cheap and you can always find a way to use it
you should be able to build it all in a "silent" case.

ScrewySqrl Thank you very much for the response. I like the build but I am not scrapping the gaming rig. I am making the new rig specifically for trading.

Like I said, I like the build, however I came accross a build about 5 minutes ago on this forum. I was searching for anyone recently asking for something similar. Anyway I found this post and response and i was wondering what you thought of this build by proximo? http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/315324-31-help-dedicated-stock-trading-desktop


I hate to challange what you posted since you did the effort and I do appreciate it, however i am just asking because I want to get the best for what I need and for the cheapest I can at the same time (arent we all?)

If you dont mind can you tell my why which build may be better?

Also if anyone else has some input it would be appreciated


EDIT: A quick note, will your build, or the build on the other page, allow me to upgrade later to add more monitors? To add more monitors would I have to get into SLI? I saw a build on a website that had 2 graphics cards and allowed for 8 monitors? I dont know how this would be possible... website: http://www.tradingcomputers.com/TC_V12_general.html

 

[g-unit1111]

Here's my suggestion, all from newegg. A few combos may also lower these prices

i5-2500 + 8 GB Mushkin DDR3-1600: $251.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.723951
a good combo with 8 GB of Ram for basically $40. The 2500 is selected because you won't want or need to overclock on a business machine.

Actually this build is a good suggestion but if it's a business machine I'd go with an i3-2120, save the extra $100 and instead of one 24" monitor I'd spend the difference on getting two 21.5" monitors, having extra space on your desktop is always a good thing when running multiple business apps.

 

[cgleckman]

Actually this build is a good suggestion but if it's a business machine I'd go with an i3-2120, save the extra $100 and instead of one 24" monitor I'd spend the difference on getting two 21.5" monitors, having extra space on your desktop is always a good thing when running multiple business apps.

I was planning on going with 23 inch monitors and I am going with 3 so I do appreciate the extra space already I appreciate your suggestion but I think the lowest I am willing to go would be the i5 sandy bridge

 

[cgleckman]

There are some of the professional FireGL cards that support 4 monitors on the one card, with rediculous resolution. 8192 effective?
(I saw an entry on the Tom's landing page referencing the card in a Dell workstation- not sure right now and cannot look it up, will update this later..
definitly go with a i7 quad core sandybridge, , clock speed not really important, with the applications you are referencing.
grab all the ram you can afford - its cheap and you can always find a way to use it
you should be able to build it all in a "silent" case.

I think I will go with the 1 graphics card that does 3 for now but I want to know if the mobo thats recommended by screwysqrl or the one in the other build I referenced can be expanded later to say another graphics card and 3 more monitors..

Also any particular reason you recomend the i7 instead of i5 for what I need? I feel like the i5 would be more then enough.. I may be wrong


I am going to post the other build right now on my thread so everyone can see and compare it.

 

[cgleckman]

This is not my build I am just copying it from PROXIMO from another thread so that people here can compare it with other builds mentioned. Maybe someone can even tell me if this build is good or not for what I need....

$800 may get you a stable, fast, and quiet computer, but it will be a near thing.

As to newegg user reviews, they have their place but only for those with a good understanding already. 80% of negative reviews can be traced to one of these:
1. User error in assembly, mostly followed by blame of some hardware.
2. Failure to read the item description carefully.
3. Mishandling of parts, either by the user or in route.

Power to multitask means at least a quad core. probably because of your budget an i5-2500K. Yes, it's an overclocking part but look at it this way... a part designed to be stable while being overclocked is likely even more stable at stock speeds. Also, it's very easily overclocked and so retains value far better than say an i5-2400. It's a better investment.

■ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
■Antec Sonata Proto Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
■Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
■EVGA 01G-P3-1431-KR GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
■SeaSonic S12II 430B 430W ATX12V V2.3/EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
■Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 996988
■Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
■ASUS P8P67-M (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
TOTAL: $690.92

Beyond that you could either upgrade to an i7-2600K or get an Intel SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167051

 

[g-unit1111]

I was planning on going with 23 inch monitors and I am going with 3 so I do appreciate the extra space already I appreciate your suggestion but I think the lowest I am willing to go would be the i5 sandy bridge

Well what I'm thinking is if you're mainly going to be using internet trading apps, the 2120 is perfectly suitable. For a lot of things - especially internet trading apps, you don't always need the extra power the quad cores provide. I just bought one and it is very fast, more than suitable for a lot of every day stuff.

 

[cgleckman]

Well what I'm thinking is if you're mainly going to be using internet trading apps, the 2120 is perfectly suitable. For a lot of things - especially internet trading apps, you don't always need the extra power the quad cores provide. I just bought one and it is very fast, more than suitable for a lot of every day stuff.

Thanks I will keep this in mind as I do more research and start to finalize a build

 

[g-unit1111]

Thanks I will keep this in mind as I do more research and start to finalize a build

No problem - when my AMD build died I had a hard time trying to justify the cost of the i5-2500 when the i3-2120 was going to do everything I needed and was $100 cheaper. I wound up spending the difference on getting a 64GB SSD.

 

[mojito_619]

Nowadays, I think it's a good idea to go quad-core, even for office tasks. If you're running numerous apps at the same time the extra cores will help speed things up.
This is what I would build:

Case Whatever rocks your boat really.
CPU
GPU It's got 1xHDMI, 2xDVI and 1x DisplayPort. You'll need an adapter if your monters dont have a display port connection.
2x4GB RAM No need for some "high performance" stuff.
ATX Motherboard or mATX Motherboard
PSU 600W for (plenty of) headroom for upgrading and overclocking.
DVD+HDD Combo

CPU Cooler If you fancy overclocking. Which I would recommend since it's easy and you get a noticeable performance boost.

Total= 697 w/o CPU Cooler

 

[randomstar]

I would do the I5-24-26, or a quad i7 only because you mentioned gaming on one display while having the other tracking apps open in the other windows. with antivirus, office, etc likely to also be running, there is no reason to skimp a little with the price only being a little higher, to avoid even the possability of a laggy response on a split second trade point or dip.

 

[cgleckman]

Nowadays, I think it's a good idea to go quad-core, even for office tasks. If you're running numerous apps at the same time the extra cores will help speed things up.
This is what I would build:

Case Whatever rocks your boat really.
CPU
GPU It's got 1xHDMI, 2xDVI and 1x DisplayPort. You'll need an adapter if your monters dont have a display port connection.
2x4GB RAM No need for some "high performance" stuff.
ATX Motherboard or mATX Motherboard
PSU 600W for (plenty of) headroom for upgrading and overclocking.
DVD+HDD Combo

CPU Cooler If you fancy overclocking. Which I would recommend since it's easy and you get a noticeable performance boost.

Total= 697 w/o CPU Cooler

Thank you for your reply. Do you mind if I ask why you chose those MOBO over other ones?

Also what exactly is a display port?. Can that video card really run 4 monitors? (hdmi x 1, dvi x 2, display port x 1)

 

[cgleckman]

I would do the I5-24-26, or a quad i7 only because you mentioned gaming on one display while having the other tracking apps open in the other windows. with antivirus, office, etc likely to also be running, there is no reason to skimp a little with the price only being a little higher, to avoid even the possability of a laggy response on a split second trade point or dip.

The sandy bridge 2500 is an i5.. what do you mean by i5-24-26?

Also what your saying is true and I will need to do a bit more research (obviously?) before making any final decision on any purchase.

 

[DelroyMonjo]

Do you want to do separate screens or what? Then maybe you should learn Win 7

 

[cgleckman]

Delroy im confused? Yes I want to do 3 screens to start, why the windows 7 comment?

 

[DelroyMonjo]

Because that may show somehow you might enable 3 monirors.

 

[DelroyMonjo]

Twits are cheap. 'dime a dozen' types They shouldn't lear.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

hi again.


The board I listed has only 1 GPU slot, but the GPU I suggested will do 3 monitors. you want the quad core because of the large mount of number crunching you are doing.

If you want to go beyond 3 Monitors, you'll need a SLI/Crossfire motherboard that is 16x/8x, the cheapest of which is $125. If you get this, you could get a pair of HD 6670s and come in around the same price.

alternately you can get a 6950/6970/6990 which can handle 6 monitors.

the other large expense is the 120GB SSD. you can chop $90 off with a Crucial C4 64GB SSD instead ($89.99)

 

[cgleckman]

hi again.


The board I listed has only 1 GPU slot, but the GPU I suggested will do 3 monitors. you want the quad core because of the large mount of number crunching you are doing.

If you want to go beyond 3 Monitors, you'll need a SLI/Crossfire motherboard that is 16x/8x, the cheapest of which is $125. If you get this, you could get a pair of HD 6670s and come in around the same price.

alternately you can get a 6950/6970/6990 which can handle 6 monitors.

the other large expense is the 120GB SSD. you can chop $90 off with a Crucial C4 64GB SSD instead ($89.99)

Thank you for responding. I need to still check into everything, however you said

alternately you can get a 6950/6970/6990 which can handle 6 monitors.

Does this mean a single one of those cards could do 6 monitors, or do you mean 2 of them as well?

 

[ScrewySqrl]

the very top end cards can do 6 monitors in a SINGLE card, as can any of the double-GPU cards (the 6870x2, 6990)

 

[cgleckman]

the very top end cards can do 6 monitors in a SINGLE card, as can any of the double-GPU cards (the 6870x2, 6990)

I see what your saying, is there a certain motherboard you would recommend to do 2 graphics cards (since 2 cards is cheaper then the 1 big card lol)..

What is the difference between SLI and Crossfire?

 

[ScrewySqrl]

SLI is NVidia's name for multiple cards working together, Crossfire is AMD's name.

the least expensive motherboard that can handle 2 cards effectively is this MSI board:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130612
Its $104.99 less a rebate, and can handle 2 video cards in x8/x8 mode.

I'd suggest using a pair of 6670s, which will allow up to 6 screens in use through eyefinity:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161375

although you could also use 5670s which are a little cheaper.

 

[cgleckman]

Best answer selected by cgleckman.