BUDGET: $2000 for the desktop itself $1500 for the monitors

24" monitor?

BTW I'll be running 40+ charts with real time data from IQ feed using sierra charts with almost all of them having a study of some sort on them. Also running skype to chat with other traders. This is mainly for trading but like I mentioned earlier will go to some use for gaming!

I would up the budget to $1800 for monitors so you can spend $300 on each if necessary, just my opinion, as I have not checked prices recently but don't skimp on the monitors. I would recommend 24", I have some Gateways that are great but out of production, but my third is a Dell and it is excellent. The price on these is about $300 last time I checked, maybe less now.

Be aware that even though Sierra is one of the fastest and leanest trading programs out there, running 40 charts will bog it down somewhat, depending on the update frequency. If you use a DOM and want it to remain updating quickly, for example, run it and only a couple of charts using one SC installation, and run the other charts on other installations. This way you split the CPU load. If all charts have "equal weight" then I suppose you can run them on one copy, but if you require one or two to be faster, then you will need to do it this way to ensure that certain ones get "prioritized."

I run about 40 charts in Sierra on my i7 2600k o/c'd to 5.0ghz and it is fine, I would say it could handle many, many times that figure and still be absolutely fine.

I would get LED monitors and check power consumption closely, as six of them (like I have) will put off a lot of heat. That is why I bought my Dell U2412M's, at the time they were one of the most energy efficient and lowest heat.

You don't need all kinds of color accuracy or fast refresh rate for charting, assuming you will not be playing any type of games. I would put importance on small bezels, low heat, and then just do as much homework as you can stand to make sure you are getting a high quality panel that can produce very crisp images. I am very pleased with the Dell U2412M's I have, and I paid less than $300 each when I bought them around 15 months ago or so (can't recall exactly when).

You don't really need to overclock. Unless you have substantial experience in this area, I would recommend against it. I overclock because I've been building systems since I was 9 and it's a hobby. I spend way too much money and get the best of everything because I am spoiled, and it's a hobby. It is certainly not because Sierra Chart needs it. That said, I do a ton of other things on this workstation as it is my main rig, so the overclocking comes in handy for all the video encoding I do (for example).

I would recommend replacing the stock Intel HSF with something aftermarket. You don't need to do a Corsair H100 unless you are sure you are overclocking, as it is bulky. You can find excellent coolers on Newegg for around $50 that will be virtually silent for a standard clocked CPU.

For video cards, I am running two FirePro 2460's with 4xMini-Displayport each. These cards are borderline sufficient. I previously used a HD5870 Radeon Eyefinity-6 and HD7870 Radeon Eyefinity-6, and in both cases had a lot of problems (documented in the main 6-monitor thread I believe). The two FirePro 2460's can be found dirt cheap on ebay, I think I paid less than $100 each on average for mine. However, they are pretty old tech and can barely handle 1080p video, which I do stream from YouTube on occasion and it can get annoying. There are also some other video anomalies that occur every now and then and it's hard to know if it's because of the 2460 chipset or because I am running six of them, but the fact is, it's an odd configuration that very few people run which means it isn't well tested or support.

AMD has announced some new cards I've got my eye on, I am not sure they are in production yet and cannot recall the specifics (name), but basically it's the updated class that supports 4-displayport per card but with a current generation GPU. The workstation class cards are way overkill, costing almost $1,000. No need for that.

I recommend Corsair modular PSU's and have many of them in my systems here and never had any problems.

I would research the SSD carefully and go with the newest gen of tech. For example, I am running old Corsair tech from a couple years ago, and it shows. The new SSD's I purchased for the new futures.io (formerly BMT) servers are far superior. You can find good reviews on AnandTech and HardOCP.

Mike

Could you recommend a guide for overclocking though?

For video cards, I am running two FirePro 2460's with 4xMini-Displayport each. These cards are borderline sufficient. I previously used a HD5870 Radeon Eyefinity-6 and HD7870 Radeon Eyefinity-6, and in both cases had a lot of problems (documented in the main 6-monitor thread I believe). The two FirePro 2460's can be found dirt cheap on ebay, I think I paid less than $100 each on average for mine. However, they are pretty old tech and can barely handle 1080p video, which I do stream from YouTube on occasion and it can get annoying. There are also some other video anomalies that occur every now and then and it's hard to know if it's because of the 2460 chipset or because I am running six of them, but the fact is, it's an odd configuration that very few people run which means it isn't well tested or support.

Quick update everyone here's what my build is looking like right now.

COMPUTER:

Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard 180 (considering the sabertooth any recommended motherboards to fit 2 full sized GPU? 240)

CPU: i7 2700k 220
SSD: crucial m4 189
Cooler: H100(rather big but great cooling system) 105
RAM: corsair vengence 8x2 16 GB 120
CASE: Cooling master full tower from Newegg 160
CD: 20
Video CARD: Radeon 7850 1 GB x 2 310
Battery: seasonic gold 850W 140

1424 total or 1484 with sabertooth



Monitors I'm still wondering I like the Dell 24" IPS but thats quite expensive and not sure what I'd really need IPS for besides gaming but I can't convince myself to really spend the extra money just for that. Considered maybe 1 IPS and 5 LCD/LED but realized I have some major OCD and could not stand to have a different monitor!

Any suggetsions pros cons for having the IPS 24" @bigmike? besides what you mentioned above? From the research I've done everything you mentioned in your previous post was there and also that LED/LCD monitors are faster than IPS but just barely and im sure I would not really notice.

If I decide to go against getting the Dell I'll be getting 6 x Asus VS247H-P 24-Inch Full-HD LED-Lit Monitor for about $168 each


Also can anyone recommend a stand? Don't want a stand that just has the monitors in a straight line but where I could curve the left and right in towards me would be ideal while also being able to adjust each individual monitor!

Thanks!

Hey Mike, what kind of issues are you having with your 2460's?