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My box is for AI, and games and top coding as i am an applications engineer..
its a few years old now... but still a major rocket..
Asus ROG board that can overclock (because they are more dependable and better built)
i7-5930k at 3.5ghz
32 gigs of DDR4
Samsung 850 SSD
64 bit operating system in bootable VHDs so i can switch and recover in minutes (win 10 pro)
linux Kali on USB drives
Predator monitor..
Thermaltake case...
a few terabytes of disk space and matching offline space
water cooled..
Strix Mouse (wired)
Asus DVD recorder
Titan X card...
its a monster on the floor..
more USB slots than i can find
built in gigabit ethernet, and blue tooth and wi fi
it will do me well for a long time
at the time i bought all the parts, you could not make an equivalent with alien skin even if you went to 10k
however, by the time i need to rebuild it and its slow, it will be a long time passing... due to speed
i only regred not getting a second titan X card given that you cant mix them...
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
1. processing power
CAD/CAM machines are known to posses such powers – also, gaming machines are attractive.
For reason I do not want to detail, my preference is a CAD/CAM machine.
2. speed
CPU/RAM frequency along w/server grade SSD
3. new or used
Just a choice but my priority was savings
However, I bought two units about 2500 each dual Xeon Dell that most-likely sold new for 15-25k as CAD/CAM workstations. Both can drive 8 monitors – more than what I need.
Roughly 10k budget is what one can see here [a trader’s lab]:
[not sure the budget, it may or not include a lifetime license w/MC]
Something to laugh, yes I have that too – there is also a picture that shows same system sitting on a folding table with a piece of plywood as reinforcement to hold the weight – [such table arrived late] took more than one month to receive it [my trader lab? there are three powerhouses besides my laptop and a portable A/C to cool them off] [overall there are two dedicated machines and a “whorehouse”]
This is more a question of philosophy. I don't drive a SUV, because those are gaz guzzlers - just wasting energy and contributing to global warming. In a similar fashion, I do not need a second radiator for heating my office. Your graphics adapter is nice, but power consumption of the graphics adapater that I have selected is about 100 Watts less. The same applies to the processor. The i7-9700K has a TDP of 95W, while the i7-9700 has a TDP of 65W. I guess that my PC including graphic adapter and monitors has about half of the energy consumption compared to yours. And the premium for low energy consumption is silence, as the cooler fans are running slow.
The passmark comparison of the two CPUs shows 14667 versus 13744. Not significant for what I am doing. NnjaTrader uses a 2D graphics wrapper. Although I have installed a simpler graphics adapter, the GPU is running idle all the time. For my prior PC, I had even installed a 15W adapter for USD 30 to run three large monitors. Never had a problem with NinjaTrader, even with that adapter. Just calculated the video memory needed to accomodate the pixels. Now running a NVidia Quadro P2200. Trading is not a video game.
My goal was to set up a low energy, silent PC that does exactly what I need. Power and speed are important, but power consumption and noise are of equal importance to me.
Yes, philosophy. I respect your values of lower power usage and quiet. Personally, I love white noise and the power wasn't a difference that made enough difference for me.
You're saying that NinjaTrader doesn't utilize the GPU? If so, I'm confused because during Strategy Analyzer sessions I'm measuring its utilization.
I love having enough graphics horsepower to last me, I expect, 5+ years. I could have spent another $300-$500 on a higher-level graphics card but am happy with my "middle of the road" choice.
And I want as much CPU as I can reasonably afford because not everyone's C++ is elegant as yours (a sincere compliment).
A downside to my "select every component and have an expert build it" approach is that large manufacturers--the ones who do a good job--have entire departments that work to integrate all hardware and software components, then support every aspect of their system.
Everyone is really answering a different question and not defining what exact question they are answering. Everyone is describing what they think is best, but with little or no mention about best *for what* (with a few exceptions along the way).
I use a Falcon tower with four monitors from Falcon Trading Systems. I've had it since 2012 with no major issues other than a fan failure. Operationally, it runs great! Just updated my RAM from 8 GB to 16 GB and still have space for 2 more sticks. It was a bit pricey when I bought it, but in hindsight it was worth the cost. The customer service at Falcon is also top tier!
Actually, I've been responding to the opening question and have been enjoying other people's perspectives. I shared my decision-making process about the best NinjaTrader multi-monitor trading system in the $2,000 range. Obviously, it represents my values and belief system since there is no "best for everyone" recommendation. If that were possible, all systems would be the same. Same with cars and every other product and service. My point is that I selected a gaming system for trading that provides a lot of horsepower for a relatively low price and provided my rationale.
Yeah, I agree with you. Also you make a perfectly fair point about differing perspectives. I also think a typical gaming build is perfectly valid for most retail traders.
I am not a big fan of these threads (as I write my third reply here), but I will say that a gaming build is better if you game and trade on the same PC, but not if you just trade. On my current build, I opted for a graphics card that is designed for driving lots of monitors (NVidia Quadro P620), which is marketed to finance sectors, but does not handle intensive 3D rendering (or other GPU heavy tasks) all that well, that a good gaming rig would need. It is quiet, low power, and drives my displays with easy.
[my trader lab? there are three powerhouses besides my laptop and a portable A/C to cool them off] [overall there are two dedicated machines and a “whorehouse”]
