Trading Computers: Important factors to consider.
Whether we like or not, our computers are the concrete foundation to our trading business. Without a consistent, reliable high performance computer and internet connection, all of your trading knowledge and experience cannot be wielded in today's electronic markets. Here are five factors to consider when investing in a computer for trading:
1. What are my internet connection options for my area?
This may not be as simple as you think. If you're working from your home-office, the residential internet providers can cloud your judgement with competing advertisements of "Fastest Internet", when in reality those claims are only on DOWNLOAD speeds. Dig or ask for information on UPLOAD speeds. Your upload speed is very important as it is the speed at which your orders are sent to the market.
Unfortunately, there is really no way to see which internet provider has the most consistent connectivity until you have the service installed. During installation, ask the technician to run a ping-test or do so yourself by visiting PingTest.net. Your Ping reading should be under 100ms, have a Jitter reading of less than 30ms, and 0% packet loss. Any reading higher than that could mean inconsistent or poor line quality of your internet.
2. How many monitors should I use?
This question can be both of practicality and future use. How many markets and charts do you need or want to see instantly? Most "store-bought" consumer grade computers are run off of what the computer industry calls"integrated graphics accelerators", which is just a nice way to say this computer is built cheap. While these types of computers may get you started with trading, most do not have the ability to use multiple monitors or have the technical flexibility to upgrade to be able to do so.
Go after a computer listed with "discrete graphics" or dedicated video cards with multiple video outputs.
Caveat Emptor: Just because a computer has three video outputs doesn't mean that all of them can be used simultaneously.
Go BIG on monitors: With the price of high-definition monitors and televisions continuing to become more affordable, get the highest resolution and biggest screen size you can afford. I personally use a 32" on my desk, with a 50" on the wall above it. You will discover that this will save you money in the long-run, by not needing additional video card outputs, you won't need a custom built computer and an expensive multiple-head video card.
Go CHEAP on cables: There is really no performance differences from the Amazon Basics brand of HDMI cable vs more expensive brands when you're working with a short run under six feet.
3. What kind of processor and operating system should I have?
Operating Systems: The vast majority of trading platform software only operate on Microsoft Windows operating systems. 64-bit based operating systems run more efficiently. Therefore, stick to a Windows 64-bit OS, like Windows XP 64-bit, Windows 7, or Windows 8.
Processors: Get at least an Intel Core i3 or AMD equivalent with multiple cores. The bigger and faster your processor, the more efficiently your computer system will run.
Memory or RAM: With today's memory intensive trading applications, I recommend at least 8 GBs of RAM. I have 16 GBs on my machine. Don't worry about buying a computer that has a bunch of RAM on it out of the factory, as it is the single easiest and most affordable upgrade (usually less than $100) that you can do on your own.
Hard Drives: This a somewhat new consideration, that previously wasn't that much of a factor until the advent of Solid State Drives (SSD). Traditional hard drives function very similarly as that of a record player, there is a disk that spins via a high-speed motor and an arm that can read or write to the disk. That hum you hear when your system is booting up is most likely your hard-drive motor spinning at full-speed to load the massive operating system, that clicking sound you hear is the arm writing or reading the disk. As you can imagine with all of the moving parts, this is the most common part to fail first and is also the most devastating, as anyone who has lost all of their data can tell you. SSDs have ZERO moving parts and therefore are extremely reliable and much faster than traditional drives.
4. Computer Size (Form Factor)
Desktops (Recommended): Go with the largest size that your space and budget will allow. The bigger the case, usually yield bigger motherboards and more upgrade flexibility and potential.
Laptops: If you MUST have portability, then get the largest laptop you can afford that has a dedicated "discrete" graphics card and multiple video outputs. You will be limited in your ability to upgrade.
5. How much is this going to cost me?
If you're looking for a new complete setup, including monitors, expect to spend just under $2000. If you already have monitors and just want a new CPU, then expect to spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $1000.
Equipment Recommendations:
Computer:
ASUS CM6730 with Intel Core i7 (3770) Processor clocked at 3.4 GHz with 16 GBs RAM running Windows 8
Monitors:
Upgrades:
Upgraded processor cooling to Antec Kuhler H2O 620 Liquid CPU Cooler System