Set up for trading at home

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Bradcjc

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Hi everyone,
i know this question has been asked before and tried to search the answer on forum but couldn't really get a clear idea.

I am about to buy a new quad core PC for my trading, and don't have alot, if any experience with graphics cards, extra monitors etc.
I would like to have a 4 montior set up. I understand so far i need to install graphics card for this. My question is what type would be suitable, and how the hec to I do it all as I am close to computer illiterate.
When setting up the 4 monitors, where do they plug in to and do i need any extra bits and pieces to get all of this working?
Also would i need a video card?? Not sure if I read right when i saw that.

Thans guys in advance, Brad
 
Why 4 monitors? Are you already pretty successful at trading? If you're just learning, there's a good chance you'll never make it and are therefore throwing good money away. So, learn to trade then worry about the top-of-the-range setup later when you're making thousands. If you say you want to trade several instruments and therefore have several charts up, that's great, but learn to trade one instrument successfully first.

Most modern graphics cards will have a DVI port as well as a normal monitor port enabling two monitors to be connected, anyway.
 
Thanks for the link everyonerich, and thanks for your coments shadowninja, but i was after some information on setting up a multi monitor system on my computer, not a lecture on the negative side of trading
 
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Lets get practical, then.

4 monitors, good resolution. Two possible solutions:

* Get a special graphics card. Normal cards support 2 sreens by now, but Matrox has some for 4 screens. Get at least half a gig ram on it ;) Never forget, that ram is then used for 4 screens.

* Alternatively, get a computer capable of handling a SLI / Crossfire setup, so basically 2 slots for graphics cards. Then you can run two normal cards which gives you a total of 4 screens.

I am mixed no what is better. A "proper" 4 screen card from matrox is expensive, the dual cars setup though is more powerfull (not needed) and uses a lot more power (=cost and bad for environment).

I plan something similar. I will go for a new dual core, 8gb RAM (trade visualiization only, and I have still some of those lying around). The board only supports one graphics card, so I think i will go with a matrox or similar. BGut starting I will most likely with just a normal card and 2 screens. For that I have everyting just lying around, including spare 20" screens ;) Upgrading the graphics card at a later stage is trivial.
 
You don't need SLI or crossfire to install two or more graphics cards. SLI and crossfire are only of interest to gamers and completely irrelevant to trading. Forget them, they are not an issue.

Try to get a machine with two PCI-E x 16 slots. One of the best and cheapest options is to buy two Nvidia dual head NVS 285 or NVS 290 PCI-E graphics cards off eBay. Less than $50 each for 285s.

If you have only one PCI-Ex16 slot then get one NVS285 card and one NVS280 PCI card.

All of these cards have no fan (to create extra noise, wear out and fail), are low power - so you won't have power supply issues and run cool They are faster and better than older Matrox cards such as the G450 and G550 and the G200 MMS. Nvidia drivers are good. The NVS 400 is a quad head PCI card and the 440 is a quad head PCI-E card. They are more expensive but still a good choice.

All of these cards are "workstation" cards intended for 2D graphics and do this job very well. They are not high performance 3D cards as required for gaming.

If you are buying off eBay ensure that the cards come with the special Y cable that connects to the DMS-59 connector on the back of the card. There are two types of these cables - one for VGA (D-SUB) and one for DVI. If your monitors support DVI, then DVI is the preferred method. Also ensure that you are not buying a card with only a half height bracket. You need a full height bracket for normal PCs.

PCI-E cards are much higher performance than PCI so use if possible.
 
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Can you really get a dual PCIe x 16 motherboard that is NOT SLI / Cross fire capable? That is all i referred to ;)

I know some in the server area (EXPENSIVE), but all other ones I know that handle dual "proper graphics cards" are actually for SLI / Crossfire.

Regarding 2dd/3d I am a litle carefull. Vista / Windows 7 UI is heavily based on 3d functionality of the card. Once one uses things like WPF (as I plan) a lot is actually pushed to the card. I am not sure (as in: totally no idea) whether PCIe x1 would not become a bottleneck here.
 
I dunno if you can get boards with two PCI-Ex16 slots without SLI or xfire, but I do know that you get very inexpensive boards with two PCI-Ex16 slots

eg

Newegg.com - ASUS P5KPL-CM LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

I have one of these and it is fine.

As for Vista and all that compositing eye candy - can't you turn all that stuff off ? You don't need it on a trading workstation.

As an aside I have another low end machine with a very low end CPU, G31 onboard graphics and Ubuntu with KDE 4.1. It runs all the new eye candy such as translucent windows, wobbly windows and all the rest of it without without any problem at perfectly acceptable speed. It was also OK on a single core Sempron with an NVS 280 AGP card. If Linux can manage it, why not Vista ?

I do agree that you would be pushing it with PCI cards and this stuff. You will have trouble with any sort of reasonable definition video for example.
 
Nice board.

But according to ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
1 x PCIe x16
1 x PCIe x1
2 x PCI

;) No SLI, but then no two PCIex16 slots either. Only two normal PCI slots.

You can not turn that off on Vista. Vista window management usesd the graphics processor, always. It has serious advatnages. WPF - is used by the UI, and actually I just write my own trading desk package using WPF for charting. Serious advantages compared to the classical approach, especialyl things like export / printing (all vector based).
 
Sorry to interrupt--I have 4 x 19 inch screens at the moment--any one know if there`s anything stopping me from replacing one of these with a 42 Plasma? Thanks
 
tommac said:
Sorry to interrupt--I have 4 x 19 inch screens at the moment--any one know if there`s anything stopping me from replacing one of these with a 42 Plasma? Thanks
Click to expand...

Should be able to do it. If you have DVI out on your graphics cards you can use DVI/HDMI converter to connect to TV (if it is a TV!). Or use VGA. Depends on your 42" device.

Why do you want to do this ? I have a 42" LCD TV, and it's just wrong for normal computer things. Especially if you wear reading glasses - by the time you are far enough away, it is out of focus.

If you want to play video or watch TV on it, that is another matter.
 
Dont forget that a leggy blonde also comes in handy. Especially one who is up for bending over your trading desk at a moments notice, during the quiet periods.
 
Yeah. 42" makes only sense up the wall to read when you are further away. Otherwise 24" probably is the limit to handle nicely.

Make sure the 42" is full HD, as you will want the resolution ;)

The blonde is a must at that setup ;)
 
Tks guys--want it to double up for gaming after hours. Maybe for trading its not the best idea though.
 
Hm, ood question. You CAN double for gaming. Just make sure the system is "safe". Swappable hard discs sound like a good idea FOR NOW.

With Windows 7 coming, and the ability to boot from a FILE (not the main disc) you could have files (which are basically hard disc images) for both operations. Whatever you do, keep the systems separated for security.

I personally will go 2 computers when I enter the market again (am off-site at a customer at the moment opening the accounts for real trading) with a separate dual computer system (already in place) for my development / office work / games. The only thing going from that to the trading station are program updates for the stuff I work on ;)
 
I run 3 monitors, 1 on the regular graphics thing (the one that came in the comp.) and bought a Matrox 450 (???) for about 20 quid on eBay - as dcraig says, you do not need top of the range fancy 3D gaming engine sorta things - at all, whatsoever.

On a side issue, something VERY important is that you have a telephone, the number of your broker (ideally more than one - dealing desk, sales, tech support, whatever), your account details, passwords, copies of any forma you have to fill in, SWIFT codes - EVERYTHING - on a piece of paper stuck up on the wall.

The internet WILL go down, you WILL get a power failure, and so on. It is BUSINESS CRITICAL that you have a contingency for this, to call your broker and give him your orders.

(also, make sure your mobile provider will let you call international numbers if you have to, premium rate numbers, etc...)
 
MrGecko,

that is really well said. Not part of your IT setup, but definitly something you should have ready. Panic-Information ;) Do not forget, futures amrkets are tricky and dangerous. Another reason to have a stop loss in ALL THE TIME. Not in case the market moves against you (which MAY be handled without active stop loss, as a computer may be able to enter one in a fraction of a second), but in case that you are simply not ABLE to put one in anymore. Call it a "catastrophic stop loss", make it wide enough that is is not normally hit. But make sure you are covered if your communication infrastructure decides to go on a not announced out time.

And make sure you have as much info ready to grab as you can. Account numbers, access codes, phone numbers of all relevant parties should be somewhere.

I do NOT agree to put them up on a wall. That is way too open for anyone to see who comes in.

Put them into an envelope, seal that and hang THAT up on the wall ;)

Did the same in a couple of companies with admin and it staff personall contact information. In case of desaster, open and use. Open without desaster and you get your own personal HR desaster.
 
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