trading computer upgrade

[gollum]

firstly i am not live trading as i am just starting out. so if u can offer advice on the following and u have some first hand experience i would be grateful..
I have a pc that was custom built a few years ago..
P3 733 MHz slot 1 133 FSB
384 Mb RAM P133
60 GB HDD
VIA ABIT VT6x4 motherboard on 133 BUS
MATROX MILLENIUM G400 graphics card..
Running WIN 98 SE..
Now before u collapse laughing pls read on...

Now the P3 is a recent upgrade (from 450 MHz) which i got from ebay with heatsink for £25.
There is a little improvement but when i ran deal4free demo today then tried to pull up 1 advfn chart things started to grind . I only had 2 other IE windows open....
Although resource meter showed about 30% free for GDI, system & user the sytem monitor showed KERNEL processor usage at 100%. I also noticed increase in DISK CACHE misses..
I havealready run the free diag from PCPITSTOP & have adjusted some setting & performed a DEFRAG.
so, where does that leave me gents.. ?
a)get a 1000MHz chip - although my M/board does not support it should work- will it make that much difference..??
b) change motherboard, processor & graphics card hopefully using existing RAM- cost.? not sure.
c) Go for high spec laptop- but thats lots of cash...
d) try to tweak- not sure if this is pointless bearing in mind what i am trying to do(Run 4 graphs at once plus broker application etc..etc.)

 

[rossored]

Save the hassle of upgrading. Just buy a new desktop PC. £500 will get you a WinXP P4, 2.8Ghz, 512Mb RAM etc.

Either that or just buy more RAM.

 

[gollum]

acatually have just discovered that a fresh reboot improved performance but resources still show system 24% , DGI 24%, user 49% free
Is there anyone that works with a laptop with maybe just an extra screen attached. Surely the only disadvantages are they are not as easy to upgrade when the time comes. ..!




Hi Rossored, Yes u are right there are some very powerful but reasonably priced deals around
and it would give me XP which must be easier to maintain than Win 98. The only prob with WIN98 i have found is it needs to be regularly re-installed to keep it smooth.apart from that its been ok to me..

 

[rossored]

Yes, I trade with a laptop running WinXP. If you plug another monitor into what is commonly used for a projector and you can extend your windows desktop onto that, using it as a seperate screen. Very handy.

It was very useful last year when I went to Toronto for a while. Laptop in bag, climb on plane, get off, plug into super-fast broadband (makes ours look silly and very expensive) and away you go.

 

[roguetrader]

Is there anyone that works with a laptop with maybe just an extra screen attached. Surely the only disadvantages are they are not as easy to upgrade when the time comes. ..!




.

I have been using a laptop for several days since my main PC finally died. Runs a second monitor but is struccling resource wise,not enough ram I think, it frequently runs below 30% resources free. I have been told running below 40% resources free causes instability and severely increases your risk of crash.. Byt if your laptop is new and has plenty of ram should work just fine

 

[gollum]

I am going to nip down to whsmiths & get the latest PC mag i can find to search for a resonable laptop as after searching the internet realise i still cannot choose one..

Is there anyone out there who would be willing to spill the beans on the make model they have & if satisfied..? It would help me out..

I have found http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3717&item=6723229085&rd=1
which looks ok only not sure about only having 64MB for video card. ?? others have 128MB .
This seems reasonable at under £1k.

Only other thing i thought about is connecting second screen . Is this a software fix or hardware fix ? to get applications to stretch across the 2 screens rather than repeat the 1st screen..
If hardware fix then must i be wary of which laptop i purchase?. i Have never owned one & never opened one up..
:cheesy: all replies welcome..

 

[roguetrader]

Hi gollum, am not partcularly computer savi but if it's any help I have an ibm thinkpad a22m as my backup computer PIII 850 Mhz with 320Mb RAM. Standard factory fitted graphics card RAGE MOBILITY -M AGP doesn't give the memory size, but it is standard. I would say the RAM is on the low side would be better with 512M. As for the monitor issue, there were no alterations to be made to run a second monitor, I believe it is a standard laptop feature

 

[rossored]

The one you've found on Ebay there will do the job nicely. (cant comment on buying that kind of hardware off Ebay, but thats not your question)

As far as attaching the second monitor goes - all modern laptops have a spare projector port on the back. You just plug the monitor in, go to Display Settings and get Windows to extend your desktop onto that monitor. No hardware or softtware is required.

 

[oatman]

Have you looked at Dell Outlet?
http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/t...fo/home?c=uk&l=en&s=dfo&~section=about_outlet

 

[minx]

Gollum, try www.Systemax.co.uk or Misco.co.uk I got my laptop from the systemax people, I think its model Tourbook 5112 but I upgraded the RAM to 1GB. It then got into the Pc Pro A-List the following month. Its really thin and light, 15" screena dn I plug another 17" screen into the back of it, couldn't be easier. I think I paid £1100, the equivalent Dell was about £1300 or more and I looked at everything b4 I bought. Imho they're really good.

 

[gollum]

Hi Rogutrader- yeah my pc is almost the same level as your laptop but started to realise i can't get much mileage from an upgrade..
thanks rossored- No hardware or softtware is required - i can rest easy on that one
regarding ebay- yes i would be v.careful of buying on ebay- i just saw that vat is payable on that one ... strange i can't seem to find that model on sale in the uk as yet.. but it maybe a good deal..!!

Oatman- thanks alot 4 that. i would never have looked there.. On the site now..

does anyone have a strong opinion on 64MB or 128MB for video card running the type of trading software members run..?
apart from More is usually better of course :cheesy:
gollum

 

[minx]

My laptop uses the M10 64MB card, its the laptop version of the Radeon 9600. I also play games like MOHAA and CoD on it so it can handle games no problem too.

 

[a320]

I've run my fujitsu's 24/7 (for 2 years now with my first amilo d) never had a problem...found the new AMD 64 chip runs cooler then the p4's, if your after a desk top replacement...

I'd recommend at least 512mb ram if your going to run multiple applications & the ati cards are great for dual screen options. 64mb verses 128mb for the video card, only becomes an issues if your planning to run intensive 3d applications ( ie games)... Most include the 128mb as standard these days.

Here's a link to give some idea of spec & price for the fujitsu's both AMD & Intel...(The AMD 3700 1024mb ram 15.4 widescreen looks nice.. ) but the base model is more than capable!

All these have the 15.4 widescreen.
http://www.nice-pc.co.uk/amilo_a_laptops.html

If your a intel fan..(base model has the normal 15.1 screen)
http://www.nice-pc.co.uk/amilo_d_laptops.html

Oh comet do the mid range AMD model ...( slightly more expensive)

http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/320_225860.html

If l remember correctly ? Rosso run's a p4 fujitsu amilo d .

CJ

 

[gollum]

Hi , thanks to all for contributing.. really starting to whittle it down due to the advice . Got some hands on at PC World today .. The boys on the floor are definately in 'Xmas' mode..!

hi minx , A320 Am looking those sites too..
I have some mags also so i can make a choice soon.

rgds.. Gollum

 

[rossored]

If l remember correctly ? Rosso run's a p4 fujitsu amilo d .

Indeed I do - 18 months old now and going fine. Fan kicks in and makes a hell of a lot of noise sometimes, and this summer it cut out a couple of times when it got hot.

I'm also running a Acer Aspire 1362 Widescreen, 40gb hdd, 512mb ram now, which has an AMD Sempron chip - clocks at about 1.8 GHz I believe.

 

[gollum]

Hi, I am seriously considering this...
AMD XP Athlon 64 3700+
- 80GB hard disk
- 512MB DDR SDRAM upgradable to 1024MB
- Integrated DVD+RW Dual Double Layer combo drive
(8xDVD, 2.4xDVD+R, 2.4x DVD+RW, 24xCD,
16xCD-R,8xCD-RW)
- ATI Radeon 9700 128Mb external RAM
- 10/100 LAN Module
- 16-bit On-Board stereo sound ALC 655 V2.3
- Wireless LAN module 802.11g
- 15.4" TFT-WXGA (widescreen) 1280x800/16M

Is the 80211g completely internal..? I hope the module is not an add on.

 

[a320]

Sounds good..

Which laptop is that???

 

[gollum]

Thats the FUJITSU A1630 ..... Only prob with it is i have just discovered a review which uses a benchmark test PCMARK04 where it reached 4045 overall score (testing mem, disk , cpu) .

Now, in computer shopper there is a Mesh ULTIMA plus that reaches 4766 in same test.. Its about the same spec/price except uses P4 3.2
You can download the test for free at www.futuremark.com/download. only runs on Windows® 2000/XP .

In the review they think the FUJITSU A1630 did not perform quite as expected due to clock throttling