Multi monitor stock trading rig

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paul-a

Member
Hey everyone - please can you offer any advice on recommend spec for a desktop rig that will be used for stock trading.

Main requirements are;
- the ability to run stock price feed software, on multiple stock exchanges in parallel - effectively this involves streaming real-time price data updated at microsecond frequency, running calculations and rendering results
- as I understand streaming data effectively, processor speed, and handling multiple parallel calculations in memory are the most important
- disk memory needs are small and GPU rendering is mainly simple text and line charts. - No need for operating system licence
- around 2k budget
- I want to connect 5 or 6 2k monitors (which can be daisy chained in pairs from display port connections, so 3 ports feed 3 pairs of monitors). Each screen tracks about 6 stock prices, so 30-36 software instances running in parallel
- good connectivity, eg axe WiFi


Below is an initial spec I configured. It's pretty much defaults, with some enhancements to processor, power and cooling. It would not let me choose the 6ghz processor as is out of stock. What specs would you change and why?
pcs_logo.jpg


PCSPECIALIST.CO.UK SPECIFICATION

The specification below has been formatted so you can easily copy and paste this to our forums when discussing your specification. Once you've copied the specification, please click here to continue.
Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 24-Core Processor i9-13900K (3.0GHz) 36MB Cache
Motherboard
GIGABYTE Z790 UD (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 4800MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
Norton 360 inc. Game Optimizer - Free 90 Day License
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 15 to 17 working days
Price: £1,665.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z790-ddr5-pc/vbgbjR75xY/
 
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E

Eire323

Member
I don't know much about stocks, but don't skimp on the ssd I'd recommend the Samsung 990 pro , the cpu is a beast will handle whatever you throw at it.
 
sck451

sck451

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
I am not sure about the rest of the spec for your needs, but the graphics card normally has one DP, one HDMI and one DVI port. I don't think that would suit your needs. You might want to consider something like the T1000 instead, which is more designed for this kind of setup as it has four (mini) DP ports.

You will want faster memory. I'd think at least DDR5-5600, probably DDR5-6000. DDR5-4800 is slow and performs poorly.

I'd want to know more about the software that you're using and how it handles multi-threading, and how different CPUs work on it. If it's not heavily multi-threaded, the 13900K is not the right chip for you. Even if it is, the unusual P/E hybrid system of modern Intel chips may not be ideal. I simply don't know, but I'd want to find out before spending this kind of money on a system! Incidentally, GHz is not a great way to measure CPU performance. You need to measure the actual output of the CPU, rather than one statistic about it.

If you are doing stuff that is heavily latency sensitive (as I believe trading is), you probably want to be using ethernet rather than WiFi.

As a couple of small details, that cooler doesn't need the upgraded thermal paste; you may benefit from a faster SSD even if you don't need a large one (I disagree, though, with @Eire323, and would not choose the 990 Pro). I'd also choose an Asus rather than a Gigabyte motherboard, though I don't actually know much about the particular boards under discussion here.
 
E

Eire323

Member
sck451 said:
I am not sure about the rest of the spec for your needs, but the graphics card normally has one DP, one HDMI and one DVI port. I don't think that would suit your needs. You might want to consider something like the T1000 instead, which is more designed for this kind of setup as it has four (mini) DP ports.

You will want faster memory. I'd think at least DDR5-5600, probably DDR5-6000. DDR5-4800 is slow and performs poorly.

I'd want to know more about the software that you're using and how it handles multi-threading, and how different CPUs work on it. If it's not heavily multi-threaded, the 13900K is not the right chip for you. Even if it is, the unusual P/E hybrid system of modern Intel chips may not be ideal. I simply don't know, but I'd want to find out before spending this kind of money on a system! Incidentally, GHz is not a great way to measure CPU performance. You need to measure the actual output of the CPU, rather than one statistic about it.

If you are doing stuff that is heavily latency sensitive (as I believe trading is), you probably want to be using ethernet rather than WiFi.

As a couple of small details, that cooler doesn't need the upgraded thermal paste; you may benefit from a faster SSD even if you don't need a large one (I disagree, though, with @Eire323, and would not choose the 990 Pro). I'd also choose an Asus rather than a Gigabyte motherboard, though I don't actually know much about the particular boards under discussion here.
Click to expand...
☝️ This... need to know way more about what you're using software wise to accurately advise. Also this dude knows way more than I do, 990 pro was my recommendation because it's awesome.
 
P

paul-a

Member
Thanks for all the advice. Here's an updated spec on the advice so far

pcs_logo.jpg


PCSPECIALIST.CO.UK SPECIFICATION

The specification below has been formatted so you can easily copy and paste this to our forums when discussing your specification. Once you've copied the specification, please click here to continue.
Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 24-Core Processor i9-13900K (3.0GHz) 36MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG MAXIMUS Z790 HERO (DDR5, LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
PNY NVIDIA T1000 - 4GB GDDR6, 896 CUDA Cores - 4 x mDP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 990 PRO M.2, PCIe 4.0 NVMe (up to 7450MB/R, 6900MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
Norton 360 inc. Game Optimizer - Free 90 Day License
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 15 to 17 working days
Price: £2,297.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z790-ddr5-pc/xnUmJNZJTq/

The main software used is called atas, here's a link to their technical requirements page https://support.atas.net/en/knowledge-bases/2/articles/455-technical-requirements

I currently run it from a 2017 recoil ii laptop, which has an i7 6 core processor and 32gb ram. It doesn't perform well, everything is just slow. Can you offer any advice on how I determine if it makes use of multiple threading? I contact their support team, but the response wasn't helpful - they just directed me to the standard technical requirements.

Also I'd appreciate any advice on what to consider in selecting a particular Asus motherboard, plus my selection for CPU cooling.

Thanks for your help
 
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