Please Help Me Build a Desktop

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
G

georgetok

Junior Member
Sep 16, 2011
23
0
0
Hi,
I am putting together a Desktop for watching stock market charts.
I will be connecting 12 Monitors ( Dell U2412M x 24 inch, 1920x1200 ) to this desktop.
Mostly I will be using 2 stock applications & couple of Word Docs & some webpages simultaneously.
OS will be Windows -7 ( Ultimate )
I will be using three ATI FirePro 2460 Graphics cards. ( I did a lot of research & chose these Low Profile cards ) AMD has specifically designed these cards for stock market applications & are used by many professionals.
I am not sure but Intel i7 2600 3.4 GHz processor should be enough ?
I am thinking about 8 GB GB DDR3 RAM
I need one DVD-RW
I guess Onboard Sound would be good enough.
Although I don’t have a budget restriction & want to build the best system, I am limited to the parts available where I am located. So you guys need to pick the parts from the following 2 websites. I am importing graphics cards since they are not available here.

http://www.theitdepot.com/
http://www.deltapage.com/

Thank You all.
 
G

georgetok

Junior Member
Sep 16, 2011
23
0
0
Last edited:
B

Blain

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
23,643
3
81
Start with 8GB (2 x 4GB), you'll be fine.
Will the room be air conditioned? If so the stock HS will be good.
 
P

piasabird

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
17,168
60
91
So have you priced such a system yet? Just 12 monitors may set you back about $1500 then you have to purchase the stands to hold them up. Then you need one or 2 computers to run them. This could easily cost $3,000 or more. I have seen estimates for a setup like this at $4,500.

http://www.multi-monitors.com/category_s/1864.htm

For stock trading it might be that you can run 12 monitors on one computer. Usually they use some kind of special software to control all the screens.

Might also need more power than a standard outlet can provide. I am thinking you need 3 or 4 outlets. You might have to run an extra line to control all that equipment. Add up all the wattage, etc.

They were using these video cards 2 X 6
HD5870 Eyefinity6x2 [Add $1,968.00] These have lots of RAM LIKE 4 GIG.
 
Last edited:
P

piasabird

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
17,168
60
91
I think one thing you have to think about is that 12 monitors require an elaborate stand or maybe some special kind of desk designed to hold that many monitors. Not to mention the weight and the fact that if you want 12, you cant start out with a stand for 3 or 4 or 6. I think, I would definitely think about this a bit. PLanning and implementation is key for a system this size. You definitely want to use monitors of all the same size. Some places like DELL may sell monitors designed for mounting with narrow frames, Vesa Mounts, and no stands. Seems like someone should have a package deal for buying this much stuff through a business account.

You may want to price a desk, stand, 6 monitor setup and see if 2each 6 monitor system can cost less. Can you even watch 12 monitors?
 
Last edited:
ElFenix

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,396
8,559
126
mfenn said:
You could go with 12GB, but it would have to be 2x4GB + 2x2GB. Not that it's really necessary unless your app eats tons of memory. At that point I would say to skip 12GB and go for 4x4GB.
Click to expand...

there's no technical requirement that memory be installed in pairs. and i'm fairly certain the controller is smart enough to use interleaved portions before using the non interleaved portions. so no performance hit either.
 
M

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
5
71
www.mfenn.com
ElFenix said:
there's no technical requirement that memory be installed in pairs. and i'm fairly certain the controller is smart enough to use interleaved portions before using the non interleaved portions. so no performance hit either.
Click to expand...

I presume you're thinking of 3x4GB?

That will cause a performance hit because even though the MMU will map the interleaved portion to the lower part of the address space, the OS has no knowledge of that boundary. The memory controller just loads and stores from the physical addresses that the OS tells it to load and store from, and the OS will spread the allocations out all over the address space. So yes, you will see a performance hit.

Now, whether that hit is significant or not is another question.
 
G

georgetok

Junior Member
Sep 16, 2011
23
0
0
piasabird said:
So have you priced such a system yet? Just 12 monitors may set you back about $1500 then you have to purchase the stands to hold them up. Then you need one or 2 computers to run them. This could easily cost $3,000 or more. I have seen estimates for a setup like this at $4,500.

http://www.multi-monitors.com/category_s/1864.htm

For stock trading it might be that you can run 12 monitors on one computer. Usually they use some kind of special software to control all the screens.

Might also need more power than a standard outlet can provide. I am thinking you need 3 or 4 outlets. You might have to run an extra line to control all that equipment. Add up all the wattage, etc.

They were using these video cards 2 X 6
HD5870 Eyefinity6x2 [Add $1,968.00] These have lots of RAM LIKE 4 GIG.
Click to expand...

HD 6870 is cheaper. But for my applications three, ATI FirePro 2460 is a better choice because I don't do games. It consumes only 17 - 20 watts max each. Has single slot footprint & no fan.

Even if I go with premium parts, my systems should not cost more than $2000.00 without monitors.
 
G

georgetok

Junior Member
Sep 16, 2011
23
0
0
piasabird said:
I think one thing you have to think about is that 12 monitors require an elaborate stand or maybe some special kind of desk designed to hold that many monitors. Not to mention the weight and the fact that if you want 12, you cant start out with a stand for 3 or 4 or 6. I think, I would definitely think about this a bit. PLanning and implementation is key for a system this size. You definitely want to use monitors of all the same size. Some places like DELL may sell monitors designed for mounting with narrow frames, Vesa Mounts, and no stands. Seems like someone should have a package deal for buying this much stuff through a business account.

You may want to price a desk, stand, 6 monitor setup and see if 2each 6 monitor system can cost less. Can you even watch 12 monitors?
Click to expand...

I am limited to regular Dell ( U2412M, 24 inch, 1920x1200 ) monitors because of my location. Of course I will need stands but again only 2 companies are selling & only to corporations with a large order, so I will start out with 8 monitors & see how they would fit on a desk & then have a desk made for 12 Monitors. It is cheaper than 3 stands each holding 4 monitors. I don't need a fancy desk for that but would need a very comfortable chair.

I have not watched 12 monitors but seen other traders using them so I am taking a calculated risk on that. Initially I will setup 8 monitors & see what happens. But I do have to build the system keeping 12 monitor option open.

I am able to watch 3 charts divided on one monitor & keep track of 3 minimized ones so I am pretty sure 8 wouldn't be a problem.
 
G

georgetok

Junior Member
Sep 16, 2011
23
0
0
G

georgetok

Junior Member
Sep 16, 2011
23
0
0
mfenn said:
You could go with 12GB, but it would have to be 2x4GB + 2x2GB. Not that it's really necessary unless your app eats tons of memory. At that point I would say to skip 12GB and go for 4x4GB.

I have 8 GB now & it is enough to run what I am doing for sometime but I don't know what will happen when I have 12 charts open & updating in real time on 12 monitors. So I will start with 8 GB & go from there. 12 & 16 wouldn't make much difference in cost.

The CPU comes with a heatsink.
Click to expand...

How about another fan? Dell XPS 8300 that I have now has a cooling system on top of cpu & another extra fan.
 
G

georgetok

Junior Member
Sep 16, 2011
23
0
0
mfenn said:
The main thing that you'll need is a motherboard with three physical PCIe x16 slots to handle the three graphics cards. Other than that, you can go with a pretty standard build.

i5 2400
ASUS P8Z68-V
G.Skill DDR3 1600 8GB
Hitachi 7K1000 1TB
DVD Burner
Seasonic S12II 520W
Antec NSK4400
Click to expand...

mfenn,

I am little confused about having 3 PCIe x16 slots & don't understand the following description. Are you sure this motherboard will accomodate three FirePro 2460 cards ?

Here there is no return & no exchange policy so if I made a mistake, I loose the motherboard.

Can you please expalin following & what is black PCIe x16 ?

Expansion Slots
PCI Express 2.0 x162 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (single at x16 or dual at x8 / x8 mode)
1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot [black] (max. at x4 mode, compatible with PCIe x1 and x4 devices)PCI Express x12PCI Slots2
 
Ken g6

Ken g6

Programming Moderator, Elite Member
Moderator
Dec 11, 1999
16,649
4,590
75
georgetok said:
what is black PCIe x16
Click to expand...
Look at the motherboard. Look closely. Notice that there are three really long slots? One is blue, one is white, and one is black. The blue slot has up to 16x normal PCIe bandwidth, but only 8x when another card is in the white slot. The card in the white slot gets 8x normal PCIe bandwidth (when another card is in the blue slot). The card in the black slot only gets 4x normal PCIe bandwidth.

All three cards should work just fine. In general, it would be good to avoid connecting monitors that will show video or other frequent, high-speed graphics changes to that third card in the black slot; though this is by no means a requirement.
 
max347

max347

Platinum Member
Oct 16, 2007
2,335
6
81
Why 12 monitors instead of something like 3x30" Dells? Much easier to setup and control- you'd only need one card, and 3x 2560x1600 would yield roughly the same area as 12 720p LCDs- just put your charts in separate windows.

http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Dell-UltraS...A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A5559&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#

Something like 3 of those.

Then a standard build with 1 ATI consumer card will do the trick. I would think you could do everything for $3k or less going this route. Also- no crazy monitor stands or space issues, just a big desk.
 
paperfist

paperfist

Diamond Member
Nov 30, 2000
6,539
286
126
www.the-teh.com
max347 said:
Why 12 monitors instead of something like 3x30" Dells? Much easier to setup and control- you'd only need one card, and 3x 2560x1600 would yield roughly the same area as 12 720p LCDs- just put your charts in separate windows.

http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Dell-UltraS...A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A5559&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#

Something like 3 of those.

Then a standard build with 1 ATI consumer card will do the trick. I would think you could do everything for $3k or less going this route. Also- no crazy monitor stands or space issues, just a big desk.
Click to expand...

He said because of his location he can only source out the Dell's he listed.
 
M

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
5
71
www.mfenn.com
Ken g6 said:
Look at the motherboard. Look closely. Notice that there are three really long slots? One is blue, one is white, and one is black. The blue slot has up to 16x normal PCIe bandwidth, but only 8x when another card is in the white slot. The card in the white slot gets 8x normal PCIe bandwidth (when another card is in the blue slot). The card in the black slot only gets 4x normal PCIe bandwidth.

All three cards should work just fine. In general, it would be good to avoid connecting monitors that will show video or other frequent, high-speed graphics changes to that third card in the black slot; though this is by no means a requirement.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup: On the last point, I would say that even PCIe Gen1 x4 is still 1GB/s full duplex, so it can handle any 2D graphics no problem.
 
G

georgetok

Junior Member
Sep 16, 2011
23
0
0
max347 said:
Why 12 monitors instead of something like 3x30" Dells? Much easier to setup and control- you'd only need one card, and 3x 2560x1600 would yield roughly the same area as 12 720p LCDs- just put your charts in separate windows.

http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Dell-UltraS...A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A5559&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#

Something like 3 of those.

Then a standard build with 1 ATI consumer card will do the trick. I would think you could do everything for $3k or less going this route. Also- no crazy monitor stands or space issues, just a big desk.
Click to expand...

The key to my setup is to get as much info ( which in my case is the number of price bars ) as possible on each chart.

Using 30 inch monitor & 3 charts would divide the horizontal resolution in third, which means I have only 2560/3 = 853 Resolution on ecah chart compared to 1920 on a 24 inch monitor. So I will get only half the number of bars on each chart & that is called half the picture.

I can make a better decision with Full Picture than half the pecture.

I hope you understand what I am trying to achieve.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom