3 Tips For Buying Your First Trading Computer

Trading is an exciting venture, not only will you be able to have access to profitable signals but you will get to gain wins, make profits and control the risks. If you are serious about trading, then you need to know your smartphone or tablet will not do. You need to invest in a high performing trading computer that will not only allow you access to the markets but you will get to monitor different graphs on different displays.

As a newbie, you probably don’t know where to start and you are frustrated with questions about the type of hardware your trading computer needs to have. Yes, you can go to any computer shop and purchase a computer or laptop to start trading but this will not work because the amount of data your computer or laptop will be receiving is enormous. You need a computer with high performing hardware if your plan is to be a full time trader.

Here are 3 tips for buying a trading computer.

Processor & RAM

The processor is the brain of the computer and just like the name suggests it helps with calculations and processing of data and values. As an upcoming trader, it is important to budget when shopping for a trading computer. How much are you willing to spend? If you are on a tight budget, you can shop for a computer with a top of the line i5 Intel Processor or a budget i7 Intel Processor.

These type of processors have around 4 to 6 cores. They are sufficient for a trader on a budget. If you want a high performing processor, you could go for Intel Core i7-6950x which has 10 COREs @ 4.0 GHZ. For RAM, you need to have a minimum of 8GB if you are on a tight budget. For best performance, invest in 16GB of RAM or more. This will be sufficient enough to help you run all your trading software smoothly.

Graphics Card

Today, it is common to come across computers with integrated graphics chips but when it comes to trading, these won’t do. Okay they have the ability of processing images and videos but trading softwares are demanding especially the charting features. Furthermore, integrated graphics chips do not support multiple monitors. Multiple monitors are an advantage to a full time trader as one can keep track of different trades and charts with ease.

There are two major companies that manufacture the best graphics chips. They include NVIDIA and AMD. Both offer high quality graphics cards that work with third party cooling systems. Some budget graphics cards for your trading computer include EVGA GeForce GT 720 2GB DDR3,EVGA GeForce GT 740 Superclocked Single Slot 4GB DDR3 Video Card, EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 SC GAMING ACX 3.0, 8GB GDDR5, PNY Quadro K620 Graphic Card and Nvidia Quadro K1200 Low Power, Low Profile. Remember, you don’t need an expensive gaming graphics card.

Hard Drive & Cooling System

Hard drives are vital as they allow storage and retrieval of digital information. HDDs are designed with one or more rapidly rotating discs coated with magnetic material that are read and written on by magnetic heads. Today, computer owners have access to SSDs (solid state drives). Unlike HDDs, SSDs are fitted with flash modules/chips.

The non-volatile memory chips contain no moving parts so they ensure data is written and read at a faster rate than HDD. As a trader, you need to have a computer with an SSD as the primary drive. This will host your desired operating system, the trading softwares and other applications.

You can install the HDD as a secondary drive for storing other forms of data. Heat is the enemy of a computer’s processor and the only way to counter it is by installing a cooling unit. You don’t need to invest in liquid cooling solutions as they are expensive. You can purchase the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Single or Dual fan.

Final Thoughts

As a serious trader, you need to get an edge on the market and one of the ways to do so is by investing in a high performing computer system. Choose a processor with 6 or more cores, invest in 16GB of RAM or more, buy a graphics card that supports 4K or 5K resolution and 3 or more computer monitors. When it comes to the hard drive, buy an SSD as your primary drive and an HDD as a secondary drive. Cooling is important and the best should have two or more fans. Finally, never forget to invest in a strong technical support.