What type of computer specifications do you all have?

Hi all,

 

My current computer specifications are as follows:

 

Intel Core i5-2400 SPU @ 3.10Ghz

8.00 GB RAM

2 Hard Drives – SSD 60GB & 1TB HDD

 

I think that this is a little bit slow and am looking at buying a new computer to generate strategies faster.

 

 

I was thinking about the following computer (as it is within my price range):

 

Intel Core i7 4790 Quad 3.6GHz

32GB DDR3 RAM

120GB SSD 3TB HDD

Upgrade CPU Cooler to Water Liquid Cooling System (dual fan radiator)

Upgrade to 750W Power Supply with Large Quiet Cooling Fan

 

 

Q. What would you all think of my potential new computer specs?

Q. What type of specs should I add instead? 

Q. What type of computers are you all running SQ on?

 

Thanks.

Hi phild,

Nice spec you chose for yourself there. Funny enough I was thinking of changing my old Quad Core to something newer. Every time I run StrategyQuant for longer than hour my PC restarts itself.

I like the spec you presented, although I was thinking of 16GB of RAM and 256GB SSD.

 

I was interested as well in having something closer to server platform based on Xeon CPUs. HP Z800 for example.

I was also considering renting few servers on the cooled racks from professional company. But that maybe when StrategyQuant robots are going to make some money first ;-).

 

All the best!

Bart S.

Hi phild,

Nice spec you chose for yourself there. Funny enough I was thinking of changing my old Quad Core to something newer. Every time I run StrategyQuant for longer than hour my PC restarts itself.

I like the spec you presented, although I was thinking of 16GB of RAM and 256GB SSD.

 

I was interested as well in having something closer to server platform based on Xeon CPUs. HP Z800 for example.

I was also considering renting few servers on the cooled racks from professional company. But that maybe when StrategyQuant robots are going to make some money first ;-).

 

All the best!

Bart S.

 

Thanks Bart, I was also thinking about getting paying to get some cloud computing time, but this is quite expensive. 

 

I looked at one that would cost about US$400 a month.

 

With that cost, I was thinking I might just get a new computer, as my desktop computer is still decent, but I am afraid that running SQ on my laptop will shorten its life!

Hi,

 

I think it will be cheaper to buy a new computer than renting one, you’ll pay too much for the performance.

 

I personally have little bit older i7-2600K, at its time it had the best price/performance ratio. I don’t know what is the situation now.

Good processor with enough threads is what is important for SQ.

Hi,

 

I think it will be cheaper to buy a new computer than renting one, you’ll pay too much for the performance.

 

I personally have little bit older i7-2600K, at its time it had the best price/performance ratio. I don’t know what is the situation now.

Good processor with enough threads is what is important for SQ.

 

Thanks Mark,

That’s what I thought, given the cost of renting a computer vs buying one, it would be far more cost effective to buy a new one. 

 

But I am still quite interested in what type of systems other people have (and their recommendations are), if they would like to share… 

I use an ASUS laptop, i7 3630QM CPU, 16 GB RAM which has been upgraded to Samsung 1TB SSD.

 

http://www.simplyasus.com/N56VB-S4041H-ASUS-N56VB-S4041H_1592561.html

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/pc-components/storage/disk-drives-hdd-ssd/samsung-840-evo-1tb-1168534/review

 

Seems a good compromise on price and performance for number crunching.

I use an ASUS laptop, i7 3630QM CPU, 16 GB RAM which has been upgraded to Samsung 1TB SSD.

 

http://www.simplyasus.com/N56VB-S4041H-ASUS-N56VB-S4041H_1592561.html

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/pc-components/storage/disk-drives-hdd-ssd/samsung-840-evo-1tb-1168534/review

 

Seems a good compromise on price and performance for number crunching.

 

Interesting choice, but I am looking at a desktop cpu. I haven’t purchased anything yet, but am still looking for other offers.

 

Does it run SQ well?

Laptop runs SQ very well. All cores utilized 100%, SSD means data get loaded into memory very quickly. 

 

I prefer laptops to desktops as the battery acts as a built in UPS for any power dips during long runs, they are quiet and of course portable!

 

If I were to add a desktop computer I would go pretty much with your spec, 4790 CPU, 16 GB or 32 GB depending on my budget, and probably 4 x 256gb SSD to maximise throughput of SATA III interfaces on the motherboard (I use a lot of databases that like fast IO)

 

Talking of which make sure you get a good motherboard!  Cheap ones often are unstable under heavy load and strangle performance.  If money was tight I’d go for 16GB now leaving 2 empty slots to add more later as funds permit and spend the money saved on the SSD’s and the motherboard now.

Laptop runs SQ very well. All cores utilized 100%, SSD means data get loaded into memory very quickly. 

 

I prefer laptops to desktops as the battery acts as a built in UPS for any power dips during long runs, they are quiet and of course portable!

 

If I were to add a desktop computer I would go pretty much with your spec, 4790 CPU, 16 GB or 32 GB depending on my budget, and probably 4 x 256gb SSD to maximise throughput of SATA III interfaces on the motherboard (I use a lot of databases that like fast IO)

 

Talking of which make sure you get a good motherboard!  Cheap ones often are unstable under heavy load and strangle performance.  If money was tight I’d go for 16GB now leaving 2 empty slots to add more later as funds permit and spend the money saved on the SSD’s and the motherboard now.

 

Thanks for the additional information.

 

You would recommend 4x 256GB SSD hard drives?

Is that so I can run multiple versions of SQ at the same time?

 

I was thinking of only 1 SSD and then a larger normal hard drive.

 

What type of motherboard would you recommend?

 

Thanks.

The most importend think is the memory at the moment.

If you make Robustness tests with many strategys over a long period, the memory consumption is very high.

 

this is a 64 GB System. I make a N=500 Robustnesstest over 3 Years of  8000 Strategies

 

The memory consumption is very high in this scenario.

thomas

The most importend think is the memory at the moment.If you make Robustness tests with many strategys over a long period, the memory consumption is very high.

this is a 64 GB System. I make a N=500 Robustnesstest over 3 Years of  8000 Strategies

The memory consumption is very high in this scenario.

thomas

Cool, what kind of system specs do you have tnickel?

Are they enough for you, or are you looking to upgrade?

I have a 4930 system with 64 GB.

I think it is enough for the moment.

 

you can but it at

http://pclike.de/intel/core-i7-so2011/core-i7-4930k/intel-i7-4930k-34-39-ghz-64-gb-ram.php

 

I bought this computer with two additionals fans.

 

The price/power value for this system is very good. The quality from pclike was was very good too.

I am happy with this system.

 

the system run the whole day 24 hours.

thomas

One solution to work with less memory is to increase the permanent swap-file to 250GB and buy a SSD-drive and store the permanent swap-file to ssd.

 

I don´t tried this at the moment,because 64 GB are enough. But I think this solution is not so expensive, as I buy 250 GB of memory.

thomas

Thanks for the additional information.

 

You would recommend 4x 256GB SSD hard drives?

Is that so I can run multiple versions of SQ at the same time?

 

I was thinking of only 1 SSD and then a larger normal hard drive.

 

What type of motherboard would you recommend?

 

Thanks.

 

One SSD is fine, but the disk controller is the bottleneck with the latest SSD, so 2x or 4x SSD is better than 1 large SSD for similar cost.

 

For example with two SSD:

One drive for Windows and programs and Windows paging file. One for SQ data.

 

I would go for 32GB RAM. I think it is enough for SQ.

I have a 4930 system with 64 GB.
I think it is enough for the moment.

you can but it at
http://pclike.de/intel/core-i7-so2011/core-i7-4930k/intel-i7-4930k-34-39-ghz-64-gb-ram.php

I bought this computer with two additionals fans.

The price/power value for this system is very good. The quality from pclike was was very good too.
I am happy with this system.

the system run the whole day 24 hours.
thomas

Do you have any problems with your systems running at such a high cpu utilisation for days on end?

That is a concern that I have…. Is that running SQ for days on end will shorten the life of the computer?

What are your experiences/opinions on that?

Hi phild,

the only problem is the extensive energy consumption of the computer.

 

There are no technical problems.

I build in two additional fans, so the system get a good cooling.

thomas