Single Core PC

[tinkerz]

Hi,

Since I only want to run NT in realtime, whats the best single core setup for NT7 these days?

I dont see any advantage in dual or quad, unless I am mistaken.

I also dont know what the factors are in selecting a chip to work with NT, is it cpu speed,FSB? something else?

Thanks

Tinkerz

[NinjaTrader_Cameron]

Hello Tinkerz,

Thank you for your note.

The minimum requirements for NinjaTrader are listed on our Installation Guide:

http://www.ninjatrader.com/installation-guide.php

Regarding the best single core, I believe your options may be limited as all CPU manufactuers have gone to creating dual core CPUs.

Now the factors in the CPU selection are really the CPU speed, but note that the 2GB minimum RAM is equally important for using NinjaTrader.

We do have some users that use older PCs or netbooks that are well below our minimum requirements however you can run into sluggish PC performance if you run below the minimum specifications.

Maybe one of our other community members can assist with your questions and share their experience.

[eDanny]

Dual or quad core machines will allow other programs and tasks to be spread to other cores so that NinjaTrader doesn't have to compete for CPU cycles as much.

[tinkerz]

my older athlon 2.4ghz seems to work better than my quad core in real time, its only got 1mb of ram, why is this pc working better than a 2.2ghz quad core.

the quad core only uses 1 core in realtime on ninja, but what does that mean. it only uses 1/4 of 2.2 ghz?

thanks

[NinjaTrader_Cameron]

Hello tinkerz,

Thank you for your post.

There are many factors as why your quad core is not performing as well.

If you would like us to investigate this further, please send a note to Support[AT]NinjaTrader[DOT]com

Put ATTN: Cameron in the subject and a link to this forum post in the body.

Also, please provide me with your latest Log and Trace files from the quad core PC.
You will find the log file in the Documents > NinjaTrader 7 > Log folder.

• The log file will be named log.20110921.txt

You will find the trace file in the Documents > NinjaTrader 7 > Trace folder.

• The trace file will be named trace.20110921.txt

Please attach both of these files to your next response. If these files are over 4MB, please let me know and I can respond with alternative instructions.

[paulg]

Dual or quad core machines will allow other programs and tasks to be spread to other cores so that NinjaTrader doesn't have to compete for CPU cycles as much.

It would be good to use CPU affinity in order to lock Ninjatrader to a specific core only?

I only use the software for trading and charting, not for backtesting.

[NinjaTrader_Cameron]

Hello,

It is best to not adjust these settings and let Windows handle how applications use the CPU resources.


Changing these settings can negatively effect either the application you are adjusting or other applications.

[paulg]

Cameron,

Thanks for your clarification.
My idea actually was to use a 3rd party software such ad Process Lasso.

Anyway on a i7 860 Quadcore @ 4Ghz / 4 Ghz with 4 hardware cores that could be set to 8 virtual cores with Hyperthreading (HT), would you suggest to use 'HT' on Ninjatrader or not?

The PC is dedicated only to NT but is slow during fast markets .
..and I cannot switch those Gomcd indicators to plot the update at the close of the bar..

I don't care about backtesting or optimization, just the best realtime experience on a workspace with 33 charts. NT only uses 250 Mb or less, actually, and even during fast markets I don't see practical spikes of CPU usage under the Task Manager.

So I really I don't know how to squeeze performance from this hardware/software combination.

[NinjaTrader_Cameron]

Hello,

NinjaTrader core can take advantage of hyper-threaded processors.

However, NinjaScript objects, such as indicators or strategies, will not and only work on one thread.

Please understand, that when NinjaTrader slows down during a fast market, this is not due to Memory or RAM usage, but high CPU usage.

To troubleshoot this, start disabling any non-needed indicators to find the point where NinjaTrader can operate normally under high volume conditions.

Next, verify that you are running the Default Display Update Interval in all your charts.
Right click in your charts -> Properties - Display Update Interval set to 0.5

Note that this only effects the Display of the chart, not the data or indicator calculation.

Finally, once you have a point where NinjaTrader is running without any slow downs, add on other indicators.

[paulg]

4 Ghz i7 core not enough...

Hello,

NinjaTrader core can take advantage of hyper-threaded processors.

However, NinjaScript objects, such as indicators or strategies, will not and only work on one thread.

Please understand, that when NinjaTrader slows down during a fast market, this is not due to Memory or RAM usage, but high CPU usage.

To troubleshoot this, start disabling any non-needed indicators to find the point where NinjaTrader can operate normally under high volume conditions.

Next, verify that you are running the Default Display Update Interval in all your charts.
Right click in your charts -> Properties - Display Update Interval set to 0.5

Note that this only effects the Display of the chart, not the data or indicator calculation.

Finally, once you have a point where NinjaTrader is running without any slow downs, add on other indicators.

Ok, all in all, so one core at 4 Ghz on i7 architecture is not enough to manage my workspace with 33 charts based on gomcd indicators.

I can't delete any of them; there are not non-needed indicators since that is the first thing I did to optimize my setup.

Also forcing to use a refresh of only 2 times for seconds on charts, means that the software is forcing me to wait for 500ms just to see what it's just been received or calculated. Even in discretionary trading mode, this is a lot of time and well above the time to recognize a signal and pressing manually the button of the mouse.

Also even with Task Manager open during fast market I rarely see that those delays are the result of the CPU usage history peaking the above margin...so no 100% occurrences.

In other words, which is please a decent CPU if a 4 Ghz i7 core is not enough?

Thank you.

[NinjaTrader_Cameron]

Hello,

Unfortunately these are the current limitations of NinjaTrader 7. We are looking to add multiple performance enhancements in the next major release.

The steps given previously were trouble shooting steps to assist in identifying where the slow down is being produced.

[paulg]

Benchmarking software for best CPU choice

Hello,

Unfortunately these are the current limitations of NinjaTrader 7. We are looking to add multiple performance enhancements in the next major release.

The steps given previously were trouble shooting steps to assist in identifying where the slow down is being produced.

Ok, clear Cameron.

So should I investigate a speedier CPU (clearly it would be overclocked), which of the common 'benchmarks' should be used to evaluate the choice?

I mean, Ninjatrader which kind of 'task' put in action when calculates the indicators in realtime? Clearly no one is interested on 3D benchs....

Common benchmarking software are PCMark, PassMark Performance Test, etc.

Please let us know.
Thank you!

[NinjaTrader_Cameron]

paulg,


We cannot give a specific recommendation since we only have limited information about your setup.

Additionally, there is not going to be a specific CPU benchmark utility that will properly represent NinjaTrader, more specifically, your exact NinjaTrader setup.


What is your current Display Update Interval set to on your charts?

Have you since tried setting this to the recommended setting of 0.5 seconds? Note this is to test to see if you get better performance, which is the basis of this discussion.

[paulg]

paulg,


We cannot give a specific recommendation since we only have limited information about your setup.

Additionally, there is not going to be a specific CPU benchmark utility that will properly represent NinjaTrader, more specifically, your exact NinjaTrader setup.


What is your current Display Update Interval set to on your charts?

Have you since tried setting this to the recommended setting of 0.5 seconds? Note this is to test to see if you get better performance, which is the basis of this discussion.

Cameron,

My setup was already at 0.5 sec since it's the default.
What I tried is to reduce to 0.21 but it did not help.

I'm looking for squeezing performance out of this Ninjatrader software but it seems the only solution is to look at the architecture bottlenecks - removing and removing - instead of finding more power as solution.

If you need my workspace in order to suggest me which CPU to choose beyond a 4 Ghz i7 860 CPU, please let me know. Thank you!

Regards
Paul

[NinjaTrader_Cameron]

Paul,

As mentioned, the way indicator calculations are done is a limitation of NinjaTrader 7.

Going to a new CPU or adding more RAM may only achieve little performance gains, especially if you are already using an overclocked CPU.

You are running 33 charts with data collecting indicators, our recommended steps would be to remove to find where you are no longer experiencing any performance related hang ups.

Adding multi-core and mult-thread support for indicator/NinjaScript calculations is something that is going to be added with the next major version of NinjaTrader.

If you have not yet, I suggest taking the time and watching the two Preview events hosted by BigMike.

NT 8 Preview #1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym4-BIdY2TQ&list=UUwsYypIPVkEIr6Rfc-cWIzw&index=10

NT 8 Preview #2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkWAavCGfzw&list=UUwsYypIPVkEIr6Rfc-cWIzw&index=2