Best Hardware configuration for NT (not min. requirements) in 2014

[andreamo]

I need help in order to buy the best PC for running NinjaTrader realtime only. Main goal is stability, well and fast running system that fits all my needs with as low energy consumption and noise as possible.

Currently I use 10 worksheets (one for each instrument: Futures and several currency pairs (Forex)), each with 9 charts (2 min, 3 min, 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 30 min, 120 min, Daily, Weekly und 60 tick). So finally 70 Live-Charts.
As far as I know NinjaTrader can show only one worksheet, the others are hidden, so I always have to switch if I want to trade another instrument.

I use just a few indicators: Volume, Pivots and 2 own indicators for pattern recognition. Just in the 30 min chart there’s another one for calculation the Value Area. There is currently no backtesting, no strategies and no automated trading, just a lot of live-charts, live-trading.

Currently I work with 2 monitors, I’m going to have 4 very soon, later 6 and finally8 x 24” displays. Pls find attached a sample how one worksheet with all my charts look like - to get an idea what I need. As mentioned, I have 10 of such worksheets open all the time.

PC is going to run 5 days, each day around 14 hours,

Video card

My understanding of using multi-monitor with NT is that (currently) I must put all my charts into one worksheet and this worksheet should be spread or shown over all the displays. Then I can move the charts that belong together (same instrument) to the same displays. Is that correct so far? A known proposal is to show more worksheets the same time on multiple monitors in a future version of NT.
Do I need an expensive and professional video card with 2 x 4 ports for this purpose (like the Matrox M9148 PCIe x16 or ATI FirePro 2460 MultiView) or can I buy the cheapest availeble?
There are also some much cheaper consumer cards that can support 2-3 monitors, I could put a few of them into my new PC. Due I don’t have these experience and I just want to see all my charts on several Displays … What is important for NT to pick the best video card for my purposes (best value)? I don’t want to get the cheapest and maybe not the most newest and most expensive, just the one that works best for me.

CPU
Next is to pick the best CPU for my purpose. While reading the forum it seems I better go for highest available speed instead of highest number of cores for example. Can you still confirm that now in 2014? I consider an DualCore i5 or i7 or Xeon E3 with 8 GB RAM. Any advise or optimization which features regarding CPU are most important is appreciated.

Please help me to spend my money into those hardware parts that are most important to run NT most efficiently for my purposes. I need to know how NT works to get an idea what to buy. Thank you!

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello andreamo,

You can find the minimum requirements to run NinjaTrader 7.

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

Minimum PC Requirements

Windows XP (SP3 Required), Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 2003 Operating System
Minimum screen resolution of 1024 x 768
Minimum P4 Processor or higher
2GB RAM
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 (pre-installed on most PC’s or can be downloaded below)

Above and beyond this, we have no recommendations regarding processor type or video card aside from suggesting the fastest processor and best video card you are able to find.

Do all workspaces contain the same charts, meaning the same applied indicators and settings? If so, you could make use of just 1 workspace. You would windowlink each chart using the L button in the upper right corner. Subsequently if you switch instruments in one chart, it will switch in all charts. So instead of switching workspaces, you just switch instruments in the workspace. This will greatly save CPU and memory consumption since you only run one workspace instead of 9.

Yes, you can only have one workspace displayed on your monitors. The other workspaces are running in the background, but will still use CPU and memory. I will forward the suggestion regarding multiple workspaces to development.

[andreamo]

Thanks for the adjustment for my worksheet settings.

best video card you are able to find.

Nevertheless I'm struggling to find the best video card. Best in terms of what?
There are tons of tests for game-video-cards out there, but nothing for trading with multi-monitor systems.

Does anybody have any suggestions for the best video card for 8 monitors for trading?
Or at least cons and pros for those that are used in such systems?

[RickMcD]

NT-7(2014): Cpu & Ram Required Live Charts.

I need help in order to buy the best PC for running NinjaTrader realtime only... Next is to pick the best CPU for my purpose. While reading the forum it seems I better go for highest available speed instead of highest number of cores for example. Can you still confirm that now in 2014? I consider an DualCore i5 or i7 or Xeon E3 with 8 GB RAM. Any advise or optimization which features regarding CPU are most important is appreciated.

Any answers on this? What Cpu/Ram would be required for such a system? I'm guessing that 4Gb would NOT suffice, but 8Gb may be Ok.

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Above and beyond the minimum requirements, we have no recommendations regarding processor type or video card aside from suggesting the fastest processor and best video card you are able to find.

[vlc]

Please NinjaTrader support. We need more specific guidance on this. Faster CPU clock-speed vs more cores, 2D graphics vs 3D graphics cards. One HDD or Two HDD.

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

You can find recommended PC specifications for NinjaTrader 8 at the link below. Unfortunately we do not have recommended PC specifications for NinjaTrader 7.

https://ninjatrader.com/NinjaTrader-8-InstallationGuide

Recommended PC Specifications

NinjaTrader 8 was designed to take full advantage of modern PC architecture. To achieve the highest possible level of performance, NinjaTrader 8 will utilize all available CPU cores and additional memory resources. Depending on your actual usage with NinjaTrader, you may need more or less resources than the average user. Additional memory will be of direct benefit when running strategy optimizations, and the amount of additional memory needed is proportional to the number of CPU cores available.

- 2 (GHz) or faster quad core 64-bit processor
- 8 GB RAM
- DirectX 10 compatible graphics card
- SSD Hard Drive