[The Sports Trader]

Hi,

I am a full time Sports Trasder and use my computer to acces the betting exchanges. I watch in-running sports events and take positions throughout the event.

I need the fastest computing speed that I can get to give me an edge over other traders.

I am looking at building a new machine around the AMD 64 X2 6000+ CPU and would like advice on the best motherboard, memory and graphics card to use for this application.

I need to run a minimum of 2 monitors at a a time. I am looking at using 2GB RAM 800mhz.

I need some of you experts to advise me on the best set up for maximum speed, thanks.

[XCalibre]

Hi There

THe AMD 6000+ is a good processor but I would rather suggest you go for the Intel E6600 Core 2 Duo or better as the performance is even better than the AMD processor. For the motherboard I would suggest ASUS, it all depends on your budget though but because you're looking for performance, go for the P5N32-E SLI (if you go vor Intel Processor) and the ASUS M2N32 WS Professional (AMD Processor). RAM 2gb DDR800 will be efficient, go for a popular make like Kingston or Corsair.

Graphics card you just need something with dual mon support, if you want something decent go for die Nvidia Geforce 8800 series, they all have dual monitor support and they are Directx10 compatible. The Geforce 8800 GTS 356mb version is not THAT pricey and it's a really good card. The 8500 and 8600 etc. will do the job also. All depends on your budget

[Wolfeymole]

Hello The Sports Trader

Welcome to The Computer Forums

If you would kindly bear with us until Alex or Dave (Site Owner) come online it would be most appreciated.
Both have massive knowledge when it comes to obtaining the best system for a given budget as XCalibre mentions.

What cash outlay were you looking at?

[The Sports Trader]

Hi,
Thanks for the replies. I am looking at spending up to £1000 and do not need monitors or mouse.

[Wolfeymole]

Both Alex and Dave will relish advising you on a system to suit you down to the ground.

For that kind of money you can guarantee it will be a corker.

The setup from X looks pretty steady also but again bear with us and let's see eh?

[alex]

Case: Antec 900 £70.



Optical: Samsung SH-S183A DVD-RW £20



HSF: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 pro. £12.



CPU: Intel Core 2 E6700. £200



GPU: Asus 7600 gt. (Dual DVI). £89



HDD: 500gb Hitachi Desktar 7k500. £82



Motherboard: Asus P5-B Premium Vista Edition: £153



PSU: Enermax Liberty Modular 500w. £69



OS: Vista 32bit OEM Premium. £69.

Ram: 2x1GB Corsair Dominator DDR2 800, CAS 4-4-4-12. £116



Total: £879.

I wouldn't bother with Raid 0, the benefits (very slightly increased loading times) don't outweigh the dangers. (A drive goes, and you've lost everything on both) The Deskstar is a superb hdd, high gb/platter- I believe it's 166gb per platter. 16mb cache. Nice and fast. The next size up, 750gb, is 3 times the price. You could go Raptor (Sata) as opposed to the Deskstar (Sata2), but for the slight speed increase, I'd personally go for the extra capacity.

Still, as we're well within your budget you could get the 150GB NCQ Raptor and get a 320gb/400gb storage hdd.

As you havn't stated games playing, i've quoted a mid-range DX9 card (DX10 compatability isn't an issue). It's got a fast gpu speed, but considering the usage quoted none of the above really matters to be frank. Importantly though, from your point of view, It's dual DVI (with VGA converters included if you need them) for dual-monitors.

The E6700 is a the second fastest 2-core core2, the X6800 is nearly £400 more and is simply not worth the cost in comparison.

As you've quoted DDR2 800** as your preferred ram, thats what i've quoted. The Dominator has a decent CAS, the 3-4-3-9 CAS of the other Dominator's will cost you an extra £140 odd. Not worth it.

Havn't quoted a keyboard as that is more than likely personal preference.

I've put the (expensive) P5B-Vista Edition mobo because of ASAP, (Asus Accelerated Propeller), which is 512MB of on-board flash memory that's compatible with Vista's ReadyBoost feature, so that it can be used as a cache to supplement the hard disk. Don't be sold on the 680i chipset mobo's as these are optimised for SLI. If you want a 'standard' mobo with a good chipset you want P965 (1st) or 975X (2nd). The Asus i've quoted is P965.

You know, i've looked at the list 8 times and i still swear there's something i've missed . If anybody spots anything shout up.

**There are certain mobo's that will register 1066mhz ram at 1066mhz, speeding things up. Havn't quoted any due to your initial post.

[mcbee]

Alex that is a fine system. Annoying thing is my similar system, with the E6600, cost more last December.

[alex]

Originally Posted by mcbee Alex that is a fine system. Annoying thing is my similar system, with the E6600, cost more last December.

Yeah, me too Mcbee. Still, you can play the waiting game forever.

[The Sports Trader]

Hi Formites,

I really appreciate all of your help. I do not use this machine for gaming it is solely for my betting exchange work. I normally have atleast 4 browsers open at any time. Speed is so important as if I am just a millisecond faster than someone else I can earn the price of the machine with just one click.

I will think over all your advice and make a decision by next Monday and hope to have the new machine built within a week. Thanks again.

Ray

[XCalibre]

That's a really nice system Alex quoted you on. The sports trader the Core 2 Duo is a better processor when it comes to multitasking and the E6700 is great (it overclocks well 2) and with that ram, arctic cooler and motherboard Alex quoted you on, you can go the overclock road easy if you need extra performance.