New Build for Data Analysis

[JaPe]

I am currently running a E8600 with a light OC of 4GHz on air and 8GB ram. I recently began daytrading futures and currently use ThinkOrSwim with TSI indicators. With these indicators, during data intensive periods (when the data feed is heavy) my computer slows to an almost non responsive state. In addition to ThinkOrSwim, I plan to also begin using Ninja Trader with a set of indicators. Needless to say, I need a system that can handle intensive data analysis.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
See the paragraph above, but to put it simply, I need a machine that can remain very responsive while recieving continuous data feed and performing computations. As a benchmark, a E8600 @ 4GHz is unaceptable.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I was thinking $1000 - $1700, shipping and tax included.
3) Where do you live?
I live in Pittsburgh, PA. Nearest Microcenter is in Cleveland, so driving there would cost me a fair bit.
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
See my thoughts on parts below.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I have a BFG 1000WEXPSU(remember them?) 1000 watt modular power supply still in the wrapper. I also have several spare hard drives sitting around that I can use for storage.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes, a mild, stable overclock will be employed.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I have a Sony GDM-FW900. I may add additional monitors in the future.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Next 1 - 3 months.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
I would like to have a mobo with USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s, Crossfire and SLI.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
I will purchase a 64bit version of Win7.

My current thoughts are:

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz
OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-240G 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 15000)
ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced
ASUS 24X DVD Burner
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
Video Card: either move my 5870 from current build, use Z68 on board, or buy something to hold me over till the next Nvida ATI/AMD refresh.
Also, would 16GB of memory offer any performance improvements?
In all likelihood I will source most parts from Newegg.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Dangman]

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Next 1 - 3 months.

What's the likelihood of you purchasing this new PC in 2 to 3 months from now? What about over the next month or so? The deal is this: we can barely gurantee that whatever parts we recommend today will be good choices in a month from now. 2-3 months from now, AMD and supposedly Intel as well are releasing a whole bunch of new CPUs. As such, we cannot say with 100% or even 50% certainty whether or not a build list we or you develop today will be a viable purchase after a month. So if there's a good chance that you may buy this PC after a month, then please just come back when you're only 2-3 weeks away from buying and ask for build advice then.


However assuming that you can buy this new PC within the next 20 days, some notes:
- We generally don't recommend OCZ SSDs around here on account of their poor history with SSDs, not solid track record, and relatively poor customer support. As such, I recommend the Intel 510 series and Crucial M4 series SSD

- DOn't bother with such high-speed RAM: It makes little to no difference. You'll be fine with any cheap set of DDR3 1333 RAM or even DDR3 1600 RAM if you want slightly better piece of mind.

- As for whether or not 16GB of RAM offering a performance increase, it might if you're doing a ton of multitasking and/or the apps you've mentioned use a ton of RAM. Considering your budget and the cheap price of RAM at the moment, you might as well go for 16GB of RAM anyway.

 

[Funky.fresh]

What's the likelihood of you purchasing this new PC in 2 to 3 months from now? What about over the next month or so? The deal is this: we can barely gurantee that whatever parts we recommend today will be good choices in a month from now. 2-3 months from now, AMD and supposedly Intel as well are releasing a whole bunch of new CPUs. As such, we cannot say with 100% or even 50% certainty whether or not a build list we or you develop today will be a viable purchase after a month. So if there's a good chance that you may buy this PC after a month, then please just come back when you're only 2-3 weeks away from buying and ask for build advice then.


However assuming that you can buy this new PC within the next 20 days, some notes:
- We generally don't recommend OCZ SSDs around here on account of their poor history with SSDs, not solid track record, and relatively poor customer support. As such, I recommend the Intel 510 series and Crucial M4 series SSD

- DOn't bother with such high-speed RAM: It makes little to no difference. You'll be fine with any cheap set of DDR3 1333 RAM or even DDR3 1600 RAM if you want slightly better piece of mind.

- As for whether or not 16GB of RAM offering a performance increase, it might if you're doing a ton of multitasking and/or the apps you've mentioned use a ton of RAM. Considering your budget and the cheap price of RAM at the moment, you might as well go for 16GB of RAM anyway.

Well said. Think of apple.. iphone 5 is one stone away

 

[JaPe]

Danny,
Thanks for the response. I will plan to use 16MB of ram. Also, I will look at some other SSDs based on your input.
As for timing, I plan to build this asap so please provide recomendations for parts as of today.
Finally, I was not aware that Intel CPU release was imminent - can you provide a link?
Thanks again

 

[Dangman]

Go with two sets of this RAM and you should be good to go:
$55 - G.Skill Ripjaws F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM

Make sure that you get the CPU and mobo from this combo link to save $20:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.717770

SSD wise, as mentioned earlier, look at Crucial's M4 series or Intel's 510 series SSDs:
$115 - Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SSD
$140 - Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 64GB SSD w/ USB to SATA Adapter and Drive Cloning software
$219 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SSD
$229 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 128GB SSD w/ USB to SATA Adapter and Drive Cloning software
$278 - Intel 510 Series SSDSC2MH120A2K5 2.5" 120GB SSD
$406 - Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SSD
$425 - Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 256GB SSD w/ USB to SATA Adapter and Drive Cloning software
$580 - Intel 510 Series SSDSC2MH250A2K5 2.5" 250GB SSD

Definitely reuse your HD 5870 for now. Nvidia isn't releasing a new GPU series until early to mid 2012 whereas rumors are showing that AMD is planning on releasing their new GPUs in September.

Besides that, fairly solid setup for this month.

Finally, I was not aware that Intel CPU release was imminent - can you provide a link?
Thanks again

The release isn't imminent. It's pretty much a whole bunch of rumors, conjecture, and guesstimation as to when Intel is releasing their new CPUs. Some sites/people are saying early 2012 while some say late 2011.

 

[guney]

The requirement for heavy data analysis reads like "fast secondary storage" and your complaint about your machine becoming unresponsive when under heavy loads seems to beg for more CPU cores.

Quad-core CPUs are already pretty much the norm these days. So, even if you can't afford a six-core model, at least make sure that you get the fastest quad-core CPU you can afford, as well as a blazingly fast SSD (or, better, two smaller SSDs in RAID 0 configuration for even more speed), and cheap out (reasonably) on all of your other components and your needs should be met very well.