Computer Upgrade For ThinkOrSwim

[petergluis]

what video card is driving them ?
do all monitors connect to a video card or external dock?

I just used NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3070, 8 GB GDDR6. All monitors are connected to the XPS Desktop without external dock.

 

[drizzla]

Is your current PC still upgradeable at this point? What CPU and GPU are you running? A RAM upgrade and GPU upgrade can go a pretty long ways. GPU prices have come down a good amount as of late.

 

[Rob S]

Go to the Falcon Trading systems web site. Alot of good info as well as you can give them a call to discuss your requirements even if you dont buy. Helped me alot. Note, a lot of the trading systems are single Thread, like TOS, so a good processor with single thread speed is better. Also they convinced me to go with an AMD processor as opposed to my initial Intel bias. The AMD processor has been performing flawlessly. Also as your eyes get older the resolution , and expense, of 4k monitors may be wasted as I need to reduce the resolution/make characters bigger to see the detailed numbers on my charts and watchlists easily and quickly without straining. Like others have said , get the best graphics cards you can and make sure your motherboard choice can handle as least two high end graphics cards. Falcon trading also has recommendations on best graphics cards depending on trading system being used.

 

[zeek]

You don’t need the best and newest graphics card to run TOS on multiple 4k monitors, i would instead use that money for better(faster) RAM together with an i7 or i9 CPU. In my rig, i use i9+32GB fastest RAM and with a 2060 card. Everything runs smoothly in my 4 monitors setup.

 

[MerryDay]

RAM is relatively cheap so 32GB will position you well for the transition to the merged Schwab / ToS platform which is still over a year away.

• The fastest RAM isn't as important, right now as ToS can't take advantage of it.
• The best graphics card w/ dedicated graphics RAM that is what will speed up the re-drawing your charts.
• 4k monitors are actually good for young and old alike. The better resolution is easier on the eyes. AND I will never go back to only being able to squeeze 4 lower indicators on my charts.

 

[lucky]

The most important is hard drive speed When buying a Computer. First thing make up have SSD2 That the fastest hard drive speed. Second you WiFi connection speed. On Laptops there no more RJ-45 connection. Laptops are now wireless. So you will need WiFi 6. Then Ram. Don’t Get DDR5 It’s expensive and most sites are not using it yet. Stay with DDR 4. 32GB. INTEL i5 is good or i7. Ram 32GB DDR4 Desktop comes with RJ-45 . RJ-45 ( 2.5 GBE speed )is use to connect directly to your PC. Hard space is a personal choice 512 or 1TB is good for trading Intel i5 or Amd . I like intel. Clocking don’t matter unless you are a gamer. High end Graphic Card 3060 ti or 3070 ti and higher. To run these motherboard needs to have 16 lanes and gen 4. ( PCI GEN 4 X 16). Get 4K monitors that have display ports And hdmi ports. Only use Display ports Because they are faster. Your Pc would be good for five years.

 

[woodabil]

Thanks for the great info, I'm sure it will help a lot of us as it has me!!

 

[timing]

RAM is relatively cheap so 32GB will position you well for the transition to the merged Schwab / ToS platform which is still over a year away.

• The fastest RAM isn't as important, right now as ToS can't take advantage of it.
• The best graphics card w/ dedicated graphics RAM that is what will speed up the re-drawing your charts.
• 4k monitors are actually good for young and old alike. The better resolution is easier on the eyes. AND I will never go back to only being able to squeeze 4 lower indicators on my charts.

What is the monitor size so you can fit so many studies (indicators) there?

 

[MerryDay]

What is the monitor size so you can fit so many studies (indicators) there?

It is not the 'size' that matters. You can cast your charts to your big screen TV and you will still only be able to fit 3 lower studies.
Because it is the resolution that matters.

My Dell 27" UHD 4K Monitor - S2721QS will fit 14 lower studies before ToS gives an error message. I use 9 lower studies comfortably
Resolution 4K 3840 x 2160
https://usethinkscript.com/threads/computer-upgrade-for-thinkorswim.5356/page-2#post-99002

My Dell 27" QHD Monitor -S2721D will fit 11 lower studies before error. I use 6-7 lower studies easily.
Resolution 2560 x 1440

I still use:
My old Dell 27" HD
Resolution 1920 x 1080
where I keep a detached message center, a portfolio tab and an Active Trader window.
I don't use it for the charts as it errors at 6 lower charts. But realistically, only 3 lower charts are workable.

PS: I am not pushing DELL. I shop Black Friday and Amazon Day for 50% off and Dell has had the best deals.
The resolution is what to look for when running graphics-intensive applications.

 

[timing]

Thanks @MerryDay for the great information!
I learned new tech here in addtion to trading related knowledge.

 

[lucky]

Which is the better choice NVDIA Quadro P620 or NVDIA Quadro t1000 or something else That can 3 or 4 4k monitors. That’s can all the graphics from Thinkorswim . Thanks a lot. @MerryDay

 

[MerryDay]

Which is the better choice NVDIA Quadro P620 or NVDIA Quadro t1000 or something else That can 3 or 4 4k monitors. That’s can all the graphics from Thinkorswim . Thanks a lot. @MerryDay

I don't have any experience hooking up 4k through mini-displayports. They both should be fine.
My hookup issues w/ NVDIA graphics is the speed of the hookups. My HDMI 4K monitor would go into sleep mode because the signal was not sent to the monitor fast enough (changed the order of my monitors was my workaround). My displayports did not have any issues.

 

[lucky]

I don't have any experience hooking up 4k through mini-displayports. They both should be fine.
My hookup issues w/ NVDIA graphics is the speed of the hookups. My HDMI 4K monitor would go into sleep mode because the signal was not sent to the monitor fast enough (changed the order of my monitors was my workaround). My displayports did not have any issues.

Mini-ports comes with adapter for the regular Display Port size. In terms of graphic and speed of graphics. I run a lot of studies on my charts. Which one would give me the best picture and the fastest. NVDIA Quadro P620 or NVDIA Quadro t1000 Or something else. . Thanks @MerryDay . What graphic card do you currently use?

 

[MerryDay]

Mini-ports comes with adapter for the regular Display Port size. In terms of graphic and speed of graphics. I run a lot of studies on my charts. Which one would give me the best picture and the fastest. NVDIA Quadro P620 or NVDIA Quadro t1000 Or something else. . Thanks @MerryDay . What graphicASUS Dual NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 card do you currently use?

The issue with graphics cards is not brand or model. It is more about your rig.
What temperature does your rig run at now? What is your slot configuration?
https://www.cgdirector.com/gpu-brands-amd-nvidia/#:~:text=Regardless of the,attached AIO fan.

I had an older geforce gtx 970
I now have a ASUS GeForce RTX 3060, I wouldn't say it resulted in better resolution or faster loading scripts. I upgraded due to the lack of drivers to support my newer monitors and the various connection issues. But yes, the 4k resolution is amazing.

A new graphics card does not overcome the delays caused by the app being single-threaded. Those first 15min of the day still lag!

Another ongoing issue: I have most of the indicators on the forum downloaded to my app so I can provide support for them.
And even though they are stored on TDA servers. Having so many in my library brought my app to a stand still. I ended up switching to another account to log in to the ToS app. So keep your library lean and mean.

Reducing custom studies in my library had the greatest effect. This next neat trick cleaned up MANY lagging issues that accumulated in my saved charts:
https://usethinkscript.com/threads/ideal-memory-usage-settings-for-thinkorswim.10201/#post-100823

 

[lucky]

I have an older computer and buying new one. My spec i7 12th gen I narrow my graphic cards to NVDIA quadro t1000 vs gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 3060 to Elite @MerryDay

 

[ApeX Predator]

I have an older computer and buying new one. My spec i7 12th gen I narrow my graphic cards to NVDIA quadro t1000 vs gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 3060 to Elite @MerryDay

if it is strictly for trading, Any of them is fine. I would stick with the one that consumes less power. t1000 is fine, supports 4 display and consumes only 50w, Quadro M4000 on eBay is a fine choice too, you may be able to find a open box or used for cheaper than T1000, strictly due to popularity.

All you need to look for in GPU is port connectivity depends on your need, one that not too power hungry. I would lean towards, AMD than Intel again due to power and Heat. Consider RyZen X5700 - X 5900.

-Surya

 

[lucky]

Thanks

 

[HODL-Lay-HE-hoo!]

If your running ThinkOrSwim you must use a ThinkPAD! .... ok not really but thinkpads have the best keyboards of all time. I had a T460s with 8th gen i7 and 20gb ram and nothing special graphics card... recently upgraded to a thinkpad P1 gen 4 with rtx 3070 (i read somewhere that tos support said that the high end graphics cards can cause lag for some reason and to add a line to a file folder within tos which i did and have not had any issues) also as others pointed out speed per core is more important for tos that overall speed for 50 cores

 

[lucky]

The issue with graphics cards is not brand or model. It is more about your rig.
What temperature does your rig run at now? What is your slot configuration?
https://www.cgdirector.com/gpu-brands-amd-nvidia/#:~:text=Regardless of the,attached AIO fan.

I had an older geforce gtx 970
I now have a ASUS GeForce RTX 3060, I wouldn't say the picture is better. I upgraded due to the lack of drivers to support my newer monitors and the various connection issues. But yes, the 4k resolution is amazing.

A new graphics card does not overcome the delays caused by the app being single-threaded. Those first 15min of the day still lag!

Another ongoing issue: I have most of the indicators on the forum downloaded to my app so I can provide support for them.
And even though they are stored on TDA servers. Having so many in my library brought my app to a stand still. I ended up opening another account to do my trading. So keep your library lean and mean.

This post by @eagle_ai is what sped up my ToS rendering the most (more than any hardware upgrades)
https://usethinkscript.com/threads/ideal-memory-usage-settings-for-thinkorswim.10201/#post-100823

Great advice @MerryDay

 

[lucky]

If your running ThinkOrSwim you must use a ThinkPAD! .... ok not really but thinkpads have the best keyboards of all time. I had a T460s with 8th gen i7 and 20gb ram and nothing special graphics card... recently upgraded to a thinkpad P1 gen 4 with rtx 3070 (i read somewhere that tos support said that the high end graphics cards can cause lag for some reason and to add a line to a file folder within tos which i did and have not had any issues) also as others pointed out speed per core is more important for tos that overall speed for 50 cores

Thanks @HODL-Lay-HE-hoo!