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Re: hardware set up



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I have looked in to multi-monitor setups with win98 and
I would say if you are serious about trading then you need to
do this.  It is so easy in win98 and does not slow your system
down noticeably.  It is also less expensive then you think.  I have seen a
4 monitor system running TradeStation and it was amazing.  but what
was really amazing is the video cards.  They used  basic 35 dollar
video card designed for win98.

All you need are two or more supported video cards.  Your
mother board bios must be designed for more then one
monitor.  You have to have open slots and enough Irq's (interrupts)
to run the additional video cards.

under win98, each video card will take and manage one portion of the screen
so in theory your video response time could increase.

The only way to really slow the system down is to run more applications.
If you run TradeStation on a 4 monitor system, you can put a chart on each
monitor, but you will still be running one copy of trade station , so the
CPU will not
be strained more then it is normally.  The video card takes 99 percent of
the additional
work load.

I would also recommend that all your video cards are the same.  This is not
required
but it makes the drivers easier to install.

I am not sure why you would need 256 megs of ram.  Each video card will have
its own ram and will be processing only one portion of the desktop. (which
is stretched
across the monitors)  The system I saw with four monitors used 64 megs with
cheapo video cars and it ran great.

So you have to check the following.
1.Can your computer mother board use two monitors.  Call the manufacture

2.Which video cards do you want to use? are they compatible.  Most
manufactures have compatible v-cards now.
Go to manufacture's web sights or call them and find one that suits your
needs and is compatible with multi-monitor  setups.

3.Do you have open slots and Irq's available?  If you don't know, find
someone to help or take it to a dealer.

5. Plug in the monitors.  Make more money.

The days of 2500 dollar dule monitor cards are history.


Hope this helps.


Andrew  S.








-----Original Message-----
From: Len Olson <lto@xxxxxxxx>
To: RealTraders Discussion Group <realtraders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tuesday, February 23, 1999 4:48 PM
Subject: Re: hardware set up


>Valhalla,
>
>You can run dual monitors but at the cost of performance and failure.
>Maybe the new Pentium III will be able to handle this approach.  Apart
>from splitting the duties of the processor, you have two other BIG
>problems.  The processor assigns and processes the job, i.e. logic,
>math, and I/O subsections of the processor.  But, RAM has to be huge
>anymore.  Perhaps, 256MB would suffice.  Second, the onboard memory of
>the video board(s) has to be equally impressive.  Both of these problems
>WILL result in RAM conflicts which in turn lead to system lockup.  (the
>infamous "serious fault" or "system not responding" prompts from the
>PC.  Worse yet, your screens just lock up, stop displaying updated data,
>and you do not even know what has happened.  No doubt.  Buy a second
>system.  I responded to a few posts today regarding use of a cable
>modem.  Here is what you do.  Rely upon WIN95, 98, or NT's peer to peer
>network capabilities.  Buy a network hub ($25 to $100).  The cable modem
>will come equipped with a T-base-10 connection which goes into the hub.
>All, (or both), of your PC's tie into the hub.  Instant access from all
>PC's to the internet via cable modem. Good Luck.
>
>Valhalla wrote:
>>
>> I have a question for the group about an issue that others might have
>> tackled by now.  Anyone running dual monitors under Win98?  Would
>> appreciate any experience with this, especially as to choice of any
>> special video card required.  The only one I've seen was as expensive as
>> a 2nd computer.
>>
>> Thanks, Mark Scheier
>
>