What computer will let me open 40 to 50 demo accounts at the same time to test differents EAs?

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Please advise:

What computer will let me open 40 to 50 demo accounts at the same time to test differents EAs?

What memory is minimum? What processor is needed?

Many thanks.

forexjim

 
It depends. You'll have to experiment.
 
EAgreat:

Please advise:

What computer will let me open 40 to 50 demo accounts at the same time to test differents EAs?

What memory is minimum? What processor is needed?


If I were to make a guess . . . I would budget 250 MB for each terminal and 15% cpu time (based on quad core 3.2 GHz) for each Terminal . . . so memory = 40 * 250 MB = 10 GB RAM = 12/16 GB depending on the number of slots your motherboard has, CPU is going to be a big problem . . . maybe quad CPU each with 6 cores @ 3GHz or better . . then you are going to need a decent disk structure to handle the throughput of data . . . what is your budget ?
 
RaptorUK:
If I were to make a guess . . . I would budget 250 MB for each terminal and 15% cpu time (based on quad core 3.2 GHz) for each Terminal . . . so memory = 40 * 250 MB = 10 GB RAM = 12/16 GB depending on the number of slots your motherboard has, CPU is going to be a big problem . . . maybe quad CPU each with 6 cores @ 3GHz or better . . then you are going to need a decent disk structure to handle the throughput of data . . . what is your budget ?

Nah i cannot second that. A terminal configured for trading and not testing or development takes 30MB RAM. (200 bars on chart and in history)

The cpu should also not be a problem, but this depends heavyly on the complexity of an EA. I assume that a single core @2.8ghz can handle at least 10 terminals (regular not very complex EA's). I can check the actual true cpu load when markets open. (I have running 7 terminals on a AMD Athlon 64 3700+ with 1 gb of ram)

High end servers with multicore setups are unfortunately very expensive. a hexacore with 24gb ram starts at 115€/month on my favorite provider. But you will need a SAS raid or something better invest 200/month for such a system. But i don't belive you are going to use the power. Running an apache/postfix/spamassasin/svn consumes much more cpu even for a few small sites then you are going to need for a few terminals.

On my hexacore work pc, beside multicore testing of MT5 i have never seen full load. (In general 4 terminals and 10 other programms running)

 
zzuegg:

Nah i cannot second that. A terminal configured for trading and not testing or development takes 30MB RAM. (200 bars on chart and in history)


But . . . . .

EAgreat:

Please advise:

What computer will let me open 40 to 50 demo accounts at the same time to test differents EAs?
 
RaptorUK:

But . . . . .

EAgreat:

Please advise:

What computer will let me open 40 to 50 demo accounts at the same time to test differents EAs?


Forward test, or strategy tester?

I agree with you that if the OP means strategy tester it will need far more cpu. It would be recommandet to use as many cores as terminals.

 
zzuegg:

Forward test, or strategy tester?

Good point, my guess was based on the Strategy Tester . . .
 

Hi, RaptarUK, zzuegg, ubzen,

Many thanks for your advice. Sorry I was unable to be accurate with the EAs because they change.

Currently I am using a desktop pc with Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 1066MHz 8MB LGA775 CPU and DUAL CHANNEL 4GB (4x1GB) DDR-2 800MHZ PC-6400 to run 17 mt4 platforms simultaneously of which one is running strategy tester and the remainders are either demo or live accounts some with one chart open running one EA, some with several charts open running several EAs and a few with up to 19 charts open each with an EA that uses 4 indicators. They seem to be running but sometimes I notice the computer is very slow, sometimes one account would freeze and sometimes another account would crash, making my testings a nightmare.

I read some google search results: some said that it may be the OS (win7) problem because there is a limit of windows that can open, some said I need to run some terminal servers, some said I need some software for virtual machines, etc. I am not computer-literate enough to open 40-50 mt4 platforms so that I can test the EAs with their different settings without freezing or crashing.

If I need to invest in more hardware, what do I need to buy without wasting money?

Many thanks for your help.

forexjim

 
Have you tried looking at Task Manager > Processes tab to see what all of your Terminals are using in terms of CPU and memory ? it should give you a better idea of what you needs are.
 
I think a few percent of a mediocre CPU should be more than enough for each undemanding EA. But why do you need to do that? If they are your own EAs, can't you be a bit more selective before real-time testing? Suppose you were going to run them on 6 months of live data, you can get to the same situation (barring the manageable errors inherent in backtesting) by backtesting them all on the last 6 months of data. And a lot quicker. Even if you do run them all live, the results won't tell you a lot about how they will behave after that than if you backtested them on the last 6 months of data - apart from things that should not really happen, the main differences should be spread variation and slippage.
 
RaptorUK:
Have you tried looking at Task Manager > Processes tab to see what all of your Terminals are using in terms of CPU and memory ? it should give you a better idea of what you needs are.


Hi, RaptorUK,

Below is a copy of my computer processes. Could you advise why the freezing/crashing?

Many thanks.

forexjim

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