How does CPU/RAM impact backtesting/optimization?

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Hi Guys,

 

I'm soon about to buy a notebook that can cope with building and testing expert advisors.

Here goes my question - which part of hardware is more important in terms of backtesting and optimization? Is it CPU or RAM?


I'd imagine CPU makes the backtest go faster, but RAM allows you to work smoothly when analyzing large amounts of data.

  
Could you please share your thoughts? I'd find all opinions very useful in terms of choosing the right notebook setup.

 
Thanks,

Regards,
Andrzej
 
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Hi Guys,

 

I'm soon about to buy a notebook that can cope with building and testing expert advisors.

Here goes my question - which part of hardware is more important in terms of backtesting and optimization? Is it CPU or RAM?


I'd imagine CPU makes the backtest go faster, but RAM allows you to work smoothly when analyzing large amounts of data.

  
Could you please share your thoughts? I'd find all opinions very useful in terms of choosing the right notebook setup.

 
Thanks,

Regards,
Andrzej

Its combination of both CPU and RAM and also the more important one is the free hard disk space. the more the RAM the more virtual  memory it needs and this virtual memory is taken from the space available on your hard disk

 

It would be hard to answer which. The more powerful a CPU is, the more RAM it would need to be able to use it at its full potential. But mind about the cores of your CPU:

Backtesting uses max 1 logical core. If you have 8 cores on your CPU and doing backtesting, only one will be used for backtesting while the others will lie dormant or do other stuff.

Optimization uses all the logical cores it can use. Optimization speed does not improve with the number of cores vs overall CPU speed. It only makes multiple optimization passes to be run simultaneously (this helps if you are an agent provider at the MQL5 cloud service). Although a little bit more RAM may help in this case.

If you're on a tight budget, maximize RAM since it's cheaper and use an average CPU. If you want to use your laptop for a longer time without having to buy a new one, then go for the fastest CPU you can afford, then add more RAM later.

 

Thank you for your responses aqeelm and Iceron!

 

I'm currently using my PC for having fun with EAs. It's Dual Core 2.93 GHz and only 2 GB RAM. I believe it's also causing disproportion and my PC craves for some more RAM. Especially when I'm crunching all that data from the backtester.

What I'm also going to do is to extend RAM in my PC cause I feel it needs some. However, I'll need to buy the notebook in the near future anyway as I'll be travelling. I will definitely follow your advice when buying it.

 

Yes Iceron, I hope to use this laptop for a longer time. Shooting for fast CPU sounds like a good, rational idea.

 

aqeelm - thanks for your point of view. Also regarding hard disks - do you think that SSD drives are worth considering or is it completely unnecessary for the sake of EA testing?

 

CPU for faster backtest and optimization

Ram at least a 4gb would be enough 

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