17 Dec My updated trading desk setup
My updated trading desk setup
One of the best things about trading is that I get to use cool tech to aid in my work. I simply love tech. All kinds. Hence, the T3ch Addict. As a self-proclaimed tech addict I have acquired a bunch of it over the years. Not knowing (or did I) one day it would actually serve a good purpose, day trading. Also, since this is MY blog I get to brag about my setup
Check out my previous setup here
Current Hardware
A quick sum up of my hardware
- Asus Z170‑A motherboard
- i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz
- 16 GB of 2472MHz of DRAM
- 2 x EVGA GTX 1070
- Monitors
- Acer X34, 3440x1440, 34 inch,100Hz refresh rate, ultrawide monitor
- LG 24MP67HQ, 1920x1080, 24 inch, 60Hz refresh rate, normal aspect ratio
SLI
I still use the same hardware but have added one more GTX 1070 so that I have a SLI configuration. SLI simply means two Nvidia graphics card that work together to give you a boost in GPU power. Would I recommend anyone to go SLI. Not really? Just buy the card most expensive card you can afford. Although there might be some use-cases for SLI so I suggest you Google the subject a bit.
Back to my setup. I recently added an arm mount that enables me to put my screens above one and other. Before I would have the ultrawide monitor in the middle and the 24 inch monitor on the side in portrait mode so that I would have more real estate when typing the long trading journals I write. However, this would mean I would have to look to my left the whole time while writing. I decided to go for a setup where I could have both monitors in front of me and this is what I came up with.
I have a third monitor laying around and at first I thought I’d use that as well for extra screen real estate. The thing was that I really like the symmetrical esthetics of my new setup, combined with not really needing the extra screen, I decided to take it away. One of my rules while trading is to stay off social media etc. so with only enough screen real estate for the essentials in trading I have less temptation.
My setup is placed on top of the Skarsta standing desk by, of course, IKEA. Who else would come up with a name like that?! It’s nice but the table top has bend a bit where I placed the monitor mount. I’m thinking to replace it with a stronger one in the future and will surely update you on that. Otherwise the desk is nice. I have the one with the manual crank for putting the desk in standing or sitting position. It’s OK to use since I will only put it up or down 2 times a day. If you would need to do it more often I wouldn’t recommend this but then again.. What’s wrong with you getting up and down the whole time?! 😛
So how’s this all actually useful?
I found this nice piece of software called DisplayFusion. It’s basically software that can divide your screens in any way you want. Among other things. I have my trading platform on the ultrawide at the top. Underneath it I have my 24 inch where I do my journaling etc. Basically the interesting part will be this bottom monitor.
Then I use DisplayFusion to separate my screens in the following way. In the middle I have my trading journal. On the left I have this Windows app called Newsflow open. Newsflow allows me to subscribe to certain websites like investing.com etc. and delivers new articles to my desk. On the top right I have a timer that I use for day trading. My cell phone alerts me when it’s prime time. This is the time that I have decided bigger moves will happen or are in other ways more critical than other times. As soon as my cell phone alarm goes off I start the countdown timer on the top right corner of my screen. During this time I watch price action closely. On the bottom right corner I have the price levels I deemed critical to watch. By the way, if you’d like me to send you the excel sheet just send me a message and I’ll be more than happy to oblige. Basically I fill in the levels I deem interesting and it calculates the distance that I am away from said levels.
Show me your setup!
Alright, that’s it for me. I’d love to see your setup if you’d like to share it with me. If you have any questions or suggestions on mine please feel free to comment.
John
Posted at 19:30h, 17 DecemberLove it!