We know traders, since 2008 roughly 80% of our sales have been to traders so it made sense for us to tailor our products to this market.

Initially we spoke with traders, understood their requirements (responsive machines, reliable performance, quiet operation, etc) and this led to the launch of our Trader PC which proved a popular choice for traders.

What we learned though was that not all traders were the same.

We had some customers who were running hedge funds, using software like TradeStation, running large excel spreadsheets, with custom built market analysis software, whilst others just wanted to run MetaTrader 4 and not much else.

This led us to start testing various hardware configurations to discover exactly what the best computer setup for these different types of workloads was.

We publish the results of these hardware tests online for anyone to see and use at our sister website TraderSpec.com, something nobody else in this industry does.

This testing directly led to the continued revisions of the Trader PC and to the introduction of the more powerful Trader Pro system.

The point is that we do not guess at this like some others do. We know which system is best suited for each type of trader based on the trading software and platforms that they use.

We don't try and force the most expensive options on you and often talk customers out of certain upgrades, for example very few people actually need 128GB or 64GB of RAM, 32GB or even 16GB is often more than enough for the vast majority of scenarios.

Likewise, I've lost count of the number of times I've talked someone out of buying an i9 processor, instead proposing a setup that works out hundreds of pounds cheaper and will offer exactly the same performance for their trading workload.

Another discovery learnt from spending time talking to traders was that many had no idea about computer components.

Confronted with a typical computer customisation page found on many online retailers led to confusion and frustration and then eventually, guessing at the options.

Do I need an i7? Is 16GB enough RAM or do I need 32GB?

With this in mind we redesigned our product pages to clearly show the performance impact you would get from switching one component to another.

These are the star ratings on our computer product pages, which are based on the actual test results published across on TraderSpec.com.

Again, this is something nobody else selling trading computers bothers to do, we want you to have the confidence that you are buying the right machine for your specific needs.

As I've said, we know traders, but even before we knew traders, we knew about multi-screen graphics setups, just look at our company name!

It still surprises me how many people who seem knowledgeable about computers in general still have wildly inaccurate ideas of what is required to run a multi-monitor setup.

Even some supposedly big computer retailers offer pretty ridiculous graphics card setups in their 'trading computers'.

We have a long and in-depth graphics card test over on TraderSpec.com if you are interested, however the key takeaway is that for trading software, you will often not get any benefit at all from running either a high-end gaming graphics card or an expensive 'professional class' card.

In-fact, we found that some professional class cards used by one of or competitors, ones that cost 5 times the amount of the card we use in our Trader PC, performed worse in virtually every test we put it through and only matched the performance in the other tests.

Some platforms do require more graphics horsepower though, want to run Bloomberg with 50+ live charts across 6 or more screens? You are going to need cards that can handle that workload, but that doesn't mean a £900 gaming card.

Why do some other companies recommend these more expensive graphics setups then? There are only two reasons that I can see:

1. They don't have any experience with multi-screen systems so they use 'powerful' or 'professional class' cards in an effort to try and guarantee performance levels.

Or

2. They want to sell you more expensive equipment to pad out their margins and attempt to justify this by saying things like a professional class card is required which in some cases is simply not true.

Either of those should be enough to start some alarm bells ringing.

You will see that our graphics options are simple and are based on how many screens you want to run. You don't need to decide between different cards and options, just choose how many screens you want to connect to your machine and we will take care of the setup in the most optimal way.

Some setups require different motherboards to support them, again this is nothing you need to worry about, the cost of changes to the PC build are built into the upgrade cost of the graphics options.

Personally I love a quiet working environment so having a computer that doesn't disturb me is a must. I've also spoken to a number of customers over the years who feel the same.

It is a core requirement of all our computers that they run quiet, really quiet.

We achieve this through component selection, low noise power supplies, CPU coolers and case fans help, and the many of our graphics setups use passively cooled cards which are completely silent.

Pretty much all high-end gaming cards, and most 'professional class' graphics cards have noisy cooling fans on them, there are also a lot of CPU coolers and cases with noisy fans on them which we avoid.

One way some try to reduce noise levels on a computer is to pad out the case interior with noise insulating materials, these do block noise, but they also tend to trap in heat which is a bad idea, excessive heat buildup can be a direct cause of component failure and system instability.

Our careful selection of ultra low noise parts avoids the need for excessive noise insulation and leads to a near silent computer that still retains great airflow and cooling, that's the best option for a stable and long-life computer.

If you are new to trading then it can be difficult to source not only a computer for trading, but also the screens and a stand to hold them.

With lots of different types of monitor connections, cables and graphics adapters to contend with, ensuring that everything you are buying is compatible can become a real headache.

This is where our bundles come into play.

A bundle includes your choice of computer, any of our multi-screen stands, your choice of monitor along with cables, free upgrades and discounts:

Bundles are prepared for you and dispatched together in one convenient delivery, providing you with everything needed to get up and running quickly and easily.

We think they are the perfect stress-free choice for new traders or anyone looking to add a complete setup to an existing office / trading environment.

Display Fusion is what makes a good multi-monitor computer great, it is a collection of tools that lets you have precise control over all of your screens and the programs you run on them.

Windows will support multiple screens without any additional software, but the controls are limited and it has some issues which can quickly become annoying.

For example, there is no way to tell Windows on which screen it should open a new program or window, this leads to them almost appearing randomly on any of your screens.

This is fine for one screen, but if you have four or more screens of programs open then playing hunt the window quickly becomes tedious.

The Windows taskbar doesn't work as well as it could and there is little support if you want to position more than one program or chart on the same screen, apart from manually resizing everything every time you open it.

Display Fusion solves all of this and adds a whole lot more.

You can control the taskbar on each screen independently, pinning different programs to different screens and exerting control over exactly what you see on each taskbar at the bottom of each monitor.

You can also setup screen dividers, with this you can divide any of the screens up into different regions, when you then move a program, window or chart into a region it will fill that region only.

Want to display six currency charts on one screen? divide it into 6 regions and then simply drag the charts into position quickly and easily, no manual window resizing required.

Going further you can even setup rules so that whenever you open a specific window or chart it automatically opens in a specific screen or even region. Imagine being able to open all of your charts from multiple websites or trading platforms and have them instantly and automatically jump into position across any of your screens.

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, well here is a short video showing you how Display Fusion can help turn your computer into an important assistant on your trading journey.

Display Fusion allows you full control of your trading computer:

Not only is Display Fusion pre-installed and configured on every computer we sell, but it is supplied with a lifetime license and is actively maintained and developed by professional set of developers.

All Multiple Monitors customers also gain access to our video series on using and configuring Display Fusion to get the most out of it.

Love it or hate it, Windows 11 is now the operating system of choice for a trading computer. It is Microsoft's latest version of Windows and it works really well on modern computer hardware.

We still have customers running Windows 7, however reduced support for that operating system combined with its age, and the fact that it is technically end of life, mean that it is not a great choice for a reliable and stable computer any more.

All of our trading computers come with Windows 11 pre-installed, it is then brought fully up to date with all the latest patches and security fixes before we adjust some final settings to ensure it runs at optimum speeds at all times.

When your first power on your new trading PC it will boot straight into Windows, all your connected screens will instantly be detected and (once you connect to the Internet) you can begin downloading your trading software or opening your trading websites.

There's no long setup process, just instant speed and responsiveness straight out of the box.

Apart from Display Fusion we add no extra software on to the machine at all, this is because you don't need it.

One of the quickest ways to ruin a computers performance is to load it up with lots of unnecessary software, free trials of antivirus suites or internet security software simply take resources away from your systems performance.

Windows has its own inbuilt internet security and antivirus tools which are more than adequate for the vast majority of users, and if you do want to put something else on there then you can do so at your leisure.

Basically, if you want an ultra-fast and responsive computer then keep it clean and lean, all of our machines are shipped this way which ensures the best performance levels possible right out of the box.

When assembling a computer there is usually two ways to get it up and running, there's a quick way and the right way.

Take RAM for example, when installing two RAM sticks into a computer with four free RAM slots you have six different ways you could install them.

One of those six combinations offers the optimal performance levels due to the way in which the computer can interface with the RAM, the other five setups will still technically work, just not as fast.

Did you know this? Anyone looking to put together a performance computer should know this however I've seen many builds where this hasn't been done.

On a similar point, the positioning of case and CPU cooling fans affects how air flows through a computer and can directly lead to increases or decreases in component temperatures when your computer is in use.

Excessive heat build up is one of the main causes of component instability and failure, not something you want when relying on your computer for trading.

Once a system is built it needs testing, a computer with multiple graphics cards and more than one RAM stick will often let you install Windows and seem okay even if it is not.

The only way to ensure everything is fully operational is to actually try and use each component, we have testing software which does this very job, it simulates an intensive workload on the CPU, memory, hard drives and graphics cards to see how they respond.

If you look into the typical lifespan of electrical components you find that if something is going to fail then it will generally fail very early into its lifespan, for this reason we put every machine we build through a 32 hour stress test.

It's a pain having machines sat around on test for this length of time, but it is also one of our main advantages, this extensive testing routine massively reduces the number of problems encountered by our customers once they receive their new computers.

Do other retailers test their machines before they reach customers? A rep for a testing suite once told me that Dell do a 20 minute test on their system builds, when our tests find issues it is often 5 – 6 hours into a routine, something that would be missed on a shorter test cycle and only discovered by you when your computer starts crashing.

One last thing to mention is that when we test machines we test each graphics card and monitor output, we can do this because we have large monitor arrays setup ready for testing purposes, if you're buying off a standard PC retailer they will not be setup to effectively test multi-screen PCs in this manner and will most likely skip it.

Computers are great until they go wrong, and then they can quickly become a nightmare.

Despite our use of quality components and extensive testing, the truth is that we, nor anybody else, can guarantee that all the components inside your computer are going to last for any specific amount of time.

For traders in particular the loss of a computer system can become a costly and frustrating experience, so when something does go wrong our ethos is to get our customer back up and running as quickly as possible.

We can do this in a number of ways depending on the situation and the problem.

We offer an onsite support service provided by a specialist IT support company, we have also sent out replacement / loan machines to customers before ensuring they can keep on running whilst we fix their machine in our workshop.

On occasion we have even couriered out parts to customers directly and talked them through swapping them themselves.

As mentioned, our priority is the speed of getting you back up and running, if we think a specific scenario calls for a particular resolution then we will work with you to get you the fastest possible fix.

Often though many issues are not actually hardware failures at all, instead it's the software that creates the fault.

We recently had a number of customers affected by a faulty graphics driver which Windows forced on to their machines via Windows Update, this manifested itself in all of the screens going black, even on a reboot.

The fault with the driver was identified by us roughly 2 hours after the first report reached us, we then put instructions together so that customers could resolve the situation in just a few quick and easy steps, and then published this on our site so we could point any other affected customers directly to it.

We regularly use remote access software to jump on to customers machines remotely to fix issues or take a look at problems directly and are on hand to talk customers through things via email or on the phone if required.

We do not use call centres, when you contact our support you speak with the people who actually built your system leading to a quicker resolution time for you.

Being pro-active with your machine and employing some sensible best practices can save you a lot of frustration and downtime.

It's often the case that backups of data and settings are not thought of until it is too late, or that frustration of always having to repeat the same process of setting up your charts or screens could have been solved by doing something slightly differently.

In an effort to share some of our knowledge and improve your computer experience we have an ongoing computer support email service which is free to all of our trading computer customers.

In it we share best practices, hints and tips on topics including backups, system settings, getting the most from Display Fusion, and other related software guides.

We can also use this service to pro-actively warn you of issues such as bad Windows updates before they cause you a problem.

Access to this email service is an exclusive benefit and free of charge for our customers for the lifetime of your PC.

Going hand in hand with our email support service we have also built up a range of technical support videos which guide you on topics from getting your machine setup the way you want it, to carrying out backups and even completely re-installing your operating system.

These are our own in-house videos tailored specifically for our customers needs and we have had great feedback on them.

I personally believe that a great trading computer is about more than just the components, it's about the whole experience of using the computer.

I want you to be delighted with your system, for it to become an integral part of your trading, something that makes your life easier.

I strongly believe that our ongoing customer support is the best there is, we take every step possible to ensure you receive a top performing and reliable machine, we then work to help you get the best from your equipment, no matter what your trading style or requirements, and if the worst happens we do our best to get you back up and running as quickly as possible.

Our lifetime remote access, email and phone support, combined with lifetime access to our technical support emails and video vault show our commitment to our customers and is unmatched by any of our competitors.