Trader Hardware Questions, Answered
Before a trader buys a rig they ask the same honest questions — about uptime, monitors, GPUs, backtests, and what stays private. Here are the answers, with no upsell and no claims about your P&L.
How is a trading computer different from a regular gaming PC?+
Same parts, different priorities: we build for all-session uptime, multi-monitor output, and quiet sustained load instead of peak frame rates and RGB.
Do I need a workstation GPU or will a consumer GPU do?+
Consumer GPUs handle charts and most display work fine. You only need workstation-class hardware when you train your own ML models on the same box — we’ll tell you which side of that line you’re on.
How long does a custom trading rig take to build?+
Typically a couple of weeks from spec to delivery, depending on parts; we bench-test every build before it ships, so nothing leaves untested.
Can you build a rig that also runs my backtests overnight?+
Yes, that’s the “Quant Desk” tier — but if you backtest heavily, a separate dedicated backtesting server usually serves you better so your desk stays free.
What internet do I need for low-latency trading?+
The rig won’t fix a slow line, but we’ll make sure nothing on the machine competes with your feed for CPU or RAM. Wired connections always beat Wi-Fi for a live desk.
Do you support crypto and options analytics specifically?+
Yes — we size memory and storage for tick streams, full options chains, and multi-asset feeds running together.
Is my trading data and strategy private on your hardware?+
Yes. Everything runs locally on a machine you own; nothing is sent to us or any cloud vendor after delivery.
Do you offer support after the build?+
Yes — you call the person who built it. Local Houston-area support, not an offshore ticket queue.
Can I bring my own parts or a list?+
Sure. Bring a spec and we’ll sanity-check it, source what’s missing, and assemble and test it as one validated build.
Do you guarantee the rig will make me money?+
No, and run from anyone who does. We guarantee the hardware — uptime, build quality, and support. Your strategies, models, and results are yours.
Should I own a trading rig or rent a VPS?+
A rented VPS bills every month for as long as you trade; an owned rig is a one-time build with no meter, and your charts, data, and strategy stay in your building. A small VPS still makes sense for an always-on algo that needs to sit near the broker, but a discretionary desk is usually cheaper to own over a few years.
Does TIS sell trading signals or financial advice?+
No. We sell the hardware and custom software you own — not signals, models, managed accounts, or financial advice. We build and tune the machine; the strategy, the risk, and the results stay entirely with you.
How much VRAM do I need for local AI sentiment?+
It depends on the model. A compact FinBERT-class model for scoring news and filings runs on a few GB of VRAM; a larger Llama-class local LLM wants more headroom, often 24GB or up. A high-VRAM workstation card holds large models and big datasets in memory at once. We size VRAM to the models you actually plan to run. Treat sentiment as research triage, not a buy or sell signal.
How many monitors can one GPU drive for trading?+
A modern GPU drives several displays from a single card — typically four native outputs, and more with DisplayPort MST hubs or daisy-chaining. Charts are light to render, so the limit is usually output ports, not raw GPU power. Four to six 1440p panels run on one card; for six to eight, or several 4K screens, we often add a second card purely for extra outputs.
Do I really need a low-latency setup, or is that only for HFT?+
Most retail and swing traders don’t need it — milliseconds are fine. Active algo traders can meaningfully tune a box with single-thread CPU, core isolation, hyper-threading off, and a kernel-bypass NIC. Genuine sub-microsecond HFT means FPGAs and exchange colocation, which is a different game we’ll tell you honestly you probably don’t need.
Who owns the code TIS builds for me?+
You do, entirely. We build the hardware and any custom software to run on it; the code, the data, and the strategy are yours with no proprietary lock-in or ongoing license.
Explore the builds: custom trading computers, AI trading workstations, stock-prediction AI rigs, ML for the stock market, and the backtesting server · or read the blog.
Built, delivered and supported across the Houston metro
We build every trading rig here in Texas and set it up in person across the Houston metro, then stay on call afterward — the builder is the support line. See our Texas service areas.
Still have a question? Ask a builder
Tell us what you trade and how you work — we’ll give you a straight answer and a spec, no upsell.
We build the hardware — uptime, quality, and support. Your strategies and results are your own. No financial advice.