In Search of the Ideal Poker PC Setup

BlondeFish

What is your poker PC setup and configuration?
I just ordered a Dell Studio 17.

- 7200 RPM hard drive (500 GB), as recommended by PokerTracker. All the retail PCs I saw had 5200 RPM only.
- Intel Core 2 Duo processor.
- 4 GB RAM.
- 17" screen, 512 MB video card.
- I will try to use a 32" LCD HDTV as a second monitor to multi-table nine or more games.

Poker Only

This PC will be for poker only for security purposes. No web browsing, no email, no watching porn. ;) I will have a desktop beside my poker laptop for all other uses.

Security Token

PokerStars has had an RSA Token available for increased security. I plan to get the PartyPoker Secure Token when it becomes available later this year.

Play Poker Anywhere

I want the option of playing poker away from home, so I am thinking of getting the new Rogers HSPA+ Rocket Mobile Internet Stick, with download speeds of up to 21.6 Mbps. This is seven times faster than Bell and other Internet Sticks.

Software

- PokerTracker 3 with advanced HUD configuration, including M-based and colour-coded statistics.
- Sharkscope HUD with 500 searches/day.
- Windows 7. Free DVD upgrade after October 22.

jdAA88

I would get Holdem Manager instead of PT3, much better imo.

westside8

Right now I'm on a Vista 64 bit desktop.

27" monitor, more than adaquate for 12-16 tabling. Looking to add another 27" probably by the end of the year. Running Hold'em Manager. Hardware is more of a low-grade gaming PC as I will play some games on it, and also uses it for video/photo editting.

As for mobile internet, I still don't find the need to play anywhere, just not necessary for me to be having a grinding session in the middle of somewhere with the internet stick.

actyper

Yeah I'd prefer dual 24s or 27s, I don't like looking at a smaller screen and then a bigger screen. I think anything bigger would hurt your neck. HDD speed shouldn't really matter except for the laagtard PT. Get a good comfortable mouse as well. I don't have a need for the mobile stick either. Get a good chair as well. I think thats tilting me right now. :)

compuease

I think all new pc's and laptops now have at least 7200 RPM drives, 5400 would be old stock. As others mentioned I can't really imagine needing a stick for poker playing these days... Maybe if I was in an area where I can't get high speed? +1 on the comfortable chair.... spend money there...

BlondeFish

I saw a Purolator truck outside my house and thought it can't possibly be my Dell order from yesterday. The driver buzzed and it was from Dell! The two peripherals I bought on sale with free shipping was already delivered after only one day:

- Belkin N Wireless Router for $55.
- Belkin 12-Outlet Surge Protector for $20.

compuease;197896 wroteI think all new pc's and laptops now have at least 7200 RPM drives, 5400 would be old stock.

Most Dell laptops have the standard 5400 RPM drives, so I had to find a configuration that had 7200 RPM as an available uprgrade. All the HP, Toshiba, Acer and other laptops I looked at that specified the speed of the drives only had 5400 RPM.

actyper

fk I need that internet stick. 8 tables, internet dies. Comes back on and i've gone from good stack to very short stacks all very close to the $. fml

compuease

Not sure how reliable the Rogers Rocket stick is... See below for some reviews.. Maybe ok for surfing but poker...? I dunno.

Rogers Rocket Stick vs. Bell HTC Touch with NFSFAN ROM reliability - RedFlagDeals.com Forums

ZTE MF636 USB Modem | Specifications, Features, User Guides and Reviews | Rogers Wireless Devices from

And I do know of one client of mine who returned it as it was too slow. Not sure how much bandwidth you need for poker though.

Word of advice, make sure you have an "out" if you sign a term contract.....

qqmagnet

Hey, why does the Hard Drive RPM even matter? Or any hardware for that matter? Online poker isn't in the least bit graphically or processing intensive.

Multiple big monitors at home would be nice though, so I don't have to max shrink all the windows to fit 9 tables onto one screen.

SuitedPair

it's the database for PT or HM. As you get a larger selection of hands, running the database stats against it moves much faster on a higher RPM disk.

5400 just doesn't have the same response time as 7200. at 10,000 RPM aptor though is incredibly fast. I have one in my Mac G5 and it is so much faster than my laptop.

ReefAquarium

I too am looking for new hardware to run my poker on.

I have a huge database of observed hands.

For example:

When starspy was legal I used to datamine stars. I was observing all stars tables 24x7. The day that they made starspy illegal I stopped using it. But that left me with millions of stars hand histories.

Right now I am switching from Pokertracker 2.
I used to have network of computers.
I had a back end postgreSQL data base server that had multiple gigs of hand histories.
This served to client computers. I usually run 4 screens at once.

I hate my system.... it's waaaaay too slow.

I've been trying HEM and I like what I see so far.

blackmagicz

ReefAquarium;198126 wroteI too am looking for new hardware to run my poker on.

I have a huge database of observed hands.

For example:

When starspy was legal I used to datamine stars. I was observing all stars tables 24x7. The day that they made starspy illegal I stopped using it. But that left me with millions of stars hand histories.

Right now I am switching from Pokertracker 2.
I used to have network of computers.
I had a back end postgreSQL data base server that had multiple gigs of hand histories.
This served to client computers. I usually run 4 screens at once.

I hate my system.... it's waaaaay too slow.

I've been trying HEM and I like what I see so far.

Wow GIGs of hand histories....that is awesome....

I think you can buy hand histories now off of Pokertablerating? Does anyone have any reviews of that site. I know I go on it once in a while but I have heard that it doesn't capture all the hands and some of the info is inaccurate.

BlondeFish

That is my nightmare - playing deep in 4-9 tables then my cable connection dies - so I am considering a backup connection. I just got a call from Dell offering 3 free months of Bell Internet, a wireless home networking modem and $5/month off my Bell bill. The salesgirl pressured me to commit and set up an appointment for a Bell technician for installation, but I've been victimized before by Bell's automatic monthly charges when I didn't need the service so I opted out for now.

I've been pleasantly surprised that the couple of times I've gotten disconnected, the site has given me a partial refund. I'm looking for an excuse to try out the new 21 Mbps Rogers Stick - hopefully by winning a satellite to the BCPC or the Canadian Poker Championship on October 11. :D

actyper;197943 wrotefk I need that internet stick. 8 tables, internet dies. Comes back on and i've gone from good stack to very short stacks all very close to the $. fml

T8urmoney

BlondeFish;198131 wrote hopefully by winning a satellite to the BCPC or the Canadian Poker Championship on October 11. :D

Sorry, a little off topic...but....have you seen sat's for these events online yet?

BlondeFish

If anybody wants a network cable, there is a Philips retractable CAT5e cable available at Dollarama for only $2. It works fine on my laptop, so I am now happily multi-tabling with a 32" LCD TV as my second monitor, connected with a VGA cable for now until I receive the HDMI cable from Amazon.com.

BlondeFish

In case anybody else was waiting, the PartySecure Token is now available. It costs 300 PartyPoints for Palladium members to order it, which is equivalent to around U$40. I expect it to arrive in 1-2 weeks.

Every time you use your token to log in, it will generate a new unique password for you to use in addition to your regular password, making your account safer than ever from malicious attacks.

actyper

Nice, got the stars one, the FT is on its way, and i'll get this one too. Damn I should create 1 token for all!!!

ReefAquarium

I'm thinking that a good PC set up for poker needs....

Screen area....

So now that 24" screens are under $200 I'm going to get an ATI 5750 or ATI 5770, since the new eyefinity lets you run 3 screens.

T8urmoney

Anyone use a 27" monitor.....Costco has an HP that comes with a 27" monitor for $1400.....my 7 year old Dell is a little out of date, and this unit is looking very tempting.

Also, what do I need to run 2 monitors together?.....as I'm not very tech friendly.

compuease

T8urmoney;206605 wroteAnyone use a 27" monitor.....Costco has an HP that comes with a 27" monitor for $1400.....my 7 year old Dell is a little out of date, and this unit is looking very tempting.

Also, what do I need to run 2 monitors together?.....as I'm not very tech friendly.

You need a video card that has 2 outputs, one may be a vga (old standard d shell connector) and a HDMI connector.. Or they may both be HDMI.