In Search of the Ideal Poker PC Setup
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.
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.
Comments
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.
- Belkin N Wireless Router for $55.
- Belkin 12-Outlet Surge Protector for $20.
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.
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.....
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sorry, a little off topic...but....have you seen sat's for these events online yet?
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.
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.
I have got Dell W2709 or whatever model # it is. Bought it during one of the Dell day of deals for $599. I'm running that with a VGA cable right now and once I get my room setup the way I want to, probably will pick up a second one and run that off my video card's DVI input probably.