In Search of the Ideal Poker PC Setup

BlondeFish · Sep 17,2009, 02:05 AM

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 · Sep 17,2009, 09:27 AM

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

westside8 · Sep 17,2009, 09:35 AM

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 · Sep 17,2009, 10:00 AM

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 · Sep 17,2009, 12:10 PM

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 · Sep 17,2009, 05:28 PM

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by compuease

I 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 · Sep 17,2009, 09:32 PM

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 · Sep 17,2009, 10:25 PM

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 · Sep 18,2009, 05:02 PM

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 · Sep 18,2009, 08:00 PM

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 · Sep 21,2009, 02:32 PM

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 · Sep 21,2009, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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 · Sep 21,2009, 05:05 PM

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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

T8urmoney · Sep 22,2009, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlondeFish

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?

BlondeFish · Oct 16,2009, 02:03 AM

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.