What PC / Win 11 hardware is best for Quicken?

RedCab

I'm actually a long time user of quicken.

Time to get a new laptop.

I have a large QDF file (331 MB) including

~ 50 accounts total

Several investment accounts with 5000 - 10,000 transactions

My baseline intention is a laptop with an SSD and 16GB RAM

What other specifications will have most impact on Quicken performance on WIn 11?

CPU speed?

Number of CPU cores?

PCIe bus generation (3, 4 or 5?)

Others?

Insight appreciated, especially if there are benchmarks that can be shared.

Thanks!!

PS: Currently running Q Deluxe (fully updated) on Win10, SSD, PCIe3, 16GB RAM and it is painfully slow despite searching and implementing "speed up" tweaks found in these forums (graphics acceleration, execution priority, virus disabling.) Have not yet done the "archive investment accounts".

fanfare

What other specifications will have most impact on Quicken performance on WIn 11?

CPU speed?

CPU speed seems to have topped out for several years now.

Number of CPU cores?

Window likes to run everything in its own process now.
All CPUs are multicore now.

PCIe bus generation (3, 4 or 5?)

a new PC will have the latest bus technology, I would think.

Others?

====================================

" it is painfully slow"

I don't understand how this can be on a modern computer.
I have a floor standing tower-PC that is more than 10 years old.

Processor is AMD Phenom 1100T six core CPU.
8GB memory which is sufficient for Windows 10.
SSD for system but I keep the Quicken file (comparable to yours) on a separate conventional hard drive.

The system performance overall is excellent.
The performance of Quicken is very good. It is snappy, not sluggish.

Over the last two years or so, I would say that Quicken is slower in some actions to the point that it is noticeable, but nothing anywhere near "painful".

The only slowdown I ever see in Quicken is with a report that defaults to "all available dates".
This is annoying because it has to search over 30 years of transactions.

I don't use attachments.

I use Windows Defender.
If you have some other antivirus, I suggest you disable it and turn on Windows Defender instead.

Q97

Quicken is not very demanding of the hardware so if your current PC runs Windows and office apps well, that should be sufficient to run Quicken as well. 16 GB RAM is enough, and an SSD greatly improves disk I/O. Any reasonable CPU from the last 5 or so years should also suffice. Basic integrated graphics is also sufficient.

Here are some performance tuning tips

https://www.quicken.com/support/quicken-performance-troubleshooting

Depending on which operations are slow, you could copy your data file and try some of their suggestions on the copy. If they don’t pan out, just revert back to your original file.

Also make sure your data file is stored locally, not in a folder synced to a cloud service like OneDrive nor on a network drive.

RedCab

@fanfare @Q97 Let's compare the size of our respective quicken databases to determine if we're in the same ballpark.

1. QDF file size: Mine is 331 MB

2) How many accounts do you have total? I have 50

3) How many INVESTMENT accounts do you have with # transactions GREATER than 5000 (see this on account list page): I have 3

4) When you update transactions… How many accounts and quotes are being updated? I have 36 and 675

Opening quicken after supplying password: 20 seconds

Opening large investment account first time: 10 seconds

Updating transactions & quotes: at least 3 minutes (I have consistent gigabyte speed internet)

For confirmation: QDF file and installation are not touched by ONEDRIVE. Upon closing quicken I have an automatic file backup set up into a folder that is within my ONEDRIVE directory but that doesn't affect Quicken performance

If our databases are similar than we can look at what could be different about my installation.

STILL… I will buy a new Win11 laptop (my current one isn't compatible with Win11) and my original question of spec'ing it appropriately stands. (Unless you believe "buy the cheapest one with 8GB RAM and an SSD" and you'll be fine….")

THx

fanfare

@RedCab

default RAM size is 16GB now, I believe.

FYI WIndows 11 after startup uses about 4GB which is similar to Windows 10.
See Task Manager to find out how much memory is free after Quicken runs.
==========

QDF 200 MG
accounts: 28
Quicken startup: 13 sec. startup time is going to depend on your selected startup location in Preferences.

large investment file open first time: 6 seconds. I keep Quicken open 24 hrs a day and only close after two or three days.
I do a backup on every close due to Quicken "surprises".

Of various investment accounts I have only 5 investments accounts set for update transaction and quotes.
I get the black window briefly(maybe you don't see that). this adds a few seconds.

I update transactions no more than once per day in the evening. (One Step Update)
I update quotes only with real-time quotes on. It is pretty quick. (investing Update Quotes)
Most of my security list is set to Quotes OFF. (of no interest or vanished in the Internet Bubble)
I'm only interested in my current holdings.
the broker websites keep telling me I'm too concentrated not diversified.

I can understand that it would take a long time to update 36 accounts and 675 securities.
Actually, 3 minutes sounds pretty good.

fanfare

@RedCab

Oops I have to withdraw my Windows 11 4GB statement. I don't know how much is takes to load it.
Sorry.