Bloomberg User Workstation Requirements
English
13 September 2023
Version: 8.6
* Customers running several CPU/memory intensive applications on the same PC may need higher-grade hardware including more memory and faster and/or additional CPU cores.
* In general, desktop CPUs can sustain faster speeds for longer periods of time vs mobile CPUs due to battery and cooling limitations in laptops.
* Newer Intel® CPU models have efficiency cores in addition to performance cores which run at lower speeds but consume less power. In general, performance cores will help heavy Terminal usage during periods of high market activity.
* Customers on PCs under the minimum specifications may experience degraded performance.
* Trading Systems users include AIM/EMSX/ETOMS/TSOX/FXGO/FIT/TOMS/Tradebook®.
* PassMark® Software’s Single Core Benchmark Score is an indicator of the strength of the CPU. More information is available on https://www.cpubenchmark.net/.
* Limited support is available for Windows 11 on Arm®-based systems.
STANDARD USER
TRADING SYSTEMS USER (Power Users)
Component
Minimum
Recommended
Processor
Intel® 6
th
Gen (Skylake) Core™ i5, i7 or Xeon®
Min Logical Cores: 4
Intel® 11
th
Gen (Rocket Lake/Tiger Lake) Core™ i7 or i9
Min Logical Cores: 12
-
AMD Ryzen™ 5, 7 or 9 5000 series
Min Logical Cores: 12
Minimum PassMark® Score: 1,700
Minimum PassMark® Score: 2,500
Operating System
64-bit Windows 10
64-bit Windows 10
Memory
16 GB RAM
32 GB RAM
Hard Disk
SSD (15 GB minimum free space)
SSD (25 GB minimum free space)
Video Card
Dedicated Graphics Card (Dual port) with a minimum of 512 MB memory
DirectX 11.x compatible
Display Settings
1920x1080x32 recommended
Dual Displays recommended
Network Adapter
Network adapter with TCP/IP Services enabled
Keyboard
Available USB port to accommodate the Bloomberg Keyboard
Customer Workstation Requirements
The previous page outlines customer workstation requirements based on the needs of the
primary user. These recommendations are reviewed and refreshed periodically based on
various factors. Higher specifications may be required depending on concurrent usage of
the Bloomberg Terminal, other Bloomberg applications as well as 3rd party applications
(MS Office Suite, order management systems, etc.).
Users monitoring fast moving markets should consider the recommended specification as
a minimum requirement for optimal user experience.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and Remoting Solutions
• Support of the Bloomberg Terminal on Virtual Desktop Infrastructures (VDI) is
contingent on the ability of the VDI solution to provide the same (or better) performance
and fidelity as the minimum PC requirements outlined on page 2 of this document.
• Traditional (Open) Bloomberg licenses are not permitted on VDI or Remoting solutions.
Only Bloomberg Anywhere licenses are allowed on VDI and Remoting solutions.
• Virtualization and desktop remoting technologies may result in degraded performance
of the Bloomberg Terminal based on several factors.
To prevent this, Bloomberg recommends that virtualization vendors' reference models
and capacity planning guidelines be followed in order to provide users of VDI solutions
with the same or better user experience available to desktop PC users. In addition, the
following factors should be carefully considered when deploying VDI and remoting
solutions for Bloomberg Terminal users:
• Allocation of sufficient CPU, Memory and Disk Space per VM session based
on our recommendations on page 2 of this document.
• Network latency and Bandwidth (VDI cluster to Desktop).
• Number of real-time monitoring components (Launchpad, Excel sheets, etc.)
• Support of automated monthly Bloomberg software updates.
• Bloomberg Keyboard compatibility with VDI or remoting solution.
• Number of displays and desktop resolution of each display (total pixels).
• Bloomberg recommends a maximum network latency of no more than 35ms, as
measured by a 56 byte round trip ping, between the thin/zero client and the virtual
machine.
• Bloomberg conducts some functionality testing with leading VDI solutions and can
provide limited technical support for specific VDI solutions.
Bloomberg Experience Score
In order to assess your PC’s performance capabilities, please run a test using the
Terminal function BEXP<GO>. This function simulates Terminal application activity and
outputs a score (1-10) indicating the throughput of your system. It will also run a series of
diagnostic tests to identify any possible bottlenecks in your PC. This test can also be
initiated from the TOUR INSTALL login. For any questions, please contact Bloomberg
Technical Support.
Please see the Software Compatibility Matrix under Documentation section for further
details on supported Operating Systems and Microsoft Office products.