question for you guys/gals using one computer

[Bollwerk]

I have 6 computers to 31 or so box.

You are way way better to run 5 toons on 5 junk computers with 5 seperate monitors, instead of one computer.

You just need to run one keyboard / mouse to all 5 computers.

Personally, I feel that if you're going to spend the money on 5 "junk" computers and monitors, why not combine that money into one powerful computer that can run 5 toons? If you already have the 5 "junk" computers and monitors, then that's fine.

Of course, part of this is a matter of personal preference and if you even have the space for 5 computers/monitors. =)

[Tonuss]

You are way way better to run 5 toons on 5 junk computers with 5 seperate monitors, instead of one computer.

Now that quad/hex-core CPUs and powerful graphics cards are more affordable, I think that most people are better off with one PC capable of running five clients. A good quad/hex CPU is in the $200-350 range, a good motherboard is in the $150-250 range, and a good GPU is in the $170-300 range. You can build a pretty good five-boxing rig for $1500-2000 or possibly less if you research it carefully. You might be able to build five systems for $400, but I am not sure that they'd run WOW as well as the $2000 box.

I'm five-boxing on an AMD 1090T and a Radeon 5870 with all WOWs running off of a 750GB RAID 1 setup that is fairly old (7200RPM, probably 16MB cache), though my OS is on a 128GB Corsair SSD. I'm using 1920x1200 resolution, with the main window set to moderate/high graphics and the slaves at low. It runs smoothly, although I can't recall what performance is like in crowded cities (currently running my team through Northrend and Dalaran is empty these days).

[Durant]

I managed to 5 Box EQ2 on my build. I had no idea about the 2GB per instance until I read it here. I had almost no issues with only 9 GB of DDR3. Some Lag in highly populated zones but 90% time plain sailing.

I am considering going to a full group when I return (Left game last year but am considering returning) and I have allready upped my RAM to 12GB, considering getting a bigger case and new mobo to put a third 480 in.

__________________________________________________ _________________

Intel Core i7 965 3.20 GHz
Asus P6T6 WS Revo
12 GB DDR3
100 GB SSD
2 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480
Antec 900 Case
Antec Truepower Quattro 1000 PSU
1 x 23in, 3 x 22in Monitors
Razer Lachesis Mouse
Belkin Nostromo N52te Speedpad
Isboxer
Windows 7 (x64) – 7.5 Rating (7.5, 7.6, 7.9, 7.9, 7.9)

[Ualaa]

The one computer route is nice, especially if you do single player games and want top performance in those.

I don't think I have anything on my system any longer that really pushes it as much as boxing...
I'm playing Starcraft II, 5-box Warcraft, Birth of the Federation sporadically (and that runs on Win98/XP)...

[slongz]

thanks all for the input i am ordering some stuff and stuck on the case.
What would you recommend for a case/fan combo i dont care about looks i just do not want it to be loud i had one years ago you couldnt hear tv lol

Whats the best cooling system /case thats super quiet?

[Malgor]

One thing I've found that makes the one machine optimal over the five machine route (which I have done in the past) is to make sure to have two monitors. It's almost a must. My 27" Asus was only about 300 bucks on newegg and beside it I just run a 21" that is off an older Dell machine. That way you can put four toons on the smaller monitor and your main toon on your main monitor.

I also have used both Keyclone and ISBoxer from Lavishsoft.com and though it really took some getting used to how poweful ISBoxer is, now I prefer it and use it both for WOW and RIFT.

Good luck.

[MiRai]

My 27" Asus was only about 300 bucks on newegg and beside it I just run a 21" that is off an older Dell machine.

Malgor I have no idea what kind of video card you have but this is a note to everyone who uses nVidia 4xx and
5xx series video cards. Running different resolutions on different monitors will cause your GPU to never go into
idle status regardless of what you're doing. It has been a known issue and anyone can Google this for further
information.

Using 2 Monitors I Found:

1920 x 1080 + 1920 x 1080 OK! [2x Horizontal]
1920 x 1080 + 1080 x 1920 OK! [1x Horizontal // 1x Vertical]
1650 x 1050 + 1920 x 1080 NOT OK! [2x Horizontal]

[Malgor]

Malgor I have no idea what kind of video card you have but this is a note to everyone who uses nVidia 4xx and
5xx series video cards. Running different resolutions on different monitors will cause your GPU to never go into
idle status regardless of what you're doing. It has been a known issue and anyone can Google this for further
information.

Using 2 Monitors I Found:

1920 x 1080 + 1920 x 1080 OK! [2x Horizontal]
1920 x 1080 + 1080 x 1920 OK! [1x Horizontal // 1x Vertical]
1650 x 1050 + 1920 x 1080 NOT OK! [2x Horizontal]

Sorry I never made it back to this post sooner.

Fenril I'm running one at 1920 x 1080, and the highest resolution for the other is 1600 x 900. I tried making them both the same, but they seem all wonky.

I'm running a GeForce GTX 560 Ti

[Malgor]

Okay I set it up exactlly your way.

Everything works fine except the same thing... Each slot represents a toon, slot 1 being the main mage whom all the others assist.

Slot 1 - Shift-F1 - works great target is marked and focused.
Slot 2 - Shift-F2 - works great target is marked and focused.
Slot 3 - nothing happens when I select a target with main mage and hit Shift-F3. Though I can manually go to that window and click the button and it assists my main mage and marks and sets it as focus.
Slot 4 - exact same problem as Slot 3.
Slot 5 - Shift-F5 - works great target is marked and focused.

This is the same problem I was having with my other set up using my G keys. Slot 3 and Slot 4 don't assist. I know they are set up correctly as I'm using the exact same steps in each.

Is there some communication problem? I may have to ask Lax about this.

[beeq]

My current setup for 5boxing on one computer is:

Asus P5QL Pro
Intel dual-core 3.0Ghz
2 sets of dual channel 2x1Gb kit DDR2 800MHz (4gigs together)
ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series (can't really remember which one)
OCZ 2 60Gb SSD

and I can 5box easily with low settings without unnecessary addons.

also this computer can run 9 accounts with decent framerate with some lag spikes (pagefile swapping from SSD)

If you want to do it cheap and without ultra settings