Can you help me figure out a good system!

[billysharp1991]

Basically i want to be able to run 5 instances of wow be able to instance and pvp

2 Monitors
!2 gigs of ram

I have never built a system but i learn fast and i have had my comp for around 3 years

My budget is between 2-3grand i'm simply wanting a system to just 5box wow and be able to listen to music without holy crap lag and i'm wanting around 60 fps on my main with max settings then on the other four accounts they'll be low with around 15-20 ?'

Any help on a decent processor / computer build that'll get 12gigs i know ill need vista ultimate and i can't have over heating lol

ANY HELP WOULD BE GREAT!

And i don't want to replace this computer anytime soon down the road i want something to do what i want it to do without problems :)

This will be my first gaming rig

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=8807525

That is my first wish list i think that could do what im wanting but im not sure :) you tell me lol
And if there is any good upgrades for that wish list please lemme know and why.

[Sajuuk]

Get a couple of 260's/280's 4870/50's instead of a 295, you'll probably get comparable performance, and more monitors.

[billysharp1991]

Will all the hardware be compatible ? im not sure about the case / power supply i think i needa do some more research onto the videocard and stuff to see what is a suitable power supply.

[billysharp1991]

How much does you're hard drive effect you're gaming =x

[Sajuuk]

The motherboard you have chosen has two PCIEx16 slots, so you can have two graphics cards. It would be best if the brands matched (ati vs nvidia). You won't need SLI/Crossfire for multiboxing, although it's good to have if you want it.

Your current power supply would power one high powered card - it would handle your 295 effortlessly.


I'm not sure about hard drive performance while doing normal gaming, but it does have an impact while multiboxing. Some would suggest raiding some drives, others would recommend a solid state hard drive.

[billysharp1991]

Could you give me a link to the best hard drive i can get for multi boxing with a price range between 1-400$ ?
Or thoughts. would a sound card be a good idea to not use my motherbored for sound ??
Would you suggest any fans or anything ? i don't want anything over heating lol

[Sajuuk]

I don't think there's really a -be all end all- hard drive. I did pretty well five boxing on one 7200RPM hard drive. It could have been better, I'm going to try a RAID 0 setup in the future.

Referring to sound - I have no clue, I always used a USB headset for sound.

As far as fans, I did pretty well on stock cooling for my CPU. If you're not overclocking or anything like that, you shouldn't have too much trouble with stock cooling.

Please note: I have limited experience with building computers. Take my advice with a grain of salt. Maybe two or three grains.

[billysharp1991]

Whats raid o setup mean i never heard of that.

[Sajuuk]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundant_array_of_independent_disks

With RAID 0 you combine two or more hard drives to increase the speed data transfer. The only bad thing is that if a hard drive fails, you lose all your data on both drives.

If you wanted an fast and easy to understand solution I guess you could go with a Solid State hard drive for your WoW folder. It'd be faster than a RAID, and (potentially) less trouble.

[billysharp1991]

Would you say all and all this setup would beable to five box instances / pvp pretty effortlessly i mean with lower settings on the salves and max on the main ect.

Don't feel like pitching out 2grand then being bumed :)

[Sajuuk]

Do some research - look around and compare brands and products. You may find yourself saving money.

[alcattle]

that is the wrong version of Vista. You need a 64-bit version so it will see all of your ram

[Owltoid]

I just ordered a new computer that should be very capable of 5-boxing and it cost me less than $1800, including shipping & assembly.

New computer has been purchased - specs, rationale, and thanks ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=18795')

Highlights:
i7 920 proccessor
12 GB of RAM, supposedly upgradeable to 24GB
GTX260 video card, not the top of the line, but I'd say easily in the top 20%
SSD drive, could make the biggest difference for 5-boxing if the read times are virtually eliminated

I would highly suggest using www.buyxg.com. Their prices are comparable to ordering individual parts on www.newegg.com but they put it together and offer warranties.

Good luck! If you'd like to wait 3 weeks until I get my new computer then I'll give a more detailed review.

[Jafula]

Be careful about any assumptions that 2 x video card = similar performance as one video card when boxing wow. Due to the way wow works; 1 video card is better. See the post linked below and the threads linked in that post.


[choice] Which videocard(s)? ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=173079#post173079')

[Nitro]

Could you give me a link to the best hard drive i can get for multi boxing with a price range between 1-400$ ?


This is a sweet HD for multiboxing http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167013

Go one video card, not two, two will not get you any perf increase and they will cause more heat and consume more power

GTX 285 or 295

Go with the EVGA model over the BFG model for the step-up program

Get a full tower case instead of a mid tower, you want plenty of room, make sure you buy a few extra case fans as well

Get a third party cooler for your CPU, I like Zalman

Get 12GB memory, if your gonna 5 box you will max out 6gb far to easy

[Clanked]

Be careful about any assumptions that 2 x video card = similar performance as one video card when boxing wow. Due to the way wow works; 1 video card is better. See the post linked below and the threads linked in that post.


[choice] Which videocard(s)? ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=173079#post173079')

Having read that post, and the post mentioned within the above: If you are running Vista with 3 Screens, and 2x 4870's; do you have to screen switch every time you start up WoW in order to use both video cards? Or is this fixed in vista? (It sounded like most of the posts were talking about XP, and people were saying "horizontal span is fixed in vista")

In other words: How would you go about outputting to 3 Displays. Main screen having your main client, your extra screens having your clones.

[Sajuuk]

Go with the EVGA model over the BFG model for the step-up program
BFG has a 100 day set-up program, as opposed to EVGA's 90 day. (OH NOES!)