Monitor Question and how much can i push my PC?

[SJMX]

Hey Dudes

First question is about my monior setup. Currently i use a 20" WS and a 19" WS for dual boxing. This works really well and im happy. When i boost myself with my mates account and run 3 accounts at once i split the 19" monitor into 2 and for boosting purposes and its fine. What i would like to know is that if i wanted to run 3+ accounts to tri or quad box etc, whats the MINIMUM size monitor you would suggest to have split screens on. I already know that running 3-4 on the 19" will make them too small to play if my main dies. 2 on the 19" is playable but i think i would struggle if my main was dead for a long time for any reason. Im thinking something like a 26" or something, please correct me if im wrong?

Second question is would my PC be able to cope on its current setup with more then 3 accounts. I ask "more then 3" cause i already know i can run 3 accounts at once with no issues at all (including Winamp playing, firefox, some folders and directories open and other odds and sods).

My Spec:
Intel Q6600
4GB Corsair (2 x 2gb, 800mhz)
Radeon HD4870 512mb

I run all my wow instances off 3 seperate HDDs, i can add more if needed. For reading other questions of this nature, im guessing i would want to think about upping my RAM to 8gbs?

Thanks in advance.

More information on request.

Scott

[alcattle]

You are right on with your plan. I run a Q6600 with 8gigs and 2 monitors. Your video is so much better than mine.... I play 5 toons, splitting alts how ever they fit on the screen, use window swapping when I need to see the alts.

[SJMX]

I dont fully understand when you mean "window swapping". do you have 1 main on 1 monitor and the other 4 displayed ALL at once on the other or do you ALT-Tab through them?

[Owltoid]

FYI, you're risking getting both your and your friend's account banned by playing both at the same time.

[SJMX]

FYI, you're risking getting both your and your friend's account banned by playing both at the same time.I didnt know that.

Can you explain why?

As far as i can see, i am playing 3 accounts that are being paid for by 2 people. Whats the difference with playing my mates account and my 2 accounts together and just having 3 of my own accounts? I have permission from my mate to use his account. When im in uni we are technically even in the same flat, sometimes the same room, so i cant understand the risk?

EDIT:

"Username and Password.
During the registration process, you may be required to select a unique username and a password (collectively referred to hereunder as "Login Information"). You may not share the Account or the Login Information with anyone other than as expressly set forth herein."

Thats the only bit of the T+C i can find that might be relivant. I havent stated however, whether my mate is in the room with me and has shared his account information with myself. As far as i am concerned, my friend has logged in for me and is sat by myself when playing the game.

Please may i ask, if anyone has an issue with this post, can you please PM me and we can discuss in private. Thank you.

[Drizhal]

I don't have links on hand but it is true that you are not allowed to share accounts with anyone EXCEPT in the situation of a parent and a minor child then you are allowed.



A distinct blizzard comment I remember (however much I do not agree with them) is, "Think of it like an amusement park ticket, you need 1 for each person wanting to come into the park and enjoy the rides." But this is also in the EULA and TC stating that you do not "own" blizzard characters they are blizzard property and you are basically leasing them =(.



*EDIT* They will also consider you a person selling/powerleveing a toon for money if it is in 2 different names.

[SJMX]

Ok thank you, i accept that now.

Please do not think of me rude but can we focus on the orginal questions?

Thank you :)

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Yes, let's focus on the other questions as it's been proven a bannable offense multiple times to play other accounts with your multibox guys. ;)

Regarding monitors, The smallest I can get away with on my alts is a 24" 1920x1200 panel with the 4 wow's set to 800x600 resolution. Anything smaller and unless I get up close to it I can't read the fonts. That should give you some basic math to work with. This is with the UI scaling set to .64 I think. Hope that helps. ;)

[F9thRet]

I do something similar to what Ughmyheadhurtz suggests.

With three boxing, I have the same 1920x1200 monitor, I turn it on it's side, set resolution to 1050x1680.

This gives me two 600x800 panels, and the second monitor (19' widescreen) at 1440x900.

Works like a charm, I can lean back in my recliner and boost away.

Stephen

[SJMX]

ok cool, what ill be doing then is looking for a 24-26" monitor/TV for sale and see what i can do with it.

Theres no issues with running 4-5 accounts on my PC setup im taking it then?

Its slightly addictive this game, isnt it :P

[F9thRet]

As far as your machine, I'm not really sure. Maybe one of the resident Guru's here can help you with that, I've noticed they are quite helpful.

The only thing I can see, is some who run 5 toons I believe use 6 gig of ram, but I could be mistaken on that also.

I know I am using 2 gig and running three fine. (sadly it's the max I can go with this old MB) so 4 should be ok.

Stephen

[Slats]

You might like to get some more RAM for Dalaran and Northrend. I dont know much about the ATi Cards so someone else can comment on that.

If you use keyclone - you can use the PiP hotkey. I use F8 - F12 for my hotkeys. I bind F8 to my main window which is 1920 x 1200. I bind F9 - F12 to my other 4 regions which are split on my other screen which also runs at 1920x1200. Keyclone passes your PiP hotkeys thru to WoW now so I have 5 macros on each character that do this:

/clearfocus
/focus CHARACTER (the character that usually plays in that 'region')
/jamba setmaster CHARACTER

So that way whenever I flick between characters - say if one dies or I want to start looting on another one - my play experience is exactly the same as if I was playing my 'main'.

Since you have a Quad-Core I highly recommend letting all of your WoW clients use all 4 cores - Windows will happily manage the load by itself - you should notice a big FPS increase. Also if your card does AA/AF set it to 1x on all clients. Turn of v.sync. Turn of 'reduce input lag'.

If you have some kind of 'quality vs performance' slider in your graphics cards control panel set that to high performance as well.

Try cut down your mods as much as you can - obviously keep the ones you like - but you might want to sit down and think about if you really use or need that flashy fancy mod or if you hardly use it. Or do you need it on all 5 characters.