Good for dual boxing?

[Odotto]

Hellos. :D First off let me state that I am fairly in the dark when it comes to computer hardware. All I know is I loves my computer games, wow being at the top of my list of fun time games. I decided I wanted to start dual boxing, seems like it would be fun. Sadly, my current pc can barely handle a single wow running on it and is soon to be replaced. I have two options, buy a new pc or take my friends extra pc, it's specs are listed here.

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA770-UD3 AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor Model ADX6000CZBOX

Power Supply: Antec earthwatts EA500 500W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.0 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC

Video: EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

Memory: Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model CT2KIT25664AA1067

OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP3 32-bit for System Builders


So, my question is, will my friend's pc be good for dual boxing wow? If not, then what would I need in a pc to dual box? I know I am a total nub, but that is why I am here, to learn and shed my nubbie shell. :D

[cybernerv]

pretty good computer you listed, but you did not mention how much your friend is selling it for. or is your friend being very kind and giving you it?:D

so you are wanting to play 2 characters or are you wanting to play more then 2 on the same computer? I have no experience with more then 2 characters on a single machine, but maybe some of the 5+ boxers can help you more :)

[Odotto]

My friend is gonna let me borrow it with the option to buy. xD Basically I just need to go pick it up, but if I want to keep it Imma need to pay him a total of $800. >> But yar, I just wanted to start with 2 characters at first, so that is all I am gonna worry about atm.

Could I use his computer to run with 2 characters at once? o.O

[Fizzler]

It will play 2 characters alright. I would not pay $800 for it but it will do what you want.

[Sychosys]

Considering that an extra $300 could get you a very nice i7 system Id say its not worth $800. It should dual box with out much of a hassle though.

[Odotto]

I was kinda figuring that $800 was a lil wonky, but it includes a 24"and a 19" monitor xD >> which would leave me with..three monitors o.O

Thank you all for responding. I will do some sniffin around and pricing. >> maybe borrow his pc until I get a new one.

[cybernerv]

i agree with the others, $800 is way to high. check newegg.com that is where I get my parts at. and when you get the parts, are you capable to build it yourself? or are you looking for a pre-built one?

[Odotto]

Well I can't build it, but I can get my brother to stick it together for me. So really, I could buy the parts or get a premade. Which ever is better/cheaper xD

Do you guy have any suggestions on parts to buy or what to look for in a pc for this?

[cybernerv]

sure we can help, what is your budget for a build?

[Odotto]

If possible I would like to keep it around $1000, but could probably squeeze it up to $1500. (if my auctions sell on the ebays. >>)

[cybernerv]

oh thats higher then I thought hehe. you can build a beast of a computer with that ;)

if someone has not put together one for you, I will do so tomorrow. but now I am off to sleep

[jak3676]

I just bought a used PC on ebay for less than that with better spec's. You won't find many i7's, but you can get a nice quad core system for under $500 if you're OK with used.

[cybernerv]

if I were buying a computer today, this is what i would get

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041 - processor - $219 free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 - computer case - $69.99 free shipping

2 choices here for motherboards

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359 - if you want a single video card- $114.99, $15 mail in rebate, free shipping

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358 - for dual video cards- $134.99, $20 mail in rebate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009 - power supply- $139.99, $20 mail in rebate, free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166 - memory- $59.99, free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150394 - video card - $144.99 (if you plan to go dual video card buy two) free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284 - hard drive- $94.99, free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812123173 - sata- cable for HD- $2.49

a total of $888.45 (not counting shipping and or rebates)

if you have a hard drive, computer case, and or a good power supply, you can eliminate those from the list

but this is what i would buy, other people will have different opinions.. just do your research and you should be good :)

[Odotto]

I want a new pc. >> My last one I got used and it should have been good, but it had been abused by it's last owned (porn and only being cleaned up right before it got sold) so it did not run for poop. So, that leaves me paranoid about getting used ones.

:o Ooo that stuff looks swanky xD So, would you recommend getting the dual videocard stuff over the single one or what?

I mean, being a nub I can only say the two sounds like it would run stuff better, but I really have no clue xD

[cybernerv]

well it depends on the game you are playing. if I am not mistaken, Wow does not utilize SLI/crossfire(dual video cards) so it only uses 1 card. But most modern games have SLI/crossfire support(crysis, world at war, etc)

if you were thinking about getting 2 video cards, you can get the motherboard that supports crossfire(i.e 2 PCIexpress slots) and just get the 1 video card for now and get another video card at a later date :)

But I am curious at what other people would choose seeing as i never went crossfire or even used a ATI card. i know Wow had ATI problems and what not, but not sure if they are resolved.

[jak3676]

Step 1 any used computer - wipe the hard drive. Fdisk the partitions and start over. (Win7 FTW while you're at it.) I wouldn't even plug in the ethernet cable into my network until it had been wiped clean.

[JU1CYFRU1T]

If you can afford it ($1000-1500 is more than enough), I would suggest going i7 with 6-12 GB of RAM and a SSD (or two). I am in the process of specing out a PC, and those are the key pieces of hardware that I will be getting.

[Odotto]

Okay, so there was some misunderstanding between my friend and I. >> Evidentally I cannot tell when he is joking. xD he said he will let me have his old systen for $100.

So, my new plan is to buy that and upgrade some parts of it xD So that gives me a new question to ask you guys.

Which parts would you recommend me upgrading and to what? o_o

[cybernerv]

checked around and the minimum power requirements for that video card is 500W. I do not know enough about power supplies to say it will use that much or not. But I would get a new power supply just to be safe, other then that i can not comment on the amd as I do not know anything about amd motherboards/processors.

[Sychosys]

If you can afford it ($1000-1500 is more than enough), I would suggest going i7 with 6-12 GB of RAM and a SSD (or two). I am in the process of specing out a PC, and those are the key pieces of hardware that I will be getting.

I would not recommend SSD simply because of the price. I like them, they are nice, but you will get equal or better performance right now using the 10,000RPM 16MB Cache(Thats probably the kicker) VelociRaptor drives. My system goes from Loading Screen, Blue Bar, Loaded, for the slaves (Yes, it loads in the amount of time it took you to read that, no joke). I have the texture quality and such set to higher on my main so it probably took till half way through the ( ) for it to load :)

Honestly, save the cash for now.