Selecting HW for 2nd system to run 4 accounts

[Oswyn]

Hi all - love the forums!!! Had a question and wanted to get some feedback and opinion.

I have one box already for my main and have been running two other accounts on laptops and manually using each keyboard to level. I just got 2 more accounts and decided to build a new system that will support a total of 4 accounts simultaneously while continuing to use my original system for my main. I'd like to hear what you think of the setup below. While I'm not looking for stellar performance, I do not want minimum performance either.




Asus M3A32-MVP Dlx
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ (soon to be upgraded to Phenom when B2 rev comes out)
4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS2 DDR2 PC6400
AMD HD 3870 512MB GDDR4 (will upgrade to 3870 X2 when it releases - may go xfire also)
2 x 150GB WD Raptor HD (RAID 0)
Antec 850W Power Supply
Other Questions:




Worth it to go 64bit (Vista or XP) to make use of ~512MB that 32bit can't see?
I use a 24" for my main and have spare 22" monitors. Would the 22" be enough to show all four on one screen? Dell has a 24" for sale right now for $375 so I'm really tempted!
Dell 24" - http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Monitors/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-6095
Thanks in advance for your help. I can't wait to get started with my 5 toons!!!

[Ellay]

That PC appears to be more than enough to handle what you need to keep it running.

Since you already have the 22'' monitor go ahead and just stay with that, try out 4 on 1 screen and see if it is large enough. If you feel you need a boost you can always buy the 24'' screen. No need to waste $ though :)

[Oswyn]

Awesome thanks! I'll try the 22" and test it. I also just got the system built and will be installing the OS as soon as I can. Any opinion on Vista64 so I can use all 4GB of memory? Or will I even tell the difference running 32bit and using 3.xx GB?

[warcrime]

Awesome thanks! I'll try the 22" and test it. I also just got the system built and will be installing the OS as soon as I can. Any opinion on Vista64 so I can use all 4GB of memory? Or will I even tell the difference running 32bit and using 3.xx GB? i'm having this question too. i'm not really into the OS "scene" so i don't know the latest on vista64 driver support, can i move to it yet? (q6600, 4gb ram, 8800gt, just need to pick a motherboard so i can order, lol.)

[Wilbur]

Well, you have the option of either XP 64 bit or Vista 64 bit.

XP 64 bit, you still have the DirectX rendering problems so you need to use "Horizontal span" However with Vista you have the overhead of the extra system requirements.

[-silencer-]

Awesome thanks! I'll try the 22" and test it. I also just got the system built and will be installing the OS as soon as I can. Any opinion on Vista64 so I can use all 4GB of memory? Or will I even tell the difference running 32bit and using 3.xx GB?
The 22" should be enough to play 4 windows. I'm using a 20" (same resolution as a 22" - 1680x1050), and the 4 WoW windows are 840x525. That's plenty for me to target and cast Blizzard/Flamestrike with mages, and that's about the most difficult thing you'll need to do in the windows. If you're only using 4GB, I'd stick to WinXP. You'll be able to use around 3.4GB of it, and the OS doesn't use that much. If you only have 4GB and use Vista, you'll have much less than 3.4GB available after the OS. If you're thinking about upgrading to 8GB (around $175-225 total for 4x2GB sticks), then go ahead and get Vista. I wouldn't bother with 32bit Vista at all though - why limit yourself to 3.4GB AND the memory hog OS? :)

[Oswyn]

Thanks for the comments guys. I actually went with a Vista 32bit setup as I had an extra copy of Vista lying around. This way I can play some of the new DX10 games as well.

I got the game installed - but haven't measure fps yet. But so far, all four are very much playable and the settings are pretty much maxed out. I see dropped frames here and there. I will install some addons and lower settings and report back on fps. But so far it looks great!!!

Oh - the 22" works just fine. But boy I still want that Dell 24" for $375...