Not impressed, and I feel I should be...

[zanthor]

Ok... so here it is.

I'm running an AMD X2 6000 (3ghz dual core), 4GB Ram (Crucial), an XTX 8800GT with 512mb ram, a DFI Infinity NF570 M2-G mainboard, as you may suspect, the mainboard uses the nForce 570 chipset... onboard sound, vista 32... Dual monitor, a 22" LCD @ 1680x1050 and a 19" LCD @ 1280x1024. Nothings overclocked from the manufacturers spec (The video card is OC'd from the chipset spec, however that was done at factory.)

And I'm just not impressed with how wow runs at all, a single instance is far from unplayable, in fact I can run three copies without any problem with the out of focus windows getting a locked in 15fps and the in focus swinging anywhere between 15 and 40fps. I'm running wow from a hybrid single/multi install. The data folder is shared, the interface folder is shared, the game executables are not, the WTF folder is.

If I try and run 4, it is playable, however the sound goes to complete shit... so I guess CPU upgrade is in order and/or I'm looking at not 5 boxing on the one system.

I am sorely tempted to try a hardware sound card as I understand the onboard sound cards put a significant drain on the system resources.

[-silencer-]

Thanks to MS for trashing hardware audio support through DirectX. If you want an aftermarket sound card, I'd go with a Creative Labs X-Fi card and download their Audacity(I think it's called?) package. It's basically a bunch of software wrappers for using Vista's OpenAL support to directly access external sound hardware from DirectX games - WoW is supported. Without that, even with an aftermarket sound card, it won't be used - Vista will still use the CPU for software sound processing. Note that currently only the X-Fi series is supported by Audacity.

Based on those specs though, it's most likely your CPU slowing you down with that many instances of WoW. The Core 2 Duo architecture is that much better than the X2. I had my E6600 at stock speed running 5 instances in XP with 4GB memory without fps issues on my main screen (4 alts are now capped at 15 or 20 fps). I overclocked it to 3.2GHz and it bumped the fps even more. I do have an X-Fi Elite sound card though, so that does help with the audio processing being off-loaded from the CPU..

[Wilbur]

You *could* try buying a Phenom, but I doubt that'd have a huge impact.

Best bet?
Swap out your motherboard and processor for some Intel kit.

[zanthor]

I disabled the onboard audio and there was a notable performance gain, things ran smoothly in shattrah with all 5, it's playable without audio but I am one of those freaks that loves hearing the same sounds over and over again... I'll have to look into that soundcard and software... the other t hing I'm going to test is my dual boot to XP, however since my LCD's dont match resolutions I don't believe I can do span... so that kills the 2nd monitor...

[-silencer-]

The least expensive X-Fi isn't that expensive.. I'm pretty sure it's under $150. Plus, the Audacity software package is free on creativelabs.com - they're making it to support their hardware in Vista, since DirectX scrapped all hardware audio support.

I agree with Wilbur on this one.. a Q6600 & motherboard would be around $400, and you'd most likely be able to use all other components of your current machine.

[Djarid]

I am running an X2 4600 with 2Gb and a Radeon X1950XT and can run 3 and 5 instances of Wow on it. albeit on one screen (I have 3 attached, 2 through a 2400pro) but unplayable on all if I have them split over more than one screen.

I am running XP

resolutions for my windows are
main : 1200x600 with sound
1: 720x700 no sound
2 - 5: 640x500

[zanthor]

Djarid ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=User&userID=1039'), is that in the old world? Or out in the new world? Because mine runs just fine in Durotar but out in the world of level 70... not so much.

[Djarid]

unfortunately it is the old world.... haven't taken 5 to a city yet :(

I guess I am gonna have to upgrade before I hit 58!

[Fragmad]

According the CPU question. I am gonna buy a new computer myself very soon. Right now I'm looking at two different CPU's:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3.0GHz Socket AM2,2MB
or
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33GHz 1333Mhz Socket LGA775, 4MB

Someone above me said the Intel would be better. But i've looked at some cpu comparison charts, and from what I've seen there's barley any different between these two.

Comments or suggestions?

[-silencer-]

According the CPU question. I am gonna buy a new computer myself very soon. Right now I'm looking at two different CPU's:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3.0GHz Socket AM2,2MB
or
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33GHz 1333Mhz Socket LGA775, 4MB

Someone above me said the Intel would be better. But i've looked at some cpu comparison charts, and from what I've seen there's barley any different between these two.

Comments or suggestions?
At stock speeds, they're comparable. However, the Core2Duo can *easily* overclock beyond 3.0GHz, and the X2's don't have at all as much OC headroom. Run a compare of the X2 6000+ against the E6850 - that's the equivalent CPU the E6650 becomes at 3.0GHz.

[Fragmad]

At stock speeds, they're comparable. However, the Core2Duo can *easily* overclock beyond 3.0GHz, and the X2's don't have at all as much OC headroom. Run a compare of the X2 6000+ against the E6850 - that's the equivalent CPU the E6650 becomes at 3.0GHz.Thx man. I'm sorry for spoling the thread but I figure I might as well ask.

Is it easy to clock? I'm guessing it's done in bios. Can I use the original cpu fan?
I'm gonna buy a motherboard with 4xram slots. And I'm gonna buy 4x1024mb ram(all the same manufacturer). Does this work without problem?

[-silencer-]

At stock speeds, they're comparable. However, the Core2Duo can *easily* overclock beyond 3.0GHz, and the X2's don't have at all as much OC headroom. Run a compare of the X2 6000+ against the E6850 - that's the equivalent CPU the E6650 becomes at 3.0GHz.Thx man. I'm sorry for spoling the thread but I figure I might as well ask.

Is it easy to clock? I'm guessing it's done in bios. Can I use the original cpu fan?
I'm gonna buy a motherboard with 4xram slots. And I'm gonna buy 4x1024mb ram(all the same manufacturer). Does this work without problem?
It's easy to overclock, but you want to be careful and watch temperatures/voltages or you can fry your cpu. There are guides to overclocking online, I suggest you google one on overclocking the Conroe Core2Duo cpus. You'll have to check the motherboard's manual to see if the ram is the right type for the board. Generally, you can use 4x 1GB sticks in a 4-slot motherboard. I have a Gigabyte P965-DS3 with 4x 1GB Corsair XMS DDR2-675 sticks and no problems.

However, I would not attempt overclocking any CPU on the stock heatsink beyond 5-10%. The $40 Scythe Ninja (comes with decent fan) is all you need to get the Conroe from 2.4GHz to 3.2GHz safely. All chips do not have the exact same tolerances though, so you'd be safer to stick with a 2.8-3.0GHz goal. If you've never overclocked before, you'll probably want some help along the way.. it can get expensive if you don't know what you're doing.

[zanthor]

If you've never overclocked before, you'll probably want some help along the way.. it can get expensive if you don't know what you're doing.

The first chip I ever OC'd was my Commodore Amiga, I've OC'd everything since then from the Pentium on through my Athlon 64 4000+... but then I fried my mainboard, cpu and PSU on two machines figuring out WHAT I fried from a fucked up overclock. I KNEW what I was doing, I knew how to do it and how to safely do it, sooner or later you WILL burn shit out.

My mistake cost me $900 and thats using the Antec warranty to replace both 500W PSU's instead of buying new ones...

[Ripper]

Heh, I remember the good ole C-64 and Apple 2 days.

Don't feel too bad about your setup. Computers like to act funny sometimes. I run my main character on an E6600, 4gb ram, 8800gt, and I still get lag and stuttering in big cities, pvp, etc. Compare that with my E6400, 2gb, radeon x850 economy card, which runs the other 4 wow's, and it has no lag or stuttering at all. Go figure.

[Lokked]

First off, 32-bit OSs only support up to 3.2GB RAM (I could be WAY off, but this is what I understand). I would install a 64-bit OS.
Vista taking 1 GB Ram, and each WoW instance taking .5GB RAM, you are very close to running past what you've got with 5 instances running.

You should only have sound running on 1 copy (your Main's window).

Your drivers should be up to date and approved for Vista.

Lokked

[Ripper]

Xp 32 shows 3.2gb ram for me. I had Vista installed before. WoW ran no better than it does now. The fps was actually a little less in Vista, latest drivers and all.

[jrox]

From what I've read the cheapest sound card that offers any form of hardware acceleration which will take strain off your cpu is the XtremeGamer it usually goes for $80ish but you can find it for $50 after rebate some times.

[zanthor]

32 bit OS's support 4GB of memory addressing. However in order to access your hardware they have to allocate some of that memory space to those devices, as such out of the top end of 4GB you lose some of the accessible memory due to address limitations. The amount actually available can vary depending on hardware in the system. For example the backup server I maintain at work with 4GB of physical memory can only address 3.1gb of it due to having 4 raid controllers in it. While my home system is relatively simple in comparison and can address 3.5gb of ram.

Saddly, it appears that my CPU is certainly my chokepoint. So the next thing I get to do is buy a quad core processor and an intel board that has PCI Express 2.0 on it... that will make full utilization of the 8800GT and the quad core should have enough spare top end to do what I want... fairly short journey to a happy ending...

[Fragmad]

Generally, you can use 4x 1GB sticks in a 4-slot motherboard. I have a Gigabyte P965-DS3 with 4x 1GB Corsair XMS DDR2-675 sticks and no problems.
Hm, I read the description on the motherboard, what it said about ram was:

Supports 8 GB (max).
Ram-property: Not buffered, two ddr-channels.

Not buffered, is that a problem? ^^

[-silencer-]

Generally, you can use 4x 1GB sticks in a 4-slot motherboard. I have a Gigabyte P965-DS3 with 4x 1GB Corsair XMS DDR2-675 sticks and no problems.
Hm, I read the description on the motherboard, what it said about ram was:

Supports 8 GB (max).
Ram-property: Not buffered, two ddr-channels.

Not buffered, is that a problem? ^^
95% of the standard desktop memory you'll find is unbuffered. Buffered memory was more common back in the PC66/PC100 days - typically higher-end server memory. With my board I could have gone with 4x2GB sticks.. but when I got my first pair, memory was 4x-5x the price it is now. Around late spring last year, memory prices took a dive. I believe there was some lawsuit on collusion for artificially keeping prices high, so that broke down that wall.

[BobGnarly]

According the CPU question. I am gonna buy a new computer myself very soon. Right now I'm looking at two different CPU's:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3.0GHz Socket AM2,2MB
or
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33GHz 1333Mhz Socket LGA775, 4MB

Someone above me said the Intel would be better. But i've looked at some cpu comparison charts, and from what I've seen there's barley any different between these two.

Comments or suggestions?Two comments that you may take or leave as you see fit:

1. I've owned variants of both of these CPUs, and I would take the Core 2 Duo. I just had better luck performance-wise with it.

2. At this point in the game, and especially if you are thinking of multiboxing on one computer, I'd get the Q6600 Quad Core Intel over either.