[WOW] - 10 Box with 1 Comp or 2?

[Peri Helion]

I see nearly everyone on this site that is 10 boxing WOW is using one computer, built around the i7-3930 with a 4GB video card and a minimum of 1GB per toon.

What are the comparative disadvantages to 10 boxing with 2 computers? As near as I can tell the cost is about a wash.

As info - my spec for 10 boxing on 1 Comp would be something like



Single 10 Box Comp


Processor
Intel Core I7-3930K
$500


Graphics
EVGA GTX 670 4GB
$420


Motherboard
Asus P9X79 or Gigabyte X79 Express
$220


Memory
16GB 1866 DDR3
$150


System Drive
OCZ Vertex 4 128GB x2
$358


Storage Drive
Reuse current HD
$0


Optical
Reuse current Drive
$0


Case
Reuse current Case
$0


Power
Reuse current 750W PSU
$0


CPU Cooler
Noctua NH-D14 cooler
$94



Total Cost
$1,742




Versus me building two identical computers like this (based on the toms hardware game builds for 1Q 2013)



Dual Box (2 Comps 5 Act Each)
x2


Processor
Intel Core I7-3770K
$229
$458


Graphics
EVGA GTX 650TI 2GB
$169
$338


Motherboard
ASRock Z77 Pro3
$95
$190


Memory
8GB 1600 DDR3
$53
$106


System Drive
OCZ Vertex 4 128GB x1
$179
$358


Storage Drive
Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002
$60
$120


Optical
Samsung SH-224BB:
$18
$36


Case
Xigmatek Asgard II B/B
$34
$68


Power
Antec Neo Eco 520
$55
$110


CPU Cooler
Rosewill RCX-ZAIO-92
$15
$30




$907
$1,814



Of course I am using ISBoxer and Jamba.

[Multibocks]

So I am 20 boxing in 2 computers and I think 10 per box is a bit much. One of mine is 3930, Titan, 64GB ram and its pretty awesome, but I turn down a bit of stuff. I think 5 per machine is the sweet spot. BTW I'm no expert, but using a ram disk is awesome. I have a very nice SSD on that machine and I can definitely see the difference when I play from the RAM disk when I am running 10 clients. 5 it's not as apparent, but still seems like a nice improvement.
I'm thinking of changing out the mobo on my other PC and upgrading it so I can do 64gb on it too. Only concern I have is I feel that my enjoyment of WoW is really starting to wane and I don't mean the usual quit and come back routine. Seems silly upgrading my other computer if I most likely won't use it in this capacity again.

[Ualaa]

OCZ is having some financial issues as a company.

In the past, a greater proportion of their drives have died than most of their competitors.
I personally have had good experience with their drives...

The Samsung 840s or Intel 520s are comparable in price and a little better in most benchmark comparisons.
The Corsair Neutron SSDs seem to benchmark the best in most tests, but haven't been around that long to see how well they last.

I'd consider changing your SSD, anyway... because even with a warranty, if OCZ is not around it wouldn't be worth a lot.




I'm not sure how strong of a card a 650Ti is.
If that's half the price of a 670, and the best for the budget, then go with it.

From others building systems, the 660Ti looks to be the minimum card that others have even considered for a system.
With most looking towards superior cards than that.




One machine vs multiple machines...

You can instant swap from any region to any other region, on the same machine.
So that is going to give you more precise control.

Also if you one-box any kind of a game, the single very powerful system is going to rock those games much more so than a half system (with two for the 10-boxing).

However the two systems that can each handle five, are going to be easier to afford.
You could upgrade each system, every other year.
If you wanted to stay on the cutting edge.
Financially that's going to be easier than upgrading a monster system every two years.

There have been a few posts by people who have split their boxing across two systems.
It seems to work out okay for them.
Prepared and Invisahealz also play with their army of accounts across several machines.