1 computer or 5

[jonodaman]

hi im am new here and i was wondering what you guys think is better
1 powerful computer
or 5 allright computers
and if 5 how would you go about
keyboards and stuf like that
and is the vetra usb multiplexer anygood and does it work with xkeys and the g15
thanks :P

[Zutok]

Assuming enough real-estate on some kind of dual-monitor, or higher, setup (and of couse the PC can handle it)... I'd pick 1 over 5 anyday! The savings in electricity alone (from the PCs & hardware themselves, AND for the extra AC because of all the heat provided by 5 PCs) would be the decision-maker for me.

Also, I wouldn't use more than two episodes of WoW per physical hard drive! If possible, have a seperate physical (not partitioned) drive for each install (each installed on it's own drive).

[jonodaman]

well atm all i got is my laptop so either way i will be buying all new hardware and the heat isnt that much of an prob lol my room gets fucking cold in the winter and in the sumer well i will open a window and turn the fan on :D

[jonodaman]

one other thing what is the best way to controll all the computers at once if i go for 5
within reason

[Zuri]

I guess it also depends on if you want to do anything other than play wow on it/them. I think you could also consider 1 good machine to run your main on and 2 alight machines to run 2 slaves each on. Check out Bradsters post in the hardware forum for a 5 machine setup.

[Zutok]

one other thing what is the best way to controll all the computers at once if i go for 5
within reason

Visit the software tools section of the forums here. There's software to do that exact thing! (ie. Keyclone, Octopus, Multibox, etc.). I personally use Octopus, and it is the cheese! :thumbsup:

[Xzin]

If you have the money, 5 is better than 1. But you only need 5 if you want to do high end PvP. Software solutions are generally "good enough".

[Vyndree]

5 will ALWAYS have steady performance. I mean, think about it. The processing power is clearly divided.

Just try to add up what you can afford in terms of 5 individual PC's, and compare that to what you can afford in one giant pc (at least quad core). Add up all the processing power, memory, etc. Which one has more? That's the one you should choose.

If you can realistically afford a hardware solution, do it. It will likely be more responsive in system-heavy situations like PvP, raiding, aoe, and major cities. ;) If you can't afford 5 pcs, worship the ground keyclone (or whatever software you choose) walks on because without these developers you wouldn't be able to multibox otherwise. That's the joy of software boxing -- it takes an expensive setup and allows people on a budget to emulate it.

[Nitro]

I have tried both and I by far prefer a single box with 2 monitors. Using 5 PC's with dedicated displays just feels like to much to look at all at once for me, I like it all nice and compact so i can take it in faster.

My setup:

http://www.knightsofshadow.org/ftpscreenshots/miscpics/wowsetup1.jpg

http://www.knightsofshadow.org/ftpscreenshots/miscpics/wowsetup2.jpg

[jonodaman]

what do you guys recomend out of the
vetra usb multiplexer
vetra ps2 multiplexer
or wireless keyboards
i like the sound of wireless but i really want to use xkeys
and does the g15 work with the usb multiplexer
thanks

[Nitro]

I use keyclone

[jonodaman]

i have keyclone on my laptop atm
i think it is very good but
every so often a key gets stuck or it doesnt block a key
so atm im liking the iea of 5 computers

[Jaws5]

If you want to grind BGs and 5 main pvp then 5 monitors is only way to go. you need to see each one for saps and other stuns. I set this up from start and its the only way to pvp. I used the 8 port PS2 vetra. works great for 5.

[Djarid]

Also, I wouldn't use more than two episodes of WoW per physical hard drive! If possible, have a seperate physical (not partitioned) drive for each install (each installed on it's own drive).Sorry mate, I am going to have to correct you here.

The best performance by a long way is having a single install on one drive then creating separate wow folders and using NTFS parsepoints (using junction in XP or mlink in vista) to create hard links to a central Data directory.

For anyone wanting more info, search the wiki for junction alternatively search through these forums

[edited to add some justification]
I believe the reason for this performance is that the data is read off the disk for one account and from the disk cache for the rest... Try it, there is a significant performance gain.

[Ozbert]

Also, I wouldn't use more than two episodes of WoW per physical hard drive! If possible, have a seperate physical (not partitioned) drive for each install (each installed on it's own drive).Sorry mate, I am going to have to correct you here.

The best performance by a long way is having a single install on one drive then creating separate wow folders and using NTFS parsepoints (using junction in XP or mlink in vista) to create hard links to a central Data directory.

For anyone wanting more info, search the wiki for junction alternatively search through these forums

[edited to add some justification]
I believe the reason for this performance is that the data is read off the disk for one account and from the disk cache for the rest... Try it, there is a significant performance gain.

Agreed. This is how I run four clients from the same disk on my second machine. The Data (and Interface) directory is shared between five WoW installs using 'junction' and my four clients all load pretty quickly and simultaneously when I log in, not to mention saving me about 30GB of disk space.

My setup is like this:

wow1/Data - proper directory containing game data - I don't run this one
wow2/Data - link to wow1/Data
wow3/Data - link to wow1/Data
wow4/Data - link to wow1/Data
wow5/Data - link to wow1/Data

[Sam DeathWalker]

wow1/Data - proper directory containing game data - I don't run this one
wow2/Data - link to wow1/Data
wow3/Data - link to wow1/Data
wow4/Data - link to wow1/Data
wow5/Data - link to wow1/Data



Im kinda lost on this. I just start all my instances of EQ from the same folder - what is the advantage of having multiple folders pointing to the same folder over just telling the game your info is in the same folder? Is WoW unable to start multiple instances from the same folder?

[Wilbur]

Its mostly for customisation of setups/UIs/settings.

But there have been some problems when loading multiple copies of WoW from the same directory.

[lewtrek]

personally i would lean toward less computers with keyclone software if your focus is pve.

If you are pvp oriented more pc's might be better performance-wise.

But I've only done 2boxes with 5 accounts for pve, so i don't really know if there's any huge performance difference.

Anyways, you can always try out one computer with keyclone (with 5), and if you don't like it...add more boxes.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

I'm gonna second the 5 PCs = WIN argument. I will also reiterate, though, that it takes a bit more savvy than doing them on one PC. Other considerations need to be factored in, such as your LAN architecture, the monitor sizes on the alts, setting up the alts for maximum consistency in terms of latency, cooling your computer room during the summer, etc.

[jonodaman]

ok guys i have decided to go with the 5 comps
if any of you could post a list of what u recomend for the alt computers it would help a lot
i will be building the computers myself
thank you

[Gallo]

ok guys i have decided to go with the 5 comps
if any of you could post a list of what u recomend for the alt computers it would help a lot
i will be building the computers myself
thank you

Big question: What is your budget?

Then we can get down to business.

[jonodaman]

not to worry about budget atm i will be saving up for this anyway so it wont take to long either way
what i would like to know is what u recomend as the average computer for multi boxing
the main computer leave that up to me ill make it a monster
but the alts im not sure on what is a good alt machine?
thank you :D :D :D

[Sam DeathWalker]

I box 4 "alts" on amd duel core 3700, so that should be more then enough for one ... and 5 computers is the way to go.

Because your best bet is to clone disks you might want to make all the motherboards the same, and the video cards similar (8800 for the main 8600 for the others for example). Say get a AM2plus motherboards X 5 and put a 4 core 9000plus on the main and a 4200 (dirt cheap) on the alts ... I have main at 6600, 2nd at 6000 and 4 minors at 3700 all running 4 toons each (the minors on smaller screens with less effects).