Help with the Ultimate Rig

[entoptic]

Hello everyone,

I am currently lvling 3 more characters to fill out a nice 5 man team.

I want to run all characters on one computer with one monitor.

What hardware should I buy for this job?

I have overheard that using multiple hard drives is the way to go. Why is this?

Should an 8800 be ok to run 5 at the same time?

I will be purchasing a quad core t6600 or better and using 4 gigs of ram. Should I try for 8 and use a 64 bit platform? Will all my apps still work?

What kind of ram should I use?

Should I look into liquid cooled systems?

Is there a place to find out all this info already?

Please read my questions and comment.

Thank you in advance!

[DrGamut]

Hey! I just upgraded my computer for 5 instancing myself and I was pleasantly surprised with what I got.

I bought an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115018). Make sure you have a Socket 775 motherboard that supports quad core processors.

My 8800GTX is entirely up to the task of keeping 5 WoWs running, even with my main window on maximum details and across two displays. The 8800GT should do you just as fine for half the price (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130319).

I went for 8GB of memory after I noticed how dang cheap DDR2 has gotten (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122). Make sure you go with a reliable brand (G. Skill, OCZ, Crucial, Corsair, Ballistix are all brands I've had good experiences with in the past). Remember even if you only go for 4 gigs you're not going to be able to use all of it in a 32 bit operating system.

32 bit applications still run under a 64 bit operating system, Windows uses what's called "Windows on Windows emulation" to ensure backwards compatibility with all 32 bit programs. It's a little sophisticated because it actually has to maintain two separate sets of all your system DLLs and regristries, but it should be completely transparent to the end user. I've had a very good experience with Windows Vista 64 bit so far, and most all of the woes (namely lack of driver support) of the last couple years of 64 bit computing have been resolved.

Two hard drives is better than one because of RAID 0. RAID 0 allows you to split up your disk operations across two drives, theoretically halving the time it takes. Of course, the real world performance gains aren't nearly so perfect, but it is an improvement!

Liquid cooling is only for very serious overclockers who are willing to spend a lot of time and money on getting the last ounce of power from their hardware. There are /extremely/ good and cost effective air cooling solutions for $50-$70 that are still better than most of the entry-level water cooling systems (which would cost hundreds). The Thermalright Ultra 120 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835109125) is currently the leading HSF and the Tuniq Tower 120 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154001) is second best. They're both huge though, so you may need to look at smaller heatsinks if you have case room restrictions.

Lastly, I personally recommend two displays instead of one unless your primary display is very large. All of the 8800 cards come with two DVI heads and it's best to use them! Having multiple displays really helps you sort out the mess that you're going to have on your hands soon enough once you get 5 instances up and running. :)

Good luck!

[Havelcek]

DoctorG...what monitors are you running in your setup?

[DrGamut]

DoctorG...what monitors are you running in your setup?NEC MultiSync 90GX2 19" LCDs. I'm in love with these monitors, it's nothing short of a true shame they aren't being sold anymore. I bought extras off of E-Bay after they stopped offering them retail.

[Tonuss]

Currently I run 5 characters on two computers. My main runs on one system and the four alts on the other one. The one the alts run on is a Q6600 processor at 2.4GHz (not overclocked), with 2GB of RAM. I have two accounts running on one hard drive and two accounts running on the other. The reason more hard drives can be better is that they are sending data on separate channels. Instead of having four programs sending data back and forth over one channel, I have them sending it over two. I don't know if four WoWs is enough to saturate a single SATA channel, though. Maybe one drive would be enough.

I am running four copies tiled on a 1600 x 1200 screen (800 x 600 each) with most settings minimized on a GeForce 7800GTX. I run at 1920 x 1200 with most settings maximized on a GeForce 8800GTS on my main system, so I would assume that an 8800GTS should run four WoWs in smaller resolution just fine. The 7800GTX runs those four 800 x 600 windows at around 20-40 FPS, at the least it is smooth enough that there is no noticeable stutter and I do not have any real lag issues (I use keyclone to send the data to the four WoW from the main system, and there is a consistent ~0.5 second delay most of the time, but nothing worse).

I would go with the Q6600 and 2GB or 4GB of memory and two hard drives and a GeForce 8800GTS. I would only go with a 64-bit system and 8GB if I had a specific use for it that I knew would benefit from that. Four WoW under a Q6600 with 2GB works fine for me.

[entoptic]

Docotr,

Thank you for the helpful information! I will go and get a 64 bit o/s and some more memory. That heat sink is very large but it will come of great use!

I currently havea 30" lcd from Dell so I think that should work for now.