1x Super PC vs. 5x Ordinary PC's

Hey everyone! Just returned from my Blizzcon adventures and I gotta say that it was a blast! Although, being able to play on their amazing computers (compared to mine) has made me decide to drop a bunch of cash into getting a new rig.. or 5 :rolleyes: .

My initial question here would be, coming from a veteran multi-boxer, would it be better for me to run 5 comps, or 1 comp for 5 WoWs?

I'm looking to box a 5-man team, 1 Prot Pally + 4 Shammies, and my computer now can't cut it. But I'm stuck at the delema of choosing between one 'super' computer.. which would consist of a quad-core, top of the line parts, etc. Or 1 'good' computer and 4 mules? Either way I am looking to spend a lot of money, near $2500 - $3000 total for the tower(s) and a new monitor. So I'm just looking for some input on what everyone thinks would be best :thumbsup: thanks in advance everyone!

My vote would be one for there sheer fact that you only need to run one computer. For you would have a lower energy cost, less of a hassle turning them all on opening the wows, working on the switchers or software for using one keyboard etc.

and my maine reason is in the future when you decide that wow is not your forte anymore you have one great computer instead of 5 decent ones.

Pulakiyah makes very good points.

I, however, think you should go 5 boxes.
Ebay has dell gx280 s with 1gb and 3.0 processors for ~$150 - throw in another $80-100 for a 9600gt and $40(20+20) for kavoom KM and Keyclone and you have a machine ready to go with necessary software for $270-290. I got 15" monitors without a stand for $35 (included shipping - from auburntechnology - they sell govt surplus i think). Now you are around $1400 for the 4 slave machines and that leaves about $1600 for the main - good 22" monitor and quad core easy.

If you look for you local state auction house you can get the gx280 for around $100 (got mine for $100) and no shipping. Made my own monitor stand for ~$40 with parts from Lowes (required drill for a couple holes) x2.

I just think the seperate monitors makes it sooo much easier (go for 17" or bigger if you can afford it - maybe use your old machine for one of the slaves to help afford better monitors).

If you go with one computer, make sure to look into the solidstate drives for game data to help eliminate lag - this info is posted elsewhere on this board. Multiple machines spares you the lag issues too.

I think both, single and multiple, machines have their plusses. Go with what you think what you think you would like.

I just recently started dualboxing, and what made it real easy was already having a beefy system. I bought a Mac Pro earlier this year, and with 8 processor cores, the CPU side is never a concern, even when using the built in video recording function of WoW. Graphics wise, the box also has 4 16x sized PCIe slots allowing for 4 total cards (though only 2 6pin power connectors). For now, I ensure both clients get full GPU power by running an 8800GT attached to one LCD, and the 2600XT that came with the system attached to another monitor. OS X allows the WoW game window to run on either card, and I can even drag the window back and forth between the two screens without any issues. The GPU that has the most pixels of the game on it is doing the rendering for it. The only downside is rebooting into Vista to play some Windows only games blanks out the second monitor, as it can't support two video cards that run different drivers. XP can, and apparently Windows 7 will be able to again, but for now it means it's not real easy for me to start dual boxing a Windows only MMO.

And welcome back from Blizzcon. Was running around there myself as well, and had a blast playing Starcraft 2.

im not necessarily a vet or anything but i went the single machine route. i was able to build a machine from the ground up on new egg for about 1600 and it is just fine for pve. i dont pvp ever so i cant say anything for that but i get no lag have about 30-45ms latency almost constantly and have never crashed a client or anything like that. im running an intel quad core with 8gigs of ram, vista64, 2 250gig HDs, and one 8800gt. runs 5 like a dream.

Just a couple points. I believe theres some good advice to be had in this post from a few people, but maybe some other considerations too. For one, i think the gx280's come standard w/ a 250-350watt power supply. Not ideal for a 9600gt card. I think the preferred watt. for those cards is 400-450. So you may not be running that card at peak performance. Also one posters advice about heat is important as well. Beefy cards create alot of excess heat in ur tower, so if u do choose a larger power supply, then make sure you have the means to cool it down. Some tips... make sure you set your towers apart from one another as most of the displaced heat (w/ a well-coooled machine) is collected on the exterior of the tower, ie. near the power supply and g-card. On another note, I am personally of the single pc mind-set when boxing, if you choose to play other games where boxing isn't ideal or possible, then you'll be glad to have one really solid machine rather than a decent one w/ 4 worthless slaves.( unless you're playing cod4, watching youtube, e-filing your taxes, e-mailing your grandma, and looking at porn all at once =P) Anyway, just my opinion on those issues, but all around pretty solid advice from the posters. =)

Thanks for the responses everyone! So far I have been leaning towards the 1 machine side. I have priced some out at around $3,300 after tax and shipping which would include 2 new 22" monitors and an Ergotron stand, along with a g15, new mouse, and mouse pad :whistling: . I'm sure I can bump the price down a ton without those, we shall see! Thanks again for all the great advice!

I had the single character per computer for two years, with the RAF went with a machine for 5 more characters and moved all my warlocks to the same machine. After getting it all setup i really need to ditch the separate boxes, its so clean and usable. The 'maximizer' setup tiled over a good resolution monitor is really great.