HP Quad-core and multi-boxing

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update on Team Felguard... they have new hardware! My HP Pavillion arrived 2 days ago and I've been spending a whole lot of time optimizing my system for optimal performance. Here are the basic specs:

Intel Quad-core @ 2.66 GHz (Q6600... I know, I could have waited for the new quad-core, but I couldn't)
4 GB DDR2 800Ghz RAM
750 GB SATA drive
500 GB SATA drive
Nvidia 8500GT with 512MB RAM

It's not the most top of the line system, but close and way better than my previous multi-boxing setup (AMD 64 X2 4200+, 4GB RAM, Nvidia 7800GT, etc.). I just got my Keyclone license transferred to the new comp so it'll be a m-boxing night tonight. Here's what I was seeing on the gals:

Main is on primary SATA; alts on secondary SATA
Main: around 17-20 FPS... all the way down to 10 FPS in Shat... sounds low but incredibly was still playable for the most part... graphics setting @ medium
Alt1: around 15 FPS... all graphics option turned way low
Al2: same as Alt1

And here are the new numbers:
Main is on primary SATA; alts on secondary SATA
Main: around 50-60 FPS... graphics options set to medium-high
Alt1: around 30 FPS... all graphics option are medium
Al2: same as Alt1

Some observations:
- Windows Vista blows... really big chunks. I keep my documents on an external USB drive for easy relocation and Vista sucks at simple file operations (copy/delete/move).
- Vista's WLAN auto-polling every 60 seconds is completely ridiculous. It causes lag and random disconnects every couple of minutes.
- UAC (User Account Control) sounds really good but gets in the way of everyday work
- Aero looks great. I have to hand it to MS... the UI in Vista looks a lot better than XP. I like it.

But in the end, the WLAN issue and general sluggishness with normal operations caused me to wipe the drive re-install XP Pro SP2. People say you shouldn't play online games, especially WoW, on a WLAN, but I have no issues on XP Pro. Ping to the server is around 25 ms or less. My rig is also streamlined for gaming... there are no unnecessary apps on the system. The ones that I do require for work (MS Office, Adobe PhotoShop, Video software, etc.) are installed as portable apps using Thinstall. This means no registry mishaps, DLL all over the place, and stuff just loading in the background. Thinstalled apps are essentially virtualized and whatever they need to run are loaded at runtime and then it's gone when I close the programs. The system is really responsive.


Anyways, that's where I am with that. :-)

This has been my experience on a Q6600 + ICH9R RAID box as well, minus the WLAN stuff. Not sure why Vista has such a problem with needless delays during normal (simple) file/memory operations. And this was with SP1 installed, to boot. Oh well. It may one day catch up to XP from a perceived usability standpoint but I wonder if it will require another generational leap in hardware to get there. I'm interested in seeing what they focus on in Windows 7.

Thanks for the post. I've been considering upgrading my X2 4200 to a q6600, given how 5 boxing is pretty painful at times on it, even though it has an 8800 gts. If you haven't done this already, you might get even better perf if you use "junction" to reference a single wow install. There was a post I made about "pip performance" in the software section, and someone mentioned the junction tool. Highly recommend looking into that if you haven't already. It dramatically increased my load times. A LOT.

Heh, I'm not even talking about WoW here. Just simple cut&paste operations within office or explorer. Or searches using MSFT's Desktop Search or Google Desktop.

i use this helpeds http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=513758

There are other articles about "tweaking" Vista. There are definitely ways to turn of UAC (I did).

I'm using the same chip as you, got it just over 2 weeks ago. Stick a after market cooler on it and it will clock to 2.97ghz easy with 10degree more temp on it. Mine runs at 2.97ghz all day, no crashes just smooth, quiet awesomeness!

I only run a 7950GT card and I get 35FPS on main and I throttle the alts to 15. I have set a macro on them to change to 5 in cities and the main to 25fps.

FYI, I'm using a ASUS mobo.