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Hi,
We can all agree that it seems that the future of wow multibox is within hardware usage.
I'm trying to come up with a list of inexpensive Computers to play wow classic and even TBC prices should be around $100 or less, here is what ppl have share with me I'll keep updating it as we go:
Dell Optiplex mini 7010
Optiplex 9010
Optiplex 780 or 790
Currently there is nothing in the Terms of Service limiting Personal Computers (PCs), nor Virtual Machines (VMs), nor Multiseat Desktops (MDs).
New or used? If you're going used (no reason not to), it'll be almost impossible to get a list of every make & model. For example just on Dell's business line of PC's (Optiplex) they have hundreds of models if you want to go back far enough (Dell OptiPlex - Wikipedia).
I would consider a 390/790/990 (2011 model years) to be the minimum optiplex model to look at - that's when they moved to 2nd gen core "i" series CPU's. The 780/980's are 1st gen core i series CPU's. After the X90 series in 2011, Dell went to a X0X0 model numbering scheme starting in 2012 - so a 3010/7010/9010 was 2012, then 3020/7020/9020 in 2013, 3030/7030/9030 in 2014, 3040/5040/7040/9040 in 2015, etc. Note that starting with the 3040's they bumped up to DDR4 memory.
Instead I'd suggest that any quad-core CPU from intel's 2nd generation or newer is good enough (i.e. i5-2400 or better). Between 2nd and 4th gen there were only minor changes/improvements, then 5th - 7th gen were again very similar, but they bumped up to DDR4 RAM. 8th-10th gen are all very similar again, but you can at least get more than 4 cores per CPU starting with 8th gen.
Solid State Drives are much preferred, but you can do spinning disks if really needed. If you're only doing WoW Classic you may be able to squeak by with a 128GB SSD, but generally I'd say a 250GB SSD is the minimum. Fortunately, the only real disadvantage of the old spinning disks is in load times (going into dungeons - moving between zones). So its annoying when you 1st load, but once you're playing you won't notice the poor performance of your hard drive until you change zones/instances.
GPU wise I'd suggest that you want at least a Nvidia GT 1030 for decent graphics on retail. There aren't really any dedicated gfx cards below a GT 1030 that are worth buying right now - even if look at older used cards. You can find 1030's used for ~$50, and you can find 1/2 height models that fit well into small form factor PC's. A GT 1030 will let you run with moderate GFX settings and still get 60FPS at 1080p resolutions.
If you find older PC's with Nvidia GT 710 or 730's, those may work with all settings on low and with only ~30-40 FPS in game. But don't go out and buy a GT730, GT1030's are the same price and will get you 2x the FPS. (the same goes for even older Nvidia GT 210/230's).
If you're going with only whatever integrated GFX came with your CPU, it can work - but it can be very bad, even on wow classic. There is significant difference in the integrated GPU's that come with CPU's - and the more modern ones can be perfectly playable for WoW Classic on very low settings, but I'm guessing even those may struggle with a TBC-Classic. But going all the way back to the i5-2400 (intel HD Graphics 2000), it can play wow at lowest settings at resolutions below 720P. You'll be getting ~20 FPS in game with significant stutter and lag. Most people would say the game is unplayable. But if its for one of you followers on a small screen (or small portion of a screen) its technically playable.
RAM wise, you may be able to get away with 4GB of RAM on classic - so long as your GFX card has its own built-in RAM. But for integrated GFX (even on classic) go with 6GB minimum. 8GB preferred.
You may find the best overall cost per performance with less complexity via AMD Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) systems where the single die for the Central Processing Unit (CPU) includes a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU).
How about USB PCs I know Black Friday/Cyber monday is nearby. Its 2020 I'm pretty sure there has to be a $125 that will be on sale for $100 or less usb pc capable of running this. You hook 4 of these on those 4 way monitor and with a KM usb sync there u go and you could stack this.
The idea behind this is to make a 5 or more box hardware multibox available at a reasonable/affordable price.
Kinda #MakeMultiboxingGreatAgain lol
In the sub-$200 price range, you'll get much more performance per $ on a used system than you will for anything new - even the clearance prices for Black Friday can't really compete with the cheap corporate PC's (dell optiplex, HP pavilion or elitedesk, Lenovo ThinkCenter) that get dumped onto the market regularly for cheap. Although if you want to up to $300+ range, there are some great AMD Ryzen systems on black friday deals
The mid-size and small form factor (not ultra-small form factor) optiplex's are popular because you can put a GT 1030, or 1050ti graphics card in them and play pretty much any game at low - medium settings.
For only a 1 min search, I found this - hard to beat it for <$150:
Refurbished Dell Optiplex 790 Intel Core i5 3.0 GHz 8GB RAM 250GB HDD DVD-ROM Windows 10 Home 16GB Jump Drive, Wireless Keyboard Mouse, WiFi Desktop (Monitor Not Included) - Walmart.com - Walmart.com
HP EliteDesk's came with AMD APU's, so they're a bit better for gaming out of the box - especially in their ultra-small form factor. But they generally can't be upgraded with additional gfx cards, so they're good for low-end, but not as good for current AAA games.
Here's some HPs for under $100:
HP EliteDesk 800 G1 USDT Intel Core i5 4th Gen 4GB 320GB HDD Windows 10 Pro | eBay
HP EliteDesk 705 G1 | AMD A10 Pro 7850B 3.7GHz | 8GB RAM | 1TB HDD, No OS | eBay
HP Elitedesk 705 G1 SFF, AMD A10 PRO-7800B, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Windows 10 | eBay
I would not recommend any of the "stick PCs" for WoW. Not that stick PC's are bad - I have 1 on my living room TV. But you're paying a lot to get the whole device shrunk down in size and with very lower power usage. They often have 1 or 2 core intel Atom or celeron CPU's. They're fine if you just want a web browser - not good for WoW at any settings.
I am about to go for Dell Optiplex 3020's. They meet the min system requirements with onboard Intel HD Graphics. They can easily be upgraded with a GPU if you get the MT or SFF form factors. And you can easily get them for under $100. They are being phased out in masses and you can get from just about any site. Buying the MB/CPU/Ram individually you can get down even cheaper in $$.
It's nothing fancy, but who needs fancy to run 4 side machines networked with a main rig.
There is a Youtube of a Optiplex 790 running classic (link below). The onboard graphics of the 790 is Intel HD 2000. Min specs required are Intel HD 4000. The game ran on low setting ok. Probably survivable as a side PC. But for pretty much the same cost you can get an Optiplex 3020 the meets min WoW Requirements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqM_rSqzi3Y Classic on an Optiplex 790.
If I´m going hardware - my plan is 4 mini pc´s
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=mini+gami...f=nb_sb_noss_2
If you go that route you may want to focus first on the integraged GPU (iGPU) as you can't easily add a graphics card to one to those kinds of mini PCs...Quote:
Originally Posted by Tin
In some cases it may make sense to get an AMD based system instead of Intel based system as sometimes the integrated graphics (iGPU) are much better with AMD APUs (Accelerated Processing Units).
For example for some systems in the $300-$399 bracket you would compare an Iris Pro HD 6100 (Intel iGPU) vs RX Vega 6 (Ryzen iGPU) and the AMD could be up to +78% better depending on the metric/benchmark:
https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Iris-Pro-HD-6100-Mobile-vs-AMD-RX-Vega-6-Ryzen-iGPU/m25925vsm511817
That being said the Intel integrated graphics are getting more and more competitive so newer CPUs may be closer than older ones.
Bottom line is for any options I would try to first compare the iGPUs and then compare the CPU's single core performance and go with what looks the best performance in your price range. Also I would generally recommend going with the fastest RAM you can (that is reasonably priced) and at least 8GB of RAM as the memory will be used/shared for both CPU and iGPU.
Let us know which one(s) you are looking at and/or decide to get.