New Box for 5man

[oxxo]

So I've been dual-boxing on my desktop/laptop (no macros, no cloning... so a PITA). I've started working full time (recently graduated) so I have the time, money, and boredom to start 5-boxing on one machine.

My current setup is:
AMD Athlon 64 3400+
1 GB of RAM
256 MB NVidia Geforce 6800 GT
20" 1680x1050 Dell 2005 WFP

What I am thinking about is:
Intel Q6600
4 GB of RAM
512 MB Ati HD 4870

And I plan to get a 24" 1900x1200 screen run the main on that with the clones on the 20".

Should that setup be good?? I picked Q6600 because that seems extremely popular both here and other places I've looked but I'm not sure if I need something like the Q9450. I haven't upgraded or kept up with benchmarks/desktop technology in years (since I built my last machine) so I have no idea how much of a performance increase this would be. (it should be pretty big no?)

Also if anyone has any suggestions on cases/motherboards it would really be appreciated.

[-silencer-]

The Q6600 will handle 5 (I've run 5 on an E6600 and it's playable), but it's your call if you'd rather just spend the extra money now for a Q9450. I would.

I also run my main in a 1680x1050 window on my 1920x1200 24" monitor, and it's decent having 4 alts on a 1680x1050 screen, although I plan on putting 4 on another 24" sometime soon. (4 in a 22" 1680x1050 is just a little too small to continue like this much longer.)

For cases, it's more of a personal preference than anything. I love my Antec P182 - quiet, cools well, and solid. The Antec 900 and 1200 are a bit more flashy, but have excellent cooling at the cost of noise.

For motherboards, there are a bunch of X38/P45/X48 boards that are very good - I like the DFI boards right now. Or, you could go 750i/780i/790i if you want the possibility of SLI in the future. I don't care much for SLI, but I *do* recommend 1 videocard per monitor in a non-SLI config. The big hit on fps for me is splitting my 8800GTX over two monitors.. I'll probably add an 8800GT when I upgrade my CPU/mobo/ram so I can dedicate one card per display. Motherboard choice is all about how much you want to spend, if you're going to overclock, if you are going to use a RAID array, and if you'd like to go SLI/Crossfire in the future. Can't narrow it down without those options..

[oxxo]

Thanks. I spent more than I was planning too but parts are definitely more expensive than I remembered.

I ended up getting:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop
Thermaltake W0131RU ATX12V / EPS12V 850W Power Supply - Retail
2x Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
VisionTek 900244 Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready
ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model DRW-2014L1T - Retail
Antec P182 Gun Metal Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail (I love how it looks!)
Zalman GNPS9700LED

Hopefully everything fits and is compatible. I think it should be because just glancing at the dimensions (and reviews) the P182 seems really big.

[puppychow]

You should really think about using Vista 64 bit and getting 8GB of RAM. XP/Vista-32 only sees 3GB of memory. Vista runs fine on 4GB but it runs much, much better on 8GB. Its more about future proofing for WOTLK than TBC, wotlk is more resource intensive than current WoW (new shader etc). Also there are a bunch of new graphic cards coming out very soon, so if you haven't ordered yet may wanna just stick with your 6800GT for a few weeks more until the new Nvidia and ATI models are available.

I also found running 3 monitors much, much nicer than 2. You stick your main on your main monitor, 2 alts on a left monitor, and 2 alts on a right monitor (I'm using keyclone/maximizer/PIP too). The side monitors are flipped 90 degrees.

I'm using a dual core system with 5 right now and 8800GT, it runs decently (~20-30fps on main) but I'm going to upgrade to a Q4650, Vista-64, and a new video card in a few weeks.

[-silencer-]

Thanks. I spent more than I was planning too but parts are definitely more expensive than I remembered.

I ended up getting:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop
Thermaltake W0131RU ATX12V / EPS12V 850W Power Supply - Retail
2x Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
VisionTek 900244 Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready
ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model DRW-2014L1T - Retail
Antec P182 Gun Metal Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail (I love how it looks!)
Zalman GNPS9700LED

Hopefully everything fits and is compatible. I think it should be because just glancing at the dimensions (and reviews) the P182 seems really big.

You shouldn't have a problem. I've been using the P182 for almost a year and a half, and I'd easily buy it again - although they're coming out with a new revision soon, which opens the ventilation up more (which means more noise - so I like this revision), and they move the lower HDD fan to the front of the case instead of in front of the power supply (a good change - it's a tight fit right now). I'm not looking it up right now, but is the Asus Rampage mobo a DDR2 or DDR3 motherboard? Many X48 chipset boards are DDR3, so make sure you've got the right ram. I'm not sure how long the Thermaltake PSU is, since I always go with SeaSonic (or their few Corsair models), but you *may* have to remove the lower case fan to fit it. Also, since my 8800GTX is so long (around 11 inches), I had to remove the middle 3-bay hard drive rack for the card to fit. Not a big deal for me since the lower bay holds 4-5 drives anyway, and the few other P182 boxes I've put 8800GT/9600GT cards in haven't needed the uppder HDD rack removed.

I do agree with puppy though - the only way I'd consider forking over so much cash for a new quad-core box is if I went Vista64 and a total of 8GB memory. Since 2x2GB ram is $100 or less, this is a bargain.

[oxxo]

Hi thanks for the replies. I ordered all those parts I listed earlier... and just in time. The storm on Monday (Tuesday?) over the Midwest wrecked my setup. Lightning struck extremely close and blew my DSL Modem and as far as I can tell my motherboard AND power supply.

Just got my new DSL Modem up and running and received my P182 also. All my parts are scheduled to arrive tomorrow . Was planning to turn my old computer into a Linux server for educational purposes but live and learn (unplug stuff during a storm... especially as bad as that one was!!)

I was thinking about waiting for a 4870 but I didn't want to spend too much on it. If worse comes to worse I'll get another 4870 and crossfire it or a 4870x2 and crossfire with my current 4870 (that's possible right?).

As for Vista 64... I can download the 64 bit DVD from my school's site and I already have a Vista Business key so I'll try that out. Hopefully driver support is better than when I last tried 64 bit stuff. That was 3-4 years ago so it better be I'm going to get another 4 GB when I order my new monitor. The Rampage Formula takes DDR2 memory which is one reason it's so popular and highly rated

So if everything works out I should have everything setup by tomorrow night and I can try 5 boxing this weekend!