Plz Help Techonologically Challenged Noob Choose Mother!

[Idontknowyet]

Hello,

I am a complete noob ?( and have extremely limited knowlege of computers. I know how to type and I know the computer needs to be turned on before I start typing :cursing: . That is pretty much the extent of my familiarization of these machines.

Having that in mind, would this knowlegeable community please help me choose a mother-board (I read that this is the building block of a computer and looked it up on-line, they do look like a city block ). I would like it to use NVIDIA video chips. Past that, I know nothing else... Oh! I'd like to be able to "5-box".

Thank you in advance,

[Coburn]

So you only want 1 PC for 5 boxing? Or 2?

i would recommend a pre-built PC from Tigerdirect that has a minimum of:
Quad core (thats 4) processor
4 GB RAM
and a up to date video card (maybe the nVidia XFX GeForce 8800 GT)
A fast hard drive (maybe SATA II?)

The mobo doesn't really matter, it's what you put ON the mobo that's what counts!

P.S. I have seen a guy that 5 boxes with a dual core processor, 4 GB RAM, and a $300 vid card (dont remember the name) Hope this all helps PM me if you have any questions

[Klock]

A decent motherboard does matter, cheaper ones can cause a big slow down, and can break. Go for name-brand companies, it costs more but its worth it. my current setup that allows 5 boxing(windowing?) is as follows

Q6600 - overclocked to 2.6 gig per core, quad core.
4 gig ddr2 1066 ram
2x 150 gig Western Digital X Raptor 10k RPM HD
Evga 9800GT (nvidia card)
ASUS P5E-VM HDMI LGA 775 Intel G35 HDMI Micro ATX

all of this in in a Micro ATX case, water cooled (this line is for bragging purposes only).
Honestly i think this is overkill if your just going to run wow at 800x600 for the 4 slaves, and a decent (1680x1050) resolution for you main.

If you have a question on a piece of hardware i can probably answer it.

Klock

[Codam]

Hello Idontknowyet,

As a person who has built custom pc's for many years I would recommend to you that you first figure out if putting together a pc from components is really the best way for you to go, or if you are better off buying a decent pre-built computer.

While it is a very satisfying hobby, the first time you put together a pc yourself you should be prepared for things to go wrong. Often components will become defective (or simply be DOA or dead on arrival) and you will need to be able to ascertain what the problem is, replace parts and no doubt there will be times when your shiny new toy is just a big expensive paperweight.

Do you have a friend or family member who can help you? There are a lot of us hardware geeks out there, having someone you know that you can call on for emergency help or to put it together with you is a big advantage.

If all of this didnt scare you off, the next step would be to start reading reviews of hardware. Computer hardware is updated very quickly, and the top of the line motherboard one guy bought 2 months ago might well have been replaced by a much better option by the time you place your order. There is masses of information out there, and I would strongly advise that you form some opinions of your own. As far as the ability to multibox goes, the vast majority of newly built gaming computers with standard features will handle mulitboxing perfectly well. When you have narrowed down your list a bit and have more specific questions, that would be the time to start asking on these forums I think.

If all this did scare you off, then just ask around for the cheapest / best service / most reliable place to get a prebuilt pc. Theres not really a lot on the market in the way of gaming machines these days that could not easily handle 5 wow clients, but if in doubt just post a link to what you had in mind and I'm sure someone will tell you if theres is any reason not to buy it.