3 boxing computer for ~$400-450?

[Yo-Yo Freak]

hey everybody, i have been going over builds on newegg and i think i have a couple that might be able to handle 3boxing for under $450. but i was wondering if any of you tech savy guys/gals could put together a build through newegg that would be capable of 3boxing with all instances at lowest graphics settings. but it would have to have a mb that can be upgraded to 8G of RAM and a PSU that could handle a 9800 gt later on when it gets upgraded. the build must also include the OS, so basicly the computer has to be $350 or less +$100 for the OS. here are a couple links to some builds i have that i think can handle what i want but could anybody verify weather or not they can?

Build 1: $309
ok so this build looks to me like it might not have the GPU capabilitys to handle 3 instances, maybe all of them on low settings and it could but i have my doughts

Build 2: $359
exact same as above except with this video card. its a Radeon HD 4650, i didn't do too much reserch on this product but from what i have read it might be able to handle 3xWoW on lowest settings.

Build 3: $362
only difference in this build is it has a slightly lower end MB and CPU but it has a Radeon HD 3850 video card. and i am 90% positive that this video card can handle 3xWoW at lowest settings.

NOTE:
all prices/builds are excluding the OS, shipping, and mail in rebates.

so, whitch, if any, of these builds would be capable of 3boxing wow with lowest settings (maybe slighlty turned up on main) out in the world, i don't expect to have great performance in citys. just want decent performance out in the world. also, like i said i will be upgrading the GPU to a 9800 GT video card and adding 4G more RAM in the future.

any advice would be extremly helpful or if anybody can put together a better build for roughly $350 (not including OS) that would be capable of 3boxing wow then that would be even more apreciated!

oh and one more question. is there any way to get vista-64 for under $100? legitimantly of corse. i have looked around a bit and it seems that newegg has 1 of the more resonable prices for it but if anybody knows of where i could get it for less i wold apreciate it a ton!

Thanks everybody! ^_^

~YYF

[algol]

+$100 for the OS

I'm pretty sure that Linux + Wine is free, if that helps? Oh, or whatchacallit, that thing where you get free MS software if you're a student. MSDNAA I think.

[jdpatt]

You can Beta test Windows 7 right now for free, until August, I believe, if that'll save you a little money on your OS (either 32 or 64 bit, I signed up for both). It's beta, so you may have some issues with it from time to time, but most of the people I've heard from that are using it have been very pleased. As far as I can tell, it seems to be Vista with the bugs worked out. Free OS until you can afford one!

Also check out the Dell outlet. You can get a pretty nice system in your price range, especially if you wait until they're doing a promotion (usually 15-20% off on outlet computers), then you've got a warranty, tech support, an OS, etc. I know people either love or hate Dell, but their outlet has some deals that are simply unbeatable. Checking the site right now, desktops start at about $200, $300-350 will get you a Core2Duo, and $450 will get you a Core2Quad. I'd avoid the slim tower models (530s, 531s, etc) because it limits your video card options, but a full tower system (like the 530, for example) will hold up to a Radeon 4850...as long as it's a single slot card, you're good.

Dell power supplies are on the weak side (although allegedly underrated, power-wise), but the systems with Core2Quads have upgraded power supplies, which will support more demanding graphics cards.

I'd go with the 530 or 518, personally, and get at least a Core2Duo...preferably a Core2Quad (for the better power supply and extra cores). Save money on the video card and RAM (as in, buy one without high end vid cards or lots of RAM), you can get better deals on that stuff at www.dealnews.com or Newegg. For $350-450, you should be able to get a really good system that'll box 3 (or quite a bit more) easily. Look on www.tomshardware.com for video card recommendations on a budget.

My systems for boxing are both Dell Inspiron 530 machines. They have Core2Quad processors, 8gigs of ram in each, Radeon 4850 video cards, and dual boot Vista Home Premium (32 and 64 bit). I think I have about $700 into each machine (including $120 to upgrade the video card and $40 to max out the RAM). However, I had no problem whatsoever 4 boxing on them before I upgraded, with the stock 256mb Radeon HD 2600XT and 3 gigs of RAM. For the money, they're hard to beat.

[Yo-Yo Freak]

hmm i was thinking about going with the windows 7 OS, can't beat free for sure. and by the time it is done i should be able to afford a new OS.

i have had a lot of bad experiences with dell so i tend to try and shy away from them a little bit, but i may check out some of there stuff. if i did go with a dell i would more then likely go with the quad core, sounds like the best deal to me but i would need to do more research first.

thanks man ^_^

all other help or opinions or info is welcome!

~YYF

[-silencer-]

Since it seems like you're looking for what would be the extreme minimum for 3-boxing on a budget..

CPU Athlon 64 6400+ Windsor: $90
Motherboard Asus M2N68-VM mATX: $65
RAM 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair DDR2-800: $57
Videocard eVGA 9800GT $120
Hard drive 80GB Western Digital 7200rpm SATA $34
Optical drive LG SATA DVD Burner $25
PSU SeaSonic 400W $54
Case Generic ATX or mATX: $25
$470

You could cut corners.. but that's as low as I'd be willing to go. Re-use a DVD drive & old case if you need to save $50. Upgrade to HD 4850 for $25 more if you can. I honestly would try to put forth the extra cash for quad core though.


Excludes:
Mouse, Keyboard, Speakers, Monitor, Operating System.
(Cheap headphones for speakers.. generic keyboard & mouse.. total less than $30)

[Yo-Yo Freak]

now that i don't have to worry about buying an OS i think i will take your advice silencer. i refined the build a little more and it is only just shy of $500, but there is $60 in rebates so (if i actually get them) it will lower the cost to just about the right price. here is a link t the build, how does it look? if i upgrade the RAM to 8G in the future could it handle 5boxing with decent performance? i was looking at different kinds of PSU's and the 1 i picked seemed to have fairly decent reviews about it on newegg, couldn't find many other reviews anywhere else though so i'm not 100% positive about it. i like that it is 80 plus certified and it should have enough power to power everything else in the system. has a fair amount of cords and such so that is nice too. but any other better recomendations of about = price would be nice too.

if this build is good and all then i just need to weight for newegg to get another shipment of that CPU and i will order it. but all other info is welcome!

as for monitors i have an old CRT or 2 lying around and a spare LCD that i will use. we also have a couple generic keyboards and some decent mice so i don't have to worry about those things.

thanks for all the help everybody!! ^_^

~YYF

[-silencer-]

here is a link t the build[/url], how does it look? if i upgrade the RAM to 8G in the future could it handle 5boxing with decent performance? i was looking at different kinds of PSU's and the 1 i picked seemed to have fairly decent reviews about it on newegg, couldn't find many other reviews anywhere else though so i'm not 100% positive about it. i like that it is 80 plus certified and it should have enough power to power everything else in the system. has a fair amount of cords and such so that is nice too. but any other better recomendations of about = price would be nice too.

if this build is good and all then i just need to weight for newegg to get another shipment of that CPU and i will order it. but all other info is welcome!

as for monitors i have an old CRT or 2 lying around and a spare LCD that i will use. we also have a couple generic keyboards and some decent mice so i don't have to worry about those things.

thanks for all the help everybody!! ^_^

~YYF

Your links to newegg are all secure.. = we can't access them. And no, after doing it myself for quite awhile, *no* dual-core system will be perfectly fine 5-boxing Northrend, even with 8+GB of memory. It *can* be done, but expect some huge performance issues at times. That's why I'd just save for quad core (Q6600) if you ever even think you may want to 5-box. As for power supplies, I've tried nearly every other major brand, for sub-$150 PSUs, and SeaSonic (or the two Corsair-labeled SeaSonics) is the only manufacturer I trust to provide clean & steady power. For most other brands, their power supplies only start to become decent around the $150-200 price point when they switch to higher quality components.

If you think you may want to 5-box on one PC, just get a Q6600 (~$175-190), decent P35/P45 motherboard (Asus/Gigabyte/DFI ~$100-125), 8GB of RAM (G.Skill DDR2-800 ~$90), and quality power supply now (Corsair 520W ~$100). Re-use what you have to for awhile until you can upgrade the other parts. It's not worth the frustration of using a dual-core to handle 5 instances of WoW in Northrend.

[Yo-Yo Freak]

sorry about the broken links here are the items in the build that i was thinking about (my last link i posted):
MSI R4850-512M OC Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card $155 ($30 mail in rebate)
Rosewill R222-P-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $20
ASUS M2N68-VM AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7050PV HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - $65
CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - $70 ($10 mail in rebate) changed the PSU based on what you said
CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5 $57 ($30 mail in rebate)
Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $42
AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Quad-Core Processor Model HD960ZWCGDBOX $110, this is the CPU i was talking about, it is currently out of stock at newegg so i need to see if i can get it anywhere else or weight for it to come back in stock.

this all totals to just about $520 with $70 in mail in rebates so its still about just what i want to spend. what do you think about this build? could it be upgraded to 5 boxing in the future if i add 4G more RAM?

thanks again silencer for all your help and sorry for the broken links lol.

~YYF

EDIT
looks like newegg just got in a shipment of the CPU.
EDIT*
weird it seems i'm having a problem with links today

[-silencer-]

Looks good to me. Although I haven't used an AMD chip since Core 2 came out a couple years ago, perhaps someone else here can give you concrete evidence of 5-boxing on an AMD quad core.

[Yo-Yo Freak]

looks like either newegg only got a hand full of the CPU's in, and they sold out FAST; or something happened and it showed they were in stock when they actually weren't so either way i won't be ordering any of this till it is in stock. or maybe i will look around at other sites and see if it is in stock for the same price or less.

thanks for all the help silencer. ^_^ i'm going to do a little more research and see how this processor compares to the intel Q6600. if i find anything interesting i'll post it up here.

~YYF