Multiboxing Wiki - Multicpu, Multigpu, Multiharddrive, Multimonitor, etc and Bounded Issues. Revision 3. Work in Progress.

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Multiboxing Wiki - Multicpu, Multigpu, Multiharddrive, Multimonitor, etc and Bounded Issues.

This wiki is broken down into five sections:
I. Synopsis A - Individuals who wants the top 5 recommendations.
II. Synopsis B - Individuals who wants the entire list of recommendations.
III. Guide A (Practical) - Individuals who needs to know why I choose the list of recommendations.
IV. Guide B (Theoretical) - Individuals who needs to know why I choose the list of recommendations, what other recommendations are available in addition to the list and how future improvements in computing technology will affect the list.
V. Improvements needed for this Wiki.

Some of these finding were made through careful observations. While others were through googling the web and the dual-boxing forums for clues and recommendations. Please don't take this as the absolute truth but as stated above as recommendations. Remember that your mileage will vary according to different setups and preferences. Throughout this guide, I try my best to control or limit unknown variables during each observation so that individuals can replicate the same results.

I. Synopsis A:
If you are on a budget and you need to maximize your money for best performance, follow this priority:
1. Vista operating system or any modern operating system that maximizes cache usage of available memory.
2. Maximize CPU frequency
3. Maximize number of cores
4. Maximize available memory
5. Maximize GPU frequency

II. Synopsis B:
If you are unable to read this wiki due to it's technical nature, here are some guidelines to ensure adequate performance (That's assuming you meet the correct CPU/GPU combination and exceed WoW's recommended system requirements):
1. Central Processing Unit (CPU) Bound
Minimum: 1 core per WoW instance
Recommended: 2 cores per WoW instance
2. System Memory Bound
Minimum: 600MB to 1 GB per WoW instance
Recommended: 2 GB per WoW instance
3. System I/O Bound
Minimum: None
Recommended: NUMA
4. Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) Bound
Minimum: One CPU core per GPU node per WoW instance.
Recommended: Two CPU cores at maximum frequency per WoW instance with the most powerful graphics node.
5. Storage System Bound
Minimum: Symbolically (Vista) or junction (XP, 2K, or NT) link all WoW folders.
Recommended: Symbolically or junction link all WoW folders. Ensure that each copy of WoW has 2GB of memory. Load as much system memory as your motherboard is capable of handling.
6. Network Processing Unit (NPU) Bound
Minimum: Ensure your ISP connection's upload speed >= number of WoW instances * 56Kbps upload speed
7. Software (Operating System) Bound
Minimum: 32-bit operating system for 2 or 3 WoW instances at full spec or 4+ WoW instances running at minimum spec.
Recommended: 64-bit operating system for 4+ WoW instances running at full spec.
8. Software (Driver) Bound
Minimum: Latest available non-beta drivers.

III. Guide A (Practical):1. Introduction:
This part of the guide is an exhaustive research into multiboxing with multidevices (multicpu, multigpu, multiharddrive, multimonitor) on one computer (for multiboxing with multicomputer see xzin's guide at Multiboxing Wiki - My 5 (Now 10!) Boxing WoW Writeup). My technical guide will give you a basic understanding of the challenges of selecting the proper hardware and software components and the difficulties of troubleshooting a one PC setup. This guide contains my long-term observations of how multi-instances of WoW has affected my computer performance and what changes I made to ensure adequate performance.


In the list of terms, I break down each computer components into computational nodes. Please keep this in mind throughout the guide as this plays an important aspect in how computers operate and how future technology developments or paradigm shifts in programming will affect it.

I will be using my setup as an example. WoW1 is my main instance in which most of my actions are performed from. WoW2-WoW4 are my dps instance. WoW5 is my healer instance. My setup is not overclocked. I am using a clean (non-modified) Vista install with the latest patches and minimum installed third-party software. My current setup is as follows:
Processor:
2x AMD Opteron 2376 2.3GHz
Each processor has four DIMMS populated.
Motherboard:
Tyan Thunder n6650e (2915-E) BIOS v3.00
Nvidia nForce Driver v15.16
Memory:
4x4GB ECC Registered DDR2 667MHz
4x2GB ECC Registered DDR2 400MHz
Memory runs at 400MHz.
Graphics:
2x Nvidia GTX 280
Nvidia Geforce Driver v181.22
Hard Drive:
150GB Western Digital Raptor 10K RPM
74GB Western Digital Raptor 10K RPM
Monitor:
4x Dell 3007WFP (2560x1600)
Network:
Time Warner Cable Road Runner Turbo (Up: 2000Kbps / Down: 15000Kbps)
Time Warner Cable Road Runner Standard (Up: 512Kbps / Down: 7000Kbps)
Time Warner Cable Road Runner Basic (Up: 384Kbps / Down: 3000Kbps) - Not Tested.
Time Warner Cable Road Runner Lite (Up: 128Kbps / Down: 768Kbps)
Software:
Windows Vista 64-bit Ultimate Edition SP1


My previous setup is as follows:
Processor:
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 2.66GHz @ 3.2GHz
Motherboard:
EVGA 750i SLI
Nvidia nForce Driver v15.23
Memory:
4x2GB DDR2 800MHz
Graphics:
2x Nvidia GTX 280
Nvidia Geforce Driver v181.22
Hard Drive:
150GB Western Digital Raptor 10K RPM
74GB Western Digital Raptor 10K RPM
Monitor:
3x Dell 3007WFP (2560x1600)
Network:
Time Warner Cable Road Runner Turbo (Up: 2000Kbps / Down: 15000Kbps)
Time Warner Cable Road Runner Standard (Up: 512Kbps / Down: 7000Kbps)
Time Warner Cable Road Runner Basic (Up: 384Kbps / Down: 3000Kbps) - Not Tested.
Time Warner Cable Road Runner Lite (Up: 128Kbps / Down: 768Kbps)
Software:
Windows Vista 64-bit Ultimate Edition SP1

This guide is broken down into seventeen sections:
1. Introduction
2. List of Terms and References
3. Central Processing Unit (CPU) Bound
4. System Memory Bound
5. System I/O Bound
6. Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) Bound
7. Physics Processing Unit (PPU) Bound
8. Artificial Intelligence Processing Unit (AIPU) Bound
9. Audio Processing Unit (APU) Bound
10. Storage System Bound
11. Network Processing Unit (NPU) Bound
12. Software (Operating System) Bound
13. Software (Driver) Bound
14. Software (Application) Bound
15. Man-Machine Interface (MMI) Bound
16. Conclusion
17. Unknown Issues