Follow My RL QUEST of Hardware Multiboxing ... should be an adventure :)

[Trushot]

Edited the title to something more manageable.

Cheers,
S.

okay thanks .. sorry was long still getting used to forum life ... never did it much

[Trushot]

Your in a very small minority with a full hardware multiboxing setup.

On your current setup with one box, are you able to broadcast keystrokes to each client or are you manually going to each client when you want them to do something?

My first setup was 5 boxes, but I used synergy with a keystroke broadcast to control it all. now im trying to do it all on one box, but mostly I do it on 3 boxes with synergy to pass the mouse, and keyclone to push keystrokes. I dont know of a hardware solution that will push keystrokes or mice positions to more than one client per machine, so I think any box that is running more than one client you will still be manualy controling.

Most people software box because its just cheaper to get one good box for $2k than 5+ ok boxes for $700.

my current setup is 6 accounts but only 3 comps ... so i just started playing 3 at a time ... i went a bought a couple of wireless keyboards and synced them which is doing okay for the extra 2 im playing now...



i am buying the other comps this week ... and already have all the lcd monitors

I need to get some brackets ordered though...

After looking over the NEW switchcaster though which is like 3 things in one ... it only comes PS2 so that makes my choice for me on the X keys ... PS2 version



So this will be my setup

1.) 6 PCs that can handle LOTRO on high settings ( main is on 24 inch apple and is ultra high DX10 )

2.) 1 APPLE 24 inch LCD surrounded by bracketted 5 Samsung p2070 LCDs kinda of a 3 on the bottom row 3 on the top row thing

3.) the 8 port PS2 Switchcaster that allows pushbutton switch to single comps or all comps of mouse and keyboards

4.) x-keys pro PS2



I cant think of anything else Ill need to control 5 toons on 1 keyboard mouse and 1 main on another keyboard mouse ... I dont think ill need any software to do this efficiently .. i think the Switchcaster handles what software is needf or right?



Ill post so PICS as I progress ... this will be first time messing with computers much other than gong to best buy and picking one out heh ... I am going to try to build these extra rigs ... will be first time build a comp

[Starbuck_Jones]

Sounds good then, I dont know if your multicaster has a hotkey to enable/disable broadcasting. I know with my hybrid setup when im not playing wow, its nice to just have a single mouse and KB that acts just like one big extended desktop so its not always trying multicast when your not playing. It may work perfect in game for you, but make sure it will do what you want out of game as well.

[Trushot]

Sounds good then, I dont know if your multicaster has a hotkey to enable/disable broadcasting. I know with my hybrid setup when im not playing wow, its nice to just have a single mouse and KB that acts just like one big extended desktop so its not always trying multicast when your not playing. It may work perfect in game for you, but make sure it will do what you want out of game as well.

well it says on this new switchcaster ... you have 8 buttons on front of you ... ( ill only need 5 ) and you can either have them all ON and multicasting mouse and keyboard ... or you can just push the buttons to tuen all off but one of your choice for however long you need then go right back to multicasting all ... so sounds like itll work good

[Trushot]

these are the systems I think im going to order ... I think they should do good for under $1000

Motherboard: EVGA LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188026

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115017

VIDEO: EVGA 5 GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130435

MEMORY: OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227289

HD: Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10000 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136033

CASE: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129021

POWER SUPPLY: KINGWIN Mach 1 700W ATX / BTX SLI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817121025

Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827118030

O.S.: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116488

[heffner]

Way more power than you need, but it's all good if you want it. At least you should be able to run 25+ toons if you ever wanted to.

I don't see the need to go for 64 bit if you're not going up to 8G of RAM...unless you want upgrade options.

Personally, I don't know if the Raptor is worth it vs. a Seagate 500G/1T etc. I have one on one of my machines and don't think I ever really noticed any difference. Might be worth researching some SSD instead.

I don't know if you need 1066 RAM unless you OC (someone else can clarify, don't recall the calculation off the top of my head)....but, RAM is usually based on what's available so you might not have any other cheaper options.

What is the reason for the SLI board?

However, overall that is a good price point to aim for IMO.

I often follow the guides on these sites:
http://anandtech.com/guides/
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/fea...rts_march_2009

[Gurblash]

Is this SDW v2.0?!

[Trushot]

[quote='heffner',index.php?page=Thread&postID=19203 9#post192039]Way more power than you need, but it's all good if you want it. At least you should be able to run 25+ toons if you ever wanted to.

I don't see the need to go for 64 bit if you're not going up to 8G of RAM...unless you want upgrade options.

Personally, I don't know if the Raptor is worth it vs. a Seagate 500G/1T etc. I have one on one of my machines and don't think I ever really noticed any difference. Might be worth researching some SSD instead.

I don't know if you need 1066 RAM unless you OC (someone else can clarify, don't recall the calculation off the top of my head)....but, RAM is usually based on what's available so you might not have any other cheaper options.

What is the reason for the SLI board?

However, overall that is a good price point to aim for IMO.

I often follow the guides on these sites:
[url]http://anandtech.com/guides/[/url]
[url]http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/1000_budget_pc_buyers_guide_updated_prices_and_par ts_march_2009[/url][/quote]
based on your advise I altered my build a little bit and shaved off almsot 150 dollars each .... and managed to upgrade my graphics ... but remember im playing LOTRO a lot more intensive in graphics and textures ETC

What do you think ... total cost each machine now = $ 844 plus $30 in shipping

Motherboard: GIGABYTE LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
[url='http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128372']http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128372[/url]

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037

VIDEO: EVGA GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130370

MEMORY: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231166

HD: Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10000 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136033

CASE: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 Black Aluminum Bezel
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119068

POWER SUPPLY: Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power SLI Ready Modular
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371016

Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827118030

O.S.: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116488

[Trushot]

Is this SDW v2.0?!

no clue what SDW v2.0 is ... sorry

[moosejaw]

I remember reading that one of the vetras had a keybind shortcut you could program into your keyboard or x-keys. I think xzin mentioned it on his write up also. What it did was allow you to quickly switch your keyboard/mouse flow to a specific harware output/computer with a keypress instead of reaching over to the switchbox to do it. It has been a while since I researched those items and the features.

Remember the Ymice was for individual controll of each machine (or maybe only the main?) should you need it outside of the multiplexer. The Ymice would allow one input at a time from the 2 with some kind of dead time for inputs to override each other.

I hope you are running a dedicated 20A electrical outlet (or 2) for your new rigs. Wouldn't want to burn the place down. :P



Oh yeah. SDW=Samdeathwalker. I don't think you are anywhere near that level of annoyance.

You are just a little bit excited about getting the new gear up and running, and who wouldn't be?

Have fun!