Sandy Bridge or Zambezi?

[NavySEALBrian]

I've been 5 boxing WoW for about three and a half years. I built my computer back then specifically with multiboxing in mind. The horde attacked SW about a week ago, and as I tried to defend him, I saw my FPS tank to almost slideshow levels. I currently have a Q6700 at stock speeds (2.66 GHz) and a Radeon 4870 (used to have 2 but one died). Having seen that FPS tank like that made me think it's time for an upgrade. The problem is, I'm familiar with some hardware sites like Tomshardware and Anandtech, both of which have good benchmarks for CPUs, but they don't benchmark multiboxing scenarios.
Seeing that the new AMD 7970 is coming out in a few weeks, it's a perfect time to upgrade. I'll be ordering one of those along with the rest of the parts when it's released. As for the CPU, it has to be a 6 core at the minimum. I was thinking either a Core i7-3930K (actually not specifically just that one, it could be i7-980 or even others) or a FX-8150. I know the Core i7 slaps everything around in single games, but that might not be indicative of multiboxing. If anyone has had experience with any of those CPUs or knows of any benchmarks in reguards to multiboxing with those CPUs, please share any information. I would like to run the games at higher video settings, at least the main account. On the FX, it would be possible to have all the accounts share multiple additional cores, where as on the i7 you wouldn't have that kind of flexibility (only 1 extra core). And what if you throw Fraps into the mix? The i7 is a brute of a CPU, but the FX has more cores, and I'm not sure which one would be the better pick.

[MiRai]

Sandy Bridge

[moosejaw]

^^ I agree completely.

Just fyi, I have a 980 (non X) hex core and it is a beast. Absolutely overkill for 5 boxing. Even with doing video work it never struggles. I use it Hyper threaded and give the main the first two cores (0-3) and the alts get their own core i.e. one per the last 4 cores. Runs great. I stayed with the 1366 platform because I am heavily invested in it. Homeserver plus 2 gaming machines and a htpc, all i7 1366 boards. I believe the 980 has the same 32 nm process as the SB and they all run pretty cool compared to last gen nm process.

I use a 6970 2 gb and that is the limiting factor in Cata zones. So much eye candy to behold. I run the main at medium/high and the alts on low. If I step up the alts there are spots where the video will start struggling. The 7xxxx are going to be a big jump in performance, lets hope the drivers mature quickly for minimal game issues.

[NavySEALBrian]

So yeah, after looking at the benchmarks more closely and looking at what particular benchmarks Bulldozer did well at, I now see how much of a failure it is. I missed how bad it was the first time I glanced through all the information. Thinking I'll go with an LGA 2011 socket and go i7-3930K, assuming Newegg gets it back in stock within the week...
The only thing I'm wondering is if the games have a healthy frame rate with Fraps going. Any of you capture footage while 5 boxing on the same machine?

[MiRai]

The only thing I'm wondering is if the games have a healthy frame rate with Fraps going. Any of you capture footage while 5 boxing on the same machine?

The sticky at the top of this forum might have a few FRAPS videos in it:

http://www.dual-boxing.com/showthread.php?t=44505