Best CPU upgrade for 5 boxing?

[Jafula]

Hey,

I have got an Intel Q6600 (2.4Ghz) and I find running 5 wows that all 4 cores are sitting near or at 100%.

I have a GTX580 video card and 8GB ram. I'm looking to upgrade the motherboard and CPU and perhaps ram to 16GB.

Looking at MiRai's Multiboxing Hardware Science thread I can't work out whether or not I should get an i5 or and i7. I want to do video making as well; I guess I'm looking at one of these;

Intel Core i7-2600 3.4 GHz, Socket 1155, Retail pack with fan, Sandy Bridge
Intel Core i7-3770 3.4 GHz, Socket 1155, Retail pack with fan, Ivy Bridge
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4 GHz, Socket 1155, Retail pack with fan, Ivy Bridge

I believe the Sandy Bridge i7-2600 could be overclocked heaps on air, but maybe getting an Ivy Bridge could be better?

The motherboard I'll probably get is: Asus P8Z77-V Motherboard, Socket 1155, Intel Z77, 4xDDR3, 3xPCIe-16, 2xPCIe-1...

Does anyone have any opinions on the CPUs or the motherboard?

Cheers,
Jafula.

[daviddoran]

Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4 GHz, Socket 1155, Retail pack with fan, Ivy Bridge

Best bet. Hyperthreading is not really needed, it helps, but it's not worth the price premium IMO. You didn't put the K in the product name, so i'm not sure if it's a typo, or you were looking at the locked version of the chip. If you want to overclock, make sure you get a K series chip.

as for the mobo, there's not much difference these days, besides aesthetics, slot layout and what kinds of extras they throw in. The Asus you mentioned should be fine.

[Jafula]

Thanks for the tip re the K in the chip names and the advice on the i5.

Here in NZ, the price difference is: NZ$166.97 so yes, something to weigh up. I probably end up running a few virtual machines for development purposes as well, so maybe the hyperthreading would help there. Looks like I've got a bit of reading to do!

Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5 GHz, Socket 1155, Retail pack with fan, Ivy Bridge

http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspeci...?ItemID=404680

Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4 GHz, Socket 1155, Retail pack with fan, Ivy Bridge

http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspeci...?ItemID=404678

[remanz]

I am also looking for CPU upgrade as well. I remember Lax said somewhere that 1 CORE per client brings the best improvement in framerate for wow ? So that means we need hex core CPU for 5 boxing for best results?

Main on ultra with 1080p resolution x8 AA, 4 other clients on low. and above 50 fps everywhere, including ORG. Can Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4 GHz get this with 580GTX etc.

[daviddoran]

"best results" and "good enough" are two very different things. Most of us can 5 box fine on a quad core chip, so even though we can't dedicate a core per wow client, we manage. I'm sure we would all love a mainstream 6 core chip, but I don't think intel has any plans to do so. Maybe once LGA2011 has 8 core flagship chips, the 6 core will drop in price.

I run all of mine on "fair" and run fine, I still have lots of lua errors from other addons I am too lazy to update, but it runs good enough for the time being. I have a GTX 570 and have run into VRAM issues, so I think whatever card you get, get it with 2GB+ of vram. My next card is going to be 4GB.

[remanz]

I've been running fine for years now. I think in order to motivate myself to box again, I need to have some eye candy at least. Max ultra on main x8 AA with 60 fps vs good on main x0 AA with 45-50 fps are pretty big difference. VRAM is a good point.

[3box]

The system I just upgraded from was:

Amd X4 965BE CPU
12gb RAM
6950 1gb, bios flashed to a 6970
1TB HD

The cpu came close to 100% often while playing. Some slowdowns here and there, but still very playable.

Now I have:

i7 2700k @ 4.85
Asus P8Z77-V Plus
16gb RAM
Samsung 830 128GB SSD
same 6950 video card
Hyper 212 EVO Cooler

I used the auto-tuning feature that comes with the motherboard's software. I hit the button, came back in 5 minutes, and I was at 4.85ghz. Very happy about that. Actually, it sits at 1.6ghz idle, then goes to 4.85ghz when there's something to do. The thing that impresses me the most though is the ssd. This is my first one, and wow. I know it will probably die in a year, so I'll back it up every few weeks.

The main's video settings are on ultra 1080p, everyone else on low. I use Lax's setup in ISB that switches on high graphics to the focus only. It works fine for now. Your video card is way better than mine, Jafula.

I just upgraded 2 days ago, and have been swamped at work, so I haven't had a chance play WoW much since. I thought about getting a 3930k, but decided it was overkill for now. I'm sure 10-boxers would be happy with it though.

Oh, and I'd definitely get 16gb+ ram. I initially built the system with 8gb ram, but found I didn't have much memory left after running a few programs. Upped it to 16gb, running the same programs, the system uses less memory than it did under 8gb. Weird. Might as well get it while it's cheap. I paid $200 for 8gb a few years ago. Not good.

[jstanthr]

IMO go with the ivy bridge, the sandy bridge has a chance of stuttering depending on your HDD/SSD setup, it's primarily due to the way the SATA bus interfaces with the PCIE lanes that are available, Ivy bridge is a lot more futrure proof as well.

[daviddoran]

... I use Lax's setup in ISB that switches on high graphics to the focus only. It works fine for now. ...

Where can I find more info about this graphics switching?

[3box]

I followed this guide: http://isboxer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2113