my tiny rig

[Rowdysattva]

So i have a mac now and keyclone mentioned to buy a 600$ computer with certain specs and just be far better off. I have looked into the hardware a bit and would like to post what i was planning on getting and seeing what y'all think about it.

Case

Monitor (x2)

Hard Drive

Video Card

Memory

Processor

The case itself comes with a power supply and a mother board as well as a fan for it all. The power supply, mother board and fan are supposed to be built to handle the smaller size of the case and all the goodies you put in it. What i am wondering is if those three components are going to be up to the task or if i need to look into a different case where i customize those three components as well.

Monitors are 19" where i plan to have one or my main and the other one to maximize for the rest of the box crew. Memory is 4 gb, video card is 8600 with a bit of memory of its own, and the processor is a quad core. The hard drive space is not too critical for me... unless there is something i don't know about. I still have my mac and a laptop and i have extra hard drive space on both of those as is. Hard drive is just to game with and for kicks.

With this set up will i be able to 5-box or do i need to upgrade something. My Mac only has a core 2 and 2 gb of memory (with a not so good video card) and it seems to be able to handle 2 boxing great and 3 boxing with some struggle.

Thoughts?

[spannah]

Well, if space is of no concern, get a better case and motherboard for less:

Case
Motherboard

The benefits:
Bigger case equals better air circulation, runs cooler
Note that the case has a big fan on the back
The case does include a 500W PSU, double of the mini case
The mini case motherboard has on-board video (which you probably will never use), with can mean that other MB components are of a lesser quality

With the extra money I strongly suggest you get an 8800 GT video card, specially if you are going to 5-box:

Video Card

This will run you about $50 over, but I think it is worth it.

If you have another $60 I would suggest memory that matches the MB and the CPU 1066MHZ FSB:

memory

This will kick the speed up a notch

Edit: you will need a 64 bit OS to use the full 4 Gigs of RAM

[keyclone]

well... i'd hold on buying these components until the real hardware gurus chime in.. but...

o the power supply is only 250W .. i'd consider an upgrade
o memory... CL5 ?? (i've only ever seen CL2.5 and CL3) lower is better with CAS Latency
o monitors are nice and cheap.. just make sure you're happy with 1440x900

i went to newegg.com and did the same exercise.. i spent a bit more, but i think the rigs are solid (better then what i'm using currently, anyhow)
no monitors included with these:

intel setup:



AMD setup:



i think a page with the current setup of the week would be cool. maybe 3 or 4 levels varying by price and listing performance and realized wow fps and # wows

[Rowdysattva]

Thanks for the replies. I am pretty new and in a whole new arena of trying to learn this stuff. I hope as i get my set up in place and actually start running up the levels i will be able to post content that is more helpful, and/or entertaining to everyone.

Keyclone. You are the one that got me into this rabbit hole in the first place. Lol. On one of my other posts about clonekey and keyclone and how to make it all work you recommended just getting a lower level pc boxing set up. It is a bit of fun to build out a nice "little" rig. I have seen some of the four and five monitor and comp rigs some of the other users on the forum are playing with and Wow.

I was worried about the case... and all it included. I will axe that and go with something different instead.

Really appreciate you posting what you threw together as well. Gives me something to take as a sort of standard as i move forward.

Is 2 gb of memory enough to 5-box with? I can see that the quality of the 2 gb you put in is better than the 4 i had in. Do i need higher than 2 gb or will 2 work out? If i raid will it be ok?

I will look into monitors more. Not sure if i will be happy with the 1440x900 i will look into it.

I would love to hear anyone else's perspective as well.

[keyclone]

the 2 setups i spec'd both used 4G of memory, taking a cue from your setup.
if you run 32 bit xp, then you can only realize about 3.5G total... but the 4G will get you there.

i also wanted to use CL3 (didn't see CL2.5) meemory .. as it would be faster.

the 8800CGT is just a solid board...

the case was sort of cool looking (green monster so you can hulk-out) and should be good for cooling

most everything was the saem between the 2 rigs except the cpu and mainboard... amd's are usually cheaper, and i have zero experience with their quad cores. again, a guru should be by to scoff at my meager offerings

as for whether or not these systems could handle 5 boxing.. i'm fairly certain they can. where could you cheap it a bit? tough call... maybe slower memory or lower priced cpu? your call

let us know where you end up

[Rowdysattva]

I will very much let you know where i end up. Maybe pictures of the final set up.

I am also looking at the Belkin n52 game pad vs the x-keys pro to go with whatever other hardware i set up. Should be fun.

I see you did indeed have the quantity set up for 4 gb. I missed that, my bad. I am considering going xp pro 64 for the extra memory usage or vista home premium 64 bit for the extra memory usage.

I was told the memory of your video card is also counted towards the max 4 gb cap on systems. So with 4 gb and 512 mb from card without a 64 bit system seems like a bunch would go to waste.

I could look into just building a 3 gb system for regular xp home if that would be enough memory. I love the idea of having a weekly set up from a user on the forums so we can see what different people are using. Pics if possible.

waiting for the gurus to appear with their shock and awe. If they box with shammy it would be at least shock and maybe awe as well.

[Rowdysattva]

Searching around the forums for "memory" i found a post by Wilbur that had this link in it for getting 4gb of memory a bit cheaper and it looks good to me.

From what i have been reading people have said that 5 boxing on one system really needs 4gb.



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227252