Bradster?

[gfunk007]

Does anyone have another link to the
PC and equipment hardware guide for boxing from the Bradster's web site? Been 3 days now and i still have no access to his forums.

Would be nice to have that info on this 2 boxing forum and not just linked...so if anyone would be willing to do alittle pasting would help out a ton..thanks :whistling:

[Valok]

I am interested to see his setup as well and have also been waiting for forum access.

[gfunk007]

For everyone trying to access the Bradster's guide to hardware he no longer has it on his site. BUT i did get in contact with him and he sent me a copy by email, which i am going to try and post here..........here goes nothin.....

Due to the nature of the beast I get a lot of questions on how I control so many characters at once! It’s a long answer. Xzin wrote up an extremely detailed guide on how to put something like this together and the costs. It’s a great read. http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums2/viewtopic.php?t=410 Xzin spent a lot of time with me helping me. He’s a pretty awesome dude. Most of us boxers hang out at http://www.dual-boxing.com it’s the number one resource for information about boxing. My forum name there is Bradster.


I only need 1 keyboard and mouse for PVP. My setup has a total of 3 mice and 2 keyboards.

Keyboard/mouse = Main Machine. Mouse controls only main machine. Keyboard controls all machines.

Mouse 2 Connected via wireless to 4 "Alt" machines. (For AOE targeting and mass quest accepting and such.)

Keyboard 2 and Mouse 3 is hooked up to KVM just for Individual control, such as rebooting, relog etc to "Alt" machines.


Any questions or details you may ask here or http://www.dual-boxing.com

One of the main questions that follows his guide is hardware and what to get. I've decided to share my hardware configuration. I do this to show you a known good configuration. Something you may use as a base. Took me over a month to build this. If I had someone to point the finger and say, get this, this and this I'd of been up and running in no time. There are some things listed in here you don't really need. Such as the 6th PC and the Core 2 system (my main machine). I get asked what the heck i'm running so here's everything. Anything as fast or faster then the Alt machines will be more then enough. Gaming on all the machines are smooth with no lag.

Note that my configuration is a bit custom compared to the guide, but its pretty close.

I'll break down the cost. I already had a good bit of the equipment. So it didn't cost me near as much for someone starting with nothing. Also note I’m listing retail prices. I have good business relationships that enable me to get good discounts, along with a heavy use of Ebay. Who wants to pay retail anyway?

If you want my help with setting up your own 5 boxing rig. by all means ask I will be more then happy to help. Just don't ask me for price checks. I've listed them here with links. By the time you read this the prices most likely have gone down. Google for the win

My Setup





Why I five box http://www.bradster.net/fivebox.htm





You can get a PC to run wow for about $380 with a decent video card. My four “alt” machines were $480 each. They include a gig of dual channel memory and nice video cards.

Quick links for computer parts
http://www.newegg.com
http://www.pricewatch.com
http://www.ebay.com


My four "Alt" Computers




7300 GT 256MB PCI-E


PC5300 667MHZ DDR2 MEMORY


INTEL P4 D915


160GB SATA-II 3GB/S 8MB 7200RPM HD



My main machine

$1700.

Core 2 3.0 Duo, I use this for video editing, this is my everyday main machine, I use this to play my "main" on wow as well. This is Black case PC that's next to my monitors.



INTEL CORE 2 DUO 3.0


3G CORSAIR DDR2 6400 XM2 EXTREM


COOLER MASTER LIQUID COOLED


ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775


Nvidia XFX PVT80GTHD4 GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI-E


Creative X-FI Xtremegamer (Best sound card i've ever had!)


Western Digital 500GB SATA II 7200RPM


KINGWIN ABT-600MA1S 600W Power Supply


ZALMAN Z-MACHINE GT1000-B Black Aluminum ATX





Monitors
Two 22" Viewsonic Wide screens. Was free, gift from my dad, he's the man.
http://www.newegg.com


Four Viewsonic 17" $150 each.
http://www.newegg.com


Mounter Mounts used Ergotron double monitor DS100
http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=424121&Redir=1&description=Ergotro n-DS100%20Dual-Monitor%20Desk%20Stand,%20Vertical%20-%20Black-Monitor%20&%20Projector%20Accessories
$250 for each mount. That's over $500 + shipping. Prime example here, Ebay for both $40. Third one was a gift from dad, again he is the man.



Misc
Have this 6th crap machine running Linux that I use for looking up quests, watch stocks etc. I gave my wife my old 3.2G HT PC I build when I got my new machine. I didnt need much to look up quests and make a file server. I dont know how she used this thing every day

HP crap machine, retail value for the thing in its day I guess $800
This is hooked up to my other 22", for looking up quests, watching TV and other stuff while playing.


Here's the Keyboard I use for my Alt Machines hooked in to KVM2. The keys light up, It's normally pretty dark as I work 2nd shift and play when I get home.

Creative Fatal1tyKeyboard
http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=493&subcategory=495&product=1 5332


On the main machine I got this mouse Logitech mx1000 laser cordless mouse
If your looking for a good mouse that lasts days of heavy playing without charging, with a good feel.
This is your best bet.

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-MX1000-Laser-Cordless-Mouse/dp/B0002UM0JW



Control

Mice Logitech cordless (RF) x 4 (for Alt machines) $25 each.
This allows me click on a vendor and repair, or select AOE target areas such as with Rain of fire.
http://www.newegg.com


Vetra Keyboard Multicaster this allows me to take the output of a single machine and send it to multiple computers.
$339.00
http://www.vectra.com




2 KVM switches (Explained later).
http://www.vectra.com
KVM ONE: 2 Port PS/2 - Very fast switching $150 (PVP a must have) Most KVMs have a 3-5 secound delay, in PVP that's way to long. The Vectra 2 port has up to a one

[gfunk007]

2 KVM switches (Explained later).
http://www.vectra.com
KVM ONE: 2 Port PS/2 - Very fast switching $150 (PVP a must have) Most KVMs have a 3-5 secound delay, in PVP that's way to long. The Vectra 2 port has up to a one secound delay.


KVM TWO: Startech - SV431USB 4 port USB. $80
http://www.newegg.com


Xkeys Pro $150
http://www.xkeys.com
This is hooked in to the Multiplexer as well to cast my commands to all the machines. With the use of just one keyboard I was running out of space fast for making bindings and macros. I wanted to be able to access things quickly without having to Press SHIFT CONTROL ALT T. It started to get that bad. I ran out of room and started using three multipliers.

With Xkeys you can program a single key to do what ever you want. So rather then holding down all those keys I can just press a single one on the Xkeys Pro and have it do the same thing


Y-Mouse $80
With the Y-Mouse this allows me to control all of characters at once including the main machine with a single keyboard. Without Y-mouse I would need 2 keyboards, one for my main and another to control all the alts.
http://www.piengineering.com/



Wire Layout (This could save you hours!)






Still working on the mock ups. More to be posted later.

PS/2 Mock up.

XKEYS PRO
|
KEYBOARD
|
| |-----[Y Mouse]------[PC A]
| | Port B |
|-----[KVM 1] |-- To Mutiplexer Port 1
Port A –[PC A] |
----------------------------------------|
|
|
|
| <- Input
Muti-Plexer
Output
1 2 3 4 5
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |-----Port 8 (Unused)
| | | | | | |-----Port 7 (Unused)
| | | | | |----To PC A
| | | | |----To PC E
| | | |----To PC D
| | |----To PC C
| |-----To PC B
|---To Y Mouse




KVM ONE - Port A takes my keyboard and links it to PC 1. This allows me to chat with other players with out all the PCS sending a message to a single person. Any time I need to reply to a tell I must hit a switch. When I hit the switch I loose control of all my other characters, that’s why if you’ve sent me a message in game I’m long to respond, that’s if I even reply. That's right everytime I send a tell or message I have hit a switch to turn off the other 4 computers from getting the signal.

Port B Connects to a Y-Mouse which then goes to the Multiplexer and then back to PC1.


KVM 2 Startech - SV431USB 4 port USB mock up.

Muti-Plexer
Output
1 2 3 4 5
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |-----Port 8 (Unused)
| | | | | | |-----Port 7 (Unused)
| | | | | |----To PC A KVM2 USB (For Separate Keyboard/mouse control)
| | | | |----To PC E <---------------------> Port D – KVM2
| | | |----To PC D <-----------------------> Port C – KVM2
| | |----To PC C <-------------------------> Port B – KVM2
| |-----To PC B <--------------------------> Port A – KVM2
|--->To Y Mouse



Do you have other options besides running 5 computers?
Well, yes. Software is a bit of a risk. The way the TOS is worded and the official statements released by Blizzard, any thing used with WOW that is software related is not allowed (so I think). I hope in the near future they evaluate some of these software packages and clear them as ok. As of right now no bans have been made for using boxing software.

There are great programs out there. The top dog being Keyclone. This program is specifically designed for Multiboxing. Pretty simple to setup. I’ve not used it but I’ve talked to the guy a good bit, and seen his customer’s responses. If you’re going to go software this would most likely be your best option.


I wanted a set and forget setup. Didn’t want to take any risks because of the amount of accounts I have. I went all hardware.



Interface Add-ons
None needed!

Here's my PVE UI. I remove some things from my UI in my videos so you can understand what's going on.


i might have overlapped it abit, but its better then nothing.......GL :thumbsup:

[Vyndree]

Hmm, that's a lot of images.

Do you mind copy/pasting this into a new thread and I'll sticky it up? I was going to suggest the wiki but until we can get images up there I think the best we can do is a sticky.

[gfunk007]

Vyndree,

I placed it in the guides section for the sticky.....Thanks