EZ Server

Well the time has come.  I think I am going to buy a new computer.  I am currently only able to box 4 with 14fps...  I know it sucks.  

I am looking for suggestions as to what is a decent computer, I want something that I am able to box atleast 6 or more with a decent fps able to support dual monitors is a must (if I can add another video card and get 3 monitors that would be awesome).  I would like to stay about 500-700 dollars.  I am not opposed to building a new one but it has been years since I was following what is good / current.  It be nice to be able to go up to bestbuy or walmart and just buy something to.  Any advice is fine.

Also before everyone says just upgrade your current system, I have 3gigs of ram and cant do more with my motherboard / OS, the hard drive in there is only a 75gig which is almost maxed out.  Like I said its time to upgrade.

If you do post a suggestion can you please post a link so I can look at it.

Thanks in Advance,

Warriorstack

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006736%20600030537%204021&IsNodeId=1&name=%24500%20-%20%24750 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006736%20600030537%204021&IsNodeId=1&name=%24500%20-%20%24750)

you should be able to 6 box with any of those

i personally like to build them since i have access to Windows 7 keys

i just made a complete system for my friend for $1260 it can box 15 but he is using it for SC2 and other strategy graphics intensive games

My company could build you something pretty nice if you want something that is overclocked and has a lot of upgradability.

We recently did a machine for an engineering company that is:

Core i7 4.5Ghz OC, 12GB RAM 2000Mhz OC, 150GB HD 10,000RPM, Quadro 1800 video OC, Blueray, DVD DL +lightscribe, Asus Board supports 24GB ram with USB 3.0 and 6GB sata, win 7 pro 64bit, 3 year guarantee for 1800.00


You could do two GTX 460 fermi for the price of that one quadro card. That's a bit out of your price range but I was just using that as an example. From dell you can get a lot less computer for a lot more money. Check it out http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=bsxp803&c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&kc=studio-xps-8100

Of course you could always build your own which costs less but honestly we are the next best thing.

ATI cards 5xxx series can support 3 monitors on one video card so no need to go dual cards if want 3 monitors just get the right card could save you money.

i have a gtx460 and 6 boxing it barley puts any strain on the card. the card can down clock like cpu's when not maxed out and it gpu isn't even at full speed and sits under 50% gpu load. imo eq boxing is all about ram and having the cpu power. todays video cards so such overkill for eq.

for a budget if you have a micro center near you. ( in store only deal )
http://www.microcenter.com/specials/promotions/0810_AMDbundle.html

basically get a micro atx msi mobo and get a Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition , they have a very high chance of unlocking from dual core to quadcore and that mobo support that function to unlock it. i picked up, one unlocked to quadcore and OC to 3.6 ghz with cheap 15$ cooler. i spent more on the ram then the mobo , cpu and cooler.   got a killer second system for 250$ just popped in a old 500 gig hd and 8800gt in had sitting around.


if you go with something else the i7's are beast for boxing, quadcore with HT ( HT lets 1 core handle 2 application threads so when you look at task manager you see 8 cpu's ) for normal things is overkill but for multiboxing they are amazing.


for hardware info check out hardfoum.com, other people basically ask your same question almost daily and other pick a bunch of parts out and other critique their builds so you can see why this or that is better.  i been building my own system for 14-15 years and i started with this website learning about hardware.

This.  Ignore everything else he said.

You don't need a company to build you a computer or even overclock one.  I promise you there are plenty of computer gurus in your area who build computers for fun (I'm one of them).  Find one and save some money if you're uncomfortable doing it yourself.


This.

ops spelled it wrong, hardforum.com

Yeah I have no problem putting it together.  Did it for years.  I have just been out of that for years is all.  I dont know what grapic/MB/Power/Etc to get.

When I get back to the office later today I'll whip one up for you.

Thanks a ton.  My biggest problem is trying to decide AMD vs Intel.  Then once I think I pick one, I have a problem deciding I5 vs I7 and then the different amd chips.

I think the i7s are a huge value for the buck. Also there is just something so satisfying about looking at your performance window and seeing 8 boxes  :)

The i7 Intel processor is a work horse if you can fund it, aswesome processor.

You don't know anything about my company or our practices or my expertise. To tell someone to disregard everything someone says seems childish. Especially when talking about someone you don't know.

I am curious to see what you come up with.

AMD cost less to build but are not as efficient. They produce a lot of heat which is more wear and tear on the processor and also hinders overclocking capabilities.

Intel costs more but are a little more efficient. They produce a lot more heat than their predecessors and sometimes a little less than AMD dipending on which socket you use. They can be pushed to speeds that AMD just can't reach.

If you want the best performance than Intel is the way to go. If you are more concerned about budget than AMD is the way to go.

You really aren't getting your monies worth unless you are overclocking if you go with intel. On stock speeds amd performs very close with intel.

Like others have mentioned more cores help a lot with boxing. An i3 is a dual core processor. The i5 clarkdale is also a dual core processor. If you get one of the two get the i3 as it overclocks easily to the i5 performance.

The i5 Lynnfield is a quadcore and so is all the i7 that are on socket 1156. If you are on a budget get the i5 Lynnfield as it can also be overclocked to be comparable with the i7.

Keep in mind you can get a socket 1156 i7 but that is very different from a socket 1366 i7. The cost will be more for the later and it also supports the hex core processors. Also the 1366 has more bandwidth for pci express. Most people would never notice any difference with the two but for intense gaming you would see the difference.

The 1366 uses more power and runs hotter as well so cooling is even more important and that also raises cost unless of course you don't care for overclocking or longevity.

This is all pretty much overkill for the EQ client. Even if you use an i3 you can multibox fairly well with overclocking. I have multiboxed up to six clients before starting to get any lag no problem on an overclocked celeron before. I did it just to prove it could be done not because I like Celerons or anything lol.

Your video card is very important if you want all around good performance save money from the processor and put it into a video card. You will get more from an i5 quad with a bigger video card than an i7 with a lesser card most of the times depending on your habits. Of course if you can afford it you can't beat a good card and the i7.

I agree with most of the post above but I would also note that the i7 have a built in Turbo boost functionality that allows them to dynamically overclock themselves in a sorts when doing intense computations.

Now the degree they do it to is a lot less intesive than you would probably do but it's something to consider if you are worried about damaging the processor or diminishing its overall life.  The most recent i7s (Lynnfield)  turbo a little further than the earlier ones.

Oh my god you guys nhave some badass machines, I play 6 chars on a two year old dell laptop with 4 gigs of ram a core2duo 1.8Ghz processor and a 8600GT.  I couldnt imagine what eq looks like on your screens.

I didn't question or dishonor your company, your expertise, or your practices.  All you did was brag about a several thousand dollar computer AND your company to a guy with a $700 budget.  Pretty sure that whole post, except the part I left in quotes, was pointless.  Anyone can build a PC like that; congratulations.

I run a Q6600 @ 3.9 GHz on Air, which is faster than an i7 720Q (up to 4 processes of course).  I know a thing or two about computers.  My advice wasn't to ignore yours; I just cut out the bullshit.


Oh and I found this funny:


following by:

But you want us to trust you?

*Listening also*

Mine shit on me last night  ::)

You know I really try to be a humble person but you are making that difficult.

If I wanted to brag all I needed to do was talk about my background. I am NOT one of those guys that brags and talks about me me me me. Otherwise I would have given much more details about my company and myself. The interest never arose so I didn't have to divulge any unnecessary information which is actually quite the opposite to bragging. Now I remain anonymous just the way I like it.

If you owned a company maybe you would understand how precious spare time and privacy is to a business owner. We don't get a whole lot of privacy or spare time.

I actually brought up that computer because it was the cheapest one I remember building within the last three months. NOT because I thought it was some great high and mighty machine. Most of the machines we build are in the 5k to 12k range for specialty companies and engineering companies. I also provided a link to dells website which was useful for showing that we are thousands of dollars less than our competition.

If someone wanted a pre built computer that would be a good way to give them an idea of how much less we are.

Why would I want to spend time pricing out something in his price range if he doesn't even want a pre built machine? ???

By posting this way I saved myself a good hour because now we know he is willing to build his own.

I don't know what I did to bring your wrath down upon me. Once again you are being unnecessarily rude. Seriously take a chill pill. You really ought to lighten up or you will die a young man.

LOL but anyway... the Q6600 is very old and not even made any more... it was a nice chip for the day but there are better now...

IMO if you are on a budget, and maybe you have a 775 board already, the Q8400 is a great chip for $170.  You can get a good P43/P45 board for under $100 and use cheap DDR2 ram, 4GB will run you well under $100.  Total cost (chip, board, ram) $350 or less.

If you want to spend double that... go i7-930 ($285) and a decent X58 board ($225) and 6GB of DDR3 ($175-200) total cost = ~$700.

Just go to Cyberpowerpc.com if you want custom built machines for good prices the support staff are well trained as well, I have a machine still running that i played eq hardcore on for years and its now my media machine so its running after years of abuse.

I also build my own but when i bought this one i did not have the time and needed a new pc right then as my old one took a crap and i was in college at the time.

You didn't do anything and I didn't attack you.  My post was my opinion and it was not directed at you negatively.  I took the most important part of your post and quoted it and told him to ignore the rest. 

That is no different than me simply saying, "Build you own, save some money, ignore the pre-made companies" now is it?

I am very chill.  I think you took my message the wrong way, or possibly as an attack on your company.  I'm actually a VERY nice guy and anyone who has spent some time with me on the server knows this.  I have been very busy of late, kind of like yourself, so I haven't even played in almost two months.  I still like to participate in the community though because it's important.

Regardless of who-said-what, throwing out your company in an attempt to get business is lame in this context IMO

To get back to the OP.   This might be a dumb question but would these sites like newgg, Cyberpowerpc and other do black friday sales?  Would be it be worth it waiting till then to buy a computer? 

Yes, if you can wait for black friday you can find really cheap deals on everything PC

I would expect Newegg to have some awesome black friday deals this year as they have in the past.  It just depends on if the kind of items you're interested in are the ones on sale.  The selection is usually pretty varied, so you can probably find something that will fit your need.

I'd expect the rest to have sales around that time too.  If you want sites like dealnews and gotapex they usually have black friday deals a bit before the actual event.  There's also http://www.blackfriday.info/

Here is newegg.com

Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366    299.99


Me

Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366    272.00


I make three bucks I am not exactly going to retire or anything. I brought it up to help the guy not make money. Like I said before we usually don't do low budget machines because we are usually less than what even distributors sell for.

You guys are a tough bunch I feel worse and worse for ever offering any input at all.

Well I appreciate all the input from you.

Righteous, if you really can get parts cheaper than you would on a site, and you're really just geniunely offering help to the OP, I hereby apologize for being rash. It's just hard to tell sometimes because genuinity (especially dealing with advertising your business) can be hard to detect, and if it was there I apologize man. :)

http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com/ads/2010/09/03/49606/Intel-Core-i7-Processor-950 in case you were interested.

Thats a awesome price lol thanks Crab.

Hm yeah, can you order that online?  Nearest Frys here is 1.5 hrs drive..

Was looking at upgrading my pc and realized it's exactly 2 years old... lol I never go that long between upgrades but honestly the technology hasn't moved that fast.   Not like it used to back when the PII 400 was replaced by the PIII 700 in a year's time eh?   I did upgrade the video card though, but honestly the old one was okay for my 19" monitor, only got a new one because I got a 24" wide monitor..

I get specials like that too you can't compair some limited special that someone got with normal everyday pricing. I know of a fact fry's retail store is not cheaper than online.

Me thinks Crab was just trying to help the guy find the best deal not to put your price down.  I know its tough not to be defensive in this crowd.  I am completely interested in this topic and would like more info from people on low budget systems that will play eq bossing 6 chars.  My laptop overheated tonight and well, I dunno what to do about it because I've never worked on a laptop before and wife informed me there is no room in the budget for my hobbies atm.  I was thinking on taking it apart and trying to salvage the video card and shit but hell with it.  I'll just have to kick my sons of their desktops here and there for playtime until I can save up the extra cash.  So you say i can get some cheap ass stuff that will run for under 300?

Well if you don't like that one, probably won't like this one then: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0346210 just another example.