Tech - Hardware question when boxing (1 Viewer)

[zigaboo]

Gents,

Not sure if im posting in the right spot but if anyone can help me out I will appreciate it.

I am searching for a laptop replacement to box a crew of six (non TLP server).
Will it be more beneficial to have a great graphics card/ram with mid range CPU as opposed to a top of the line CPU with a mid-range GPU/ram when boxing?

 

[playj]

You do not need a top range GPU, but I would recommend a 4 core CPU (ie i7), a dedicated mid range GPU and at least 8GB system Ram.

You might get away with running a 2 core CPU, but memory will be crucial as each Everquest session uses between 500-900MB or Ram depending on models and graphics options and zones used.

I can box 8 very comfortably on a 2 year old laptop with intel Haswell i7 4700MQ and a nvidia 750M with 8GB system RAM. With care I can get it up to 10 boxes but memory starts getting low. Also, for some reason the integrated intel graphics are glitchy on the laptop, while on a similar desktop with i5-4590 I have no problem boxing with integrated graphics(both 4700MQ and 4590 use Intel HD4600 graphics, crappy but sufficient for Everquest).

I suppose the new Broadwell mobile 47W i7s with built in Iris Pro 6200 graphics would totally own, but the chips just came out last week and I am not aware of any laptops with them yet.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2929...-and-laptops-but-world-waits-for-skylake.html
If I was buying a new laptop today I'd want one with i7-5750HQ or i7-5850HQ and skip a GPU.

Also curious if anyone has used AMD APUs for boxing Everquest.

If you are on a budget something like AMD A8 or A10 series with 2modules/4sortofcores might be sufficient. Again, GPU should not limit you in Everquest.

Oh, yeah and remember to set minimize CPU use in Options -> Display -> Advanced Options ->Max.Background FPS this setting alone cuts CPU use in half for background sessions.

 

[thg]

Zig, try something like : http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8925426

It's way overkill for what you're doing, but you're not going to run into any limitations either, which at the end of the day is key. Asus ROG laptops are rocking laptops for the boxing aspects of things.

 

[Razkle]

The biggest thing if set your graphics as low as you can stand to play on, especially for the bots, this will minimize the requirements and be way more stable. I run 6 PCs with 3 laptops in reserve and all are crap graphics (not built in but not top of the line) and have a min of 4gb ram and all have quad core procs. I can run an army! mwahahahahah!

 

[Maskoi]

RAM is the main thing when gaming on a laptop with EQ. No one plays EQ for the graphics. You want a minimum of 8GB RAM for a full group but if you can afford it get 16 GB. This will let you box in the background and run anything else you want to on the laptop.

Any new AMD or Intel CPU will be able 6 boxing no problem.

 

[Akatora]

how much are you looking to spend? Honestly im waiting on my check to purchase a laptop and I am going with a MSI GT72 dominator-216 but MSI has some great lower end laptops that should handle eq just fine, as maskoi said ram is the biggest issue with eq..

 

[wirlin]

If your computer suffers from lack of memory, you can buy a USB flash drive and use it with ReadyBoost to supplement your cache. Helps a ton for boxing on older computers.

 

[zigaboo]

I appreciate the information guys and after doing some other searches ive decided to invest in a mini ITX computer.
http://www.lian-li.com/en/dt_portfolio/pc-tu100/ is perfect for my situation.

4790k 16gb 970GTX itx mini for around 1500 to build, not too bad.