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News - INSANE EBay seller selling i7 quad PCs for $150

BTW New psu works perfect with upconverter inline and now I have a nice 550 TI video card and can run 24 clients with ease

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Have not seen anymore at $150 all the ones I see now are $250 or more...
 
Raz, you think you could combine some of your optimizing configs and such? I know there are quite a few tidbits around but I doubt many run to the extreme as you do and no easy place to find em. i.e. the 24 you mention. :D
 
wow this looks too good to be true. i might buy this for my parents home office they use for Microsoft office and internet browser mainly. only mod I would do is move everything into a smaller case.

I can just buy this PC straight up and they can use it? ill probably buy a brand new copy of windows and do a fresh install. since it seems like an old PC from a business that the IT guy is selling off on the side lol

175 pc + 30 shipping = 205. the parts in the PC are worth way more. what is the catch?
 
After MUCH testing I have found that EQ needs 3 things to be "happy" with 8+ Instances...

1. RAM! I like 1GB per toon but you can do .33 per toon and still be ok IF you match all 3, I do 24 toons on a 16gb system all the time.
2. CPU must must must must be Quad Core or better and MUST Hyperthread AND have the ability to use it, ISBoxer has a setting for BOTH Core and Threads!
3. Video card, ok eq is a dinosaur like me but it still needs slivers of GPU to operate smoothly in multiple instances. So when I swapped a base video card for a 550 ti I went from 5-8fps to 30fps on all instances. You need 8-10fps minimum to have the cleric be able to react to the tank and heal him before his is dead, 15fps is steady and of course more is better, I set my foregrounds FPS to 30 and background to 25 on all toons in ISBoxer and UNLIMITED in the eq settings, do 1 not both or it screws up! Limiting it means more fps for the other instances to share. This is basically how I get so many toons per box.

I also have a 4ms ping to my 110gb internet running 100% gigabit backbone in house. I ran all the wire and patch panels myself so I know what is where and how well it was put in. If you are using wireless lan to try this I cannot help you, no one can lol!

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btw tons of 550s on ebay http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.X02G-P3-1559-KR.TRS5&_nkw=02G-P3-1559-KR&_sacat=0 I like the 2gb version but the 1gb is fine too... AND it runs at low wattage so it works in the hp z200 with no PSU upgrade!
 
Razkle said:
Video card, ok eq is a dinosaur like me but it still needs slivers of GPU to operate smoothly in multiple instances. So when I swapped a base video card for a 550 ti I went from 5-8fps to 30fps on all instances. You need 8-10fps minimum to have the cleric be able to react to the tank and heal him before his is dead, 15fps is steady and of course more is better, I set my foregrounds FPS to 30 and background to 25 on all toons in ISBoxer and UNLIMITED in the eq settings, do 1 not both or it screws up! Limiting it means more fps for the other instances to share. This is basically how I get so many toons per box.
Click to expand...
This is the most useful info i have read in a while about the FPS. I am going to check some things FPS wise at home on my Kiss test crew.

I run 8 toons on a wireless network but I have solid 300Mbps setup and never have any issues. I run 8 toons, stream netflix or music and do all of my work on the same machine. 30 toons might be a different story.
 
Maskoi said:
This is the most useful info i have read in a while about the FPS. I am going to check some things FPS wise at home on my Kiss test crew.

I run 8 toons on a wireless network but I have solid 300Mbps setup and never have any issues. I run 8 toons, stream netflix or music and do all of my work on the same machine. 30 toons might be a different story.
Click to expand...

It's not about the throughput of the wireless, it's that in *most* cases the wireless signal gets micro-interrupts. There are many sources.. but for me personally, my laptop drops the signal the moment the microwave starts. No full out disconnect.. just packets dropped for 5-10 seconds, then wireless picks up and carries on as if nothing happened. The more accounts your running, the more problematic that becomes.
 
I have a bunch of ram sitting around and some i7 and i5 Dells missing the hard drive. Maybe I should sell them!

Looks like these sold quickly, but I have some lesser computers. PM if interested. Will sell cheap.
 
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Actually same, I have some stuff 5-6 years old stacked up in the basement, maybe a couple 550 ti's will get a list together or at least just snap some pics. PM if interested. I would preffer to just strap it all to a pallet and freight it off.

Glad me and eqgeek could hijack this thread lol
 
Razkle said:
I set my foregrounds FPS to 30 and background to 25 on all toons in ISBoxer and UNLIMITED in the eq settings, do 1 not both or it screws up! Limiting it means more fps for the other instances to share.
Click to expand...

When you say do "one not both," you mean do not set the dos on both to 30/25, right? We're still setting 30/25 in isboxer and unlimited in eq right?
 
right.... set in 1 place not both in eq and in ibboxer, I do the one in isboxer cause it seems to be more responsive to the multiboxing

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Saw this and it ends tomorrow, looks like a sweet system! Basically the same as the z200 but its a dell so its more upgradeable!

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Also if you want a CHEAP Quad Core Box army you can get 4 quad core PCs for cheap too!
 
It is kinda funny at my house I buy whatever frankencomputer I can but when my wife's laptop (her only computer except for my ipad that she stole 3 minutes after I brought it home) went swimming in coffee, she wanted a new one.

Not a used one like I get, no....

So thanks to the Memorial Day Weekend sale, I snagged her this beauty at Dell for the (gasp) low price of $600

Rich (BB code): 
1 210-AEDU Inspiron 15 5000 Series (Intel(R)) - 5558  
 
1 370-AAUO 12GB Dual Channel DDR3L 1600MHz (8GBx1+4GBx1)  
1 580-ABYO Backlit Keyboard, English  
1 490-BBRM Intel HD Graphics  
1 658-BCQL Driver for Intel wireless 3160AC  
1 400-AAZU 1TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive  
1 619-AHCY Windows 10 Home (64bit) English  
1 429-AAJV Tray load DVD Drive (Reads and Writes to DVD/CD)  
1 555-BCIY 802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.0, Dual Band 2.4&5 GHz, 1x1   
1 340-AGIK Safety/Environment and Regulatory Guide (English/French/Dutch)  
1 801-2836 Mail In Service after Remote Diagnosis, 1 Year  
1 801-2803 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Initial Year  
1 338-BGRU 5th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-5200U Processor (3M Cache, up to 2.70 GHz)  
1 391-BBZL 15.6 inch LED Backlit Touch Display with Truelife and HD resolution (1920 x 1080)
 
Razkle said:
It is kinda funny at my house I buy whatever frankencomputer I can but when my wife's laptop (her only computer except for my ipad that she stole 3 minutes after I brought it home) went swimming in coffee, she wanted a new one.

Not a used one like I get, no....

So thanks to the Memorial Day Weekend sale, I snagged her this beauty at Dell for the (gasp) low price of $600

Rich (BB code): 
1 210-AEDU Inspiron 15 5000 Series (Intel(R)) - 5558  
 
1 370-AAUO 12GB Dual Channel DDR3L 1600MHz (8GBx1+4GBx1)  
1 580-ABYO Backlit Keyboard, English  
1 490-BBRM Intel HD Graphics  
1 658-BCQL Driver for Intel wireless 3160AC  
1 400-AAZU 1TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive  
1 619-AHCY Windows 10 Home (64bit) English  
1 429-AAJV Tray load DVD Drive (Reads and Writes to DVD/CD)  
1 555-BCIY 802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.0, Dual Band 2.4&5 GHz, 1x1   
1 340-AGIK Safety/Environment and Regulatory Guide (English/French/Dutch)  
1 801-2836 Mail In Service after Remote Diagnosis, 1 Year  
1 801-2803 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Initial Year  
1 338-BGRU 5th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-5200U Processor (3M Cache, up to 2.70 GHz)  
1 391-BBZL 15.6 inch LED Backlit Touch Display with Truelife and HD resolution (1920 x 1080)
Click to expand...


There is no limit on the amount of $$ to be spent on keeping the wife happy. I have learned from experience keeping the wife happy is the best investment I can make, because if Mama's not happy then no one is happy.
 
My wife is now on her 4th laptop, I lovingly call coasters, all 4 dies of either coffee, tea or hot chocolate. What I need to buy her is a mug she cant spill! The guy at Dell and I had a LONG conversation and this one comes with a sealed touch screen and a sealed keyboard that is water "resistant" and I told him "challenge accepted"

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Hey with the hot sales on all computer this last week, watch eBay for killer deals on used boxes cheap as people try to recoup some of their old PCs value by dumping it on eBay...
 
It's true. I snagged her before I un-retired from EQ. She's been bamboozled.
 
You could even run a single instance of Everquest on pretty much any regular CPU from last 10 years with 2GB or RAM + plus some sort of GPU from last 8 years.

That said I would recommend getting at least a 2nd gen i3 preferably 3rd or 4th gen.

If you want to single box on Phinny for $100 then something like this with Ivy Bridge i3 would be perfect:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Elite-83...GHz-4GB-500GB-HP-Warranty-12-16-/152129468498

Small, plenty of CPU power, doesn't eat much electricity, plus Ivy Bridge integrated graphics are good enough for Phinny.

Because it is a dual core, 4 thread setup, this would not be good for more than 8 boxing on a regular server with say 8GB of RAM.

If you plan on adding a GPU then look into medium sized SFF boxes from HP, Lenovo and Dell, again anything from 2nd gen Sandy Bridge i3 and up should be plenty of power.

This same seller has Sandy Bridge i3 for $80: http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Elite-82...tel-i3-3-1GHz-4GB-RAM-500GB-HDD-/162097557020

Only problem is that you can't add a graphics card to these USDT cases so I'd prefer the Ivy Bridge integrated graphics for $20 more.


I am slowly moving away from my i5 setups to i7 setups because multi-threading does help when you are running 16 instances in a single box.
I run 16 instances on Ivy Bridge i5 with integrated graphics but there are glitches sometimes. Haswell i5 has about 2x better GPU integrated.

Again, I pay 20 cents per kWH so to me the electricity costs are important.

If you live where electricity is cheap then by all means buy the first gen i7s + GPUs like Razkle does. Those are generally $50-100 cheaper than 2nd gen.
 
Razkle said:
This one is real! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T1650-with-24-monitor/371853804637?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3D7169f26d81084dd6ab5c1c51eb72ba64%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D172510359996

$200 for a great quad core 3rd gen! If you want you can pop a 3rd gen i7 in or leave the xeon in both are beasts! Great machine, I have one!

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oh and COMES with a 24" monitor!
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So while these are for sale would you recommend buying these instead of the i5's above, then throwing an OS on there? Where can you buy a 7 pro key still now that 10 is out?

I worry that overall the cost of the OS would make the T1650 a worse deal.

Do you box on the T1650 with the xeon in place? No graphics card necessary or do you still pop a 550 or similar in for boxing say, 6 or 12 per box?
 
tallgears said:
So while these are for sale would you recommend buying these instead of the i5's above, then throwing an OS on there? Where can you buy a 7 pro key still now that 10 is out?
Click to expand...
I buy windows keys from https://www.reddit.com/r/microsoftsoftwareswap
Personally I have been using this dude https://www.reddit.com/user/Micro4all , usually in a couple hours I get my key. He no longer does paypal and I have never used any of that other stuff thou
Basically I buy windows 7 or 8 standard or whatever is cheaper and do the free upgrade to windows 10 via microsoft, usually like <20$

Also it never hurts to check bestbuy for openbox stuff, got my stepson a decent 500$ i5 current laptop for like 220$ for xmas (this was a crazy deal)
Craigslist is also amazing if you know what stuff is and watch it periodically you can get stuff very cheap
 
I have SO many spare parts most days, yes I always pop a 550ti or 650 ti or 750 ti in when I have them, and I always make sure I have 8gb-16gb or more to box with but that's still cheap for that system with a 24" monitor.

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I quit using isboxers, it became too unstable for mq2 and my needs, now I just mq2cpuload and go

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my t1700 has an i7 4770 in it and it rocks, the xeon can be replaced if you really wanted to but xeon = cheap ram options....
 
I run 4 groups on http://www.microcenter.com/product/471814/Predator_17_G5-793-72AU_173_Gaming_Laptop_Computer_-_Black I put 32 gbs more ram in it since it had 2 empty ram slots. It has already paid for itself.

Towers take up too much room for me and use too much power. I just setup a shelf with 4 laptops and run a monitor for each. I use Input director to emulate the keyboard/mouse if I need to.

Admittedly they did cost more to setup but I can run more groups on them and they take up very little space.
 
Razkle said:
I have SO many spare parts most days, yes I always pop a 550ti or 650 ti or 750 ti in when I have them, and I always make sure I have 8gb-16gb or more to box with but that's still cheap for that system with a 24" monitor.

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I quit using isboxers, it became too unstable for mq2 and my needs, now I just mq2cpuload and go

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my t1700 has an i7 4770 in it and it rocks, the xeon can be replaced if you really wanted to but xeon = cheap ram options....
Click to expand...

I'm just curious here. Thanks for the info so far. Why the x50 ti series vs x70 or x80 ti type serious of the same general cards. In my situation of looking at used do you still find that the x50 series are better price wise? Or is anything over this overkill for EQ so you just do bottom dollar on your box computers?

I picked up one of the xeon boxes at your recommendation and just want to fill it out with a 750 or something if it actually helps. You seen any Sellers with good prices on those lately? Also I thought last I looked EQ was just using the integrated CPU graphics and not using the GPU at all really so I'm wondering how dropping a card will help in this game.

Thanks again - I'm looking at this differently than I normally do since my main rigs are normally overkill with custom water loops etc lol.
 
Curious. You guys spent $200 on these to box 1 group right ? If you bought 3 or 4 of them wouldn't it be better to just build a better PC for around the same price that can box 4 or 5 groups use less space power and monitors ?
 
550ti is a great card that does not require extra power and will run in a 230w system just fine.

I run 12-18 on the $200 boxes

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I love my 750ti btw it IS better but it requires a separate power connector
 
.5gb per toon is my base. so 8gb is 16 so I run 12, and 16gb is 18

3 of my i7s have 24gb and I honestly don't know how many I can run on them, I run 12 on most of them
 
sounds right with all the extra graphics crap off. Still sounds inefficient for me. Way too many monitors. Id rather just run 1 $1200 desktop with 36 toons.
 
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News - INSANE EBay seller selling i7 quad PCs for $150
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