Tech - Any interest in an EQ Box building guide? (1 Viewer)

[Redbot]

THREAD CLOSED! Box building guide has launched:

http://www.redguides.com/community/showthread.php/40884-EverQuest-PC-Building-amp-Laptop-Guide

Take all of your PC building discussion to the thread above, please.

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I've been kicking around the idea of doing a PC building guide for EQ and keep it updated every few months as tech changes.

Possible categories:

1) Single box - Builds for low gfx settings and high settings. This one will be fun, because you can get single-box EQ running on anything

2) Six boxer - Builds for low gfx settings and high settings

3) Big Boxer - 12+ toons. Builds for low gfx settings and high settings

4) All purpose PC - Great for multiboxing, as well as modern games and productivity.


Would anyone find this helpful? Is there a category you'd like to see?

And more importantly, would anyone like to help? DriveCrash, Razkle, Meistro, and anyone else who keeps up on hardware news: PM me if you'd like to help!

 

[Chanticleer]

I actually built me a computer from a hp and a alienware that i bought for parts turns out both make a decent computer quad core 3.0 16g memory gtx580 ti videocard 700w powersupply 2 ssd with a 1tb hard drive. I run 6 with full graphics at 95ms

 

[wynge]

I think its a great idea if you have the time. I have been buildings comps for 20 years now and i recently started drifting away from keeping up on the latest tech, due to laziness. An updated guide with new tech just to have a place to start from for those people that don't keep up with it would be a great time saver and educational read. so i say, Do it sir. Thank you.

 

[raindog123]

Yes! I think this would be super helpful.

 

[Razkle]

I'm in

 

[Chanticleer]

I nominate razkle mod of this thread !

 

[Inkie]

possible 5 and 6?..

5) corporate resale versions (Dell's HP's, Lenovo's, etc.) that work for #2, 3 or 4. For the people who don't want to "build" a pc but would buy a refurbished corporate PC and possibly add a part or two.

6) mobile? for those who play on laptops? /shrug..

 

[hoosierbilly]

This does have a certain appeal. But for folks like me who are 'tech challenged' it would have to be very 'simple' or very complete to be useful. I did do a PC build about 15 years ago, but a lot has changed since then and I spent several years working in remote, isolated places. Not current on modern tech at all.

I expect you will think of this on your own but:

keep it clear and concise without to much tech jargon.
links to where to purchase parts.
you will probable have to make the decisions: get this part for this use.
I like the idea of having categories, might include total cost as part of the consideration for each category.

I would actually love to see this become a reality and would possible voluntary as the test dummy. Need to get new PC for the wife any way.

 

[nyghteyes]

I think its a great idea if you have the time. I have been buildings comps for 20 years now and i recently started drifting away from keeping up on the latest tech, due to laziness. An updated guide with new tech just to have a place to start from for those people that don't keep up with it would be a great time saver and educational read. so i say, Do it sir. Thank you.

This

 

[Warl0ck45]

I don't stay "in the know" like I used to, but I think enough "tech heads" visit the site that you ought to get plenty of feedback.

And thanks to YouBewb, there are TONS of videos on how to do this or that, so finding one to say replace a video card that is fairly relevant, should not be a stretch.

 

[DriveCrash]

I'd defiantly be interested. I have to keep up on tech anyway for my budget builds, so this would be an easy addition.

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This does have a certain appeal. But for folks like me who are 'tech challenged' it would have to be very 'simple' or very complete to be useful.

I agree, but I think it would be best to have the "buy this stuff" separate from the "how to" guides. Even though the hardware changes, the installation does not. A guide for laying out your case, or installing windows would not need updated.

keep it clear and concise without to much tech jargon.
links to where to purchase parts.
you will probable have to make the decisions: get this part for this use.

tech jargon is for debating which is the best piece of whatever.. once the build is laid out, it's a simple matter of a name, a model, and a link.

I like the idea of having categories, might include total cost as part of the consideration for each category.

For sure. I want to build a $1400 god system, but I can't afford that non-sense. I can afford a 500$ hot box for adding a group of bots for farming.. so I need a guide for a 6 boxer computer that doesn't pac-man my electric bill.. Someone else can buy that $1400 36 boxing chernobyl computer.

 

[riot]

It might be overkill.

Will an I7-6XXX series processor handle 12 boxes better than an I7-4XXX series? or an I5? If you're able to run 12 boxes on an older gen I3 or I5, and your only concern is playing EQ, then purchasing the latest and greatest tech is just going to be a waste of money. I think a 'build the best bang for the buck' type system for boxers that utilizes all the modern day and earlier versions of hardware would be cool. You should be able to build/buy a pretty bangin EQ botting machine for around $500 easily.

This is a great website to use for test builds: https://pcpartpicker.com/
And this is a great website to use for benchmarks: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/

I used both when I was deciding if I wanted a new desktop or laptop. I settled on one hell of a badass laptop though :o

 

[DriveCrash]

Riot, there is a fine balance between new and old tech. Some old tech seems nice for the price, but there are bandwidth problems, low bus speeds, etc. You don't want to overspend in some areas and cheap out on something that will bottlenet the system. You really have to look at the purpose of the computer and design the hardware around that.

While you can run a surprising amount of accounts on old hardware, you also have to consider heat production and electric consumption. I had an old box that ran fine, but it ran hot as a griddle and chewed up power.. I built a 300$ replacement with newer tech, which paid for itself after a year (in cooling cost & raw wattage usage).

I too have a laptop I use for eq from time to time, but I would not want to rely on it as my primary box. Constant heavy workload on a lappy will wear it down faster than a desktop (due to cooling limits).

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1) Single box - Builds for low gfx settings and high settings. This one will be fun, because you can get single-box EQ running on anything

Ohhhh I see a tablet build / hack project in my future.

 

[nyghteyes]

Next Contest: How many boxes can you get running at 60fps for the least amount of $. Scaling ratio?

I'm curious who has the best config and how many could I run on the best config?

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770K CPU @ 3.50GHz
Video Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980
Memory 16 GB

If you don't know what you have
http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/
is a safe place

 

[LurkMcGurk]

Next Contest: How many boxes can you get running at 60fps for the least amount of $. Scaling ratio?

I'm curious who has the best config and how many could I run on the best config?

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770K CPU @ 3.50GHz
Video Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980
Memory 16 GB

If you don't know what you have
http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/
is a safe place

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-4770K-vs-Intel-Core-i5-4460

the one on the right is my CPU on a computer with 8 gigs ram.

Running 10 without /hideallafk I get 60% memory usage with 80% cpu usage. This computer has an onboard video card (doesn't matter regardless with settings cranked down).

You can run 8 with 45-60 fps
You can run 10-12 with 45 fps and /hideallafk
You can run 12 - 16 with 30 fps and /hideallafk

This is if you turn your settings all the way down, on background clients you cap FPS at 30, clip plane at 20-35 and MAKE SURE TO BLOODY USE /HIDEALLAFK

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As far as getting the most boxes out of least amount of money, most important thing is processor cores hands down in my experience. More cores = more characters per core = less lag.

My computer is i7 5960X, 740 geforce with 32 gigs ram. My processor wasn't actually manufactured for private use and is made to run a server. This computers only purpose is Everquest and boxing in Everquest. If I try to watch even a youtube video with all my EQs up, my computer just wont allow it cause my video card could probably barely play worms armageddon on high (sarcastic, but it really can't play any modern games that I know of. EQ is all I play).

With this computer running 36 I get 60-70% cpu consumption without /hideallafk with /hideallafk I get 40% cpu consumption. I spent 2,200 on the computer, half of that price was on the processor alone.

If I could go back id buy a better video card so I don't have to switch computers to watch porn (you laugh now but this is a real issue for a man, I mean seriously wth). Oh yeah, youtube videos matter too. I hate being linked a youtube video and it lagging so much I can't even watch it. Audio is fine, video lags like a mother.

 

[riot]

Riot, there is a fine balance between new and old tech. Some old tech seems nice for the price, but there are bandwidth problems, low bus speeds, etc. You don't want to overspend in some areas and cheap out on something that will bottlenet the system. You really have to look at the purpose of the computer and design the hardware around that.

While you can run a surprising amount of accounts on old hardware, you also have to consider heat production and electric consumption. I had an old box that ran fine, but it ran hot as a griddle and chewed up power.. I built a 300$ replacement with newer tech, which paid for itself after a year (in cooling cost & raw wattage usage).

I too have a laptop I use for eq from time to time, but I would not want to rely on it as my primary box. Constant heavy workload on a lappy will wear it down faster than a desktop (due to cooling limits).

So you basically did what I suggested in my original post and saved yourself a ton of money.

I think a 'build the best bang for the buck' type system for boxers that utilizes all the modern day and earlier versions of hardware would be cool. You should be able to build/buy a pretty bangin EQ botting machine for around $500 easily.

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My processor wasn't actually manufactured for private use and is made to run a server.

Who told you that? I hope they didn't tell you that just so you'd purchase that insanely expensive CPU. If so, they lied to you and I'd be pissed as hell.

Your processor is 100% a Desktop processor that is intended to be used by whoever can afford it. It is not made for servers.

The Intel Xeon processor is built for servers and they begin with an E instead of an I in their model number.

 

[DriveCrash]

Riot, I was agreeing with you, but hinting that you have to be careful which earlier hardware you use. Some hardware has not aged well.

And yes, that is a desktop CPU, unlocked extreme version. Xeon CPU's don't have many of the chip level support code that desktop cpu's have, which causes problems for gaming. That said, it's a hell of a cpu.. too spendy for my blood though.

 

[riot]

Yeah I should have specified a time frame for hardware to use. When I said "earlier versions" I meant a a few years old or newer. I definitely wouldn't recommend throwing some stuff from 2001 together lol.

 

[Redbot]

Lots of good points being brought up, I'm glad I didn't try to do this alone.

 

[Razkle]

in order of my preferences... I don't care who built the box, I care what is in the box....

I always do INTEL and ALWAYS Quad core or better.i7 4th gen beats the i7 1st gen (Gen matters in cooling and overall speed and bus speed), i7 quad IS better then i5 Quad, i5 Quad is better then q9400 quad
that being said I have 5x q9400s running 9-12 clients all the damn time!

then lets move on to the 2nd hurdle, RAM, in a perfect world its 1gb per client for absolute smoothness, but I have ran as many as 48 Clients off a 16gb box.... 1gb is great 512per is adequate...

now video card, yes I said video card, I have mentioned this about 100 times and people always say "Eq is not graphics intensive" yeah, I know, 1 client is not, 48 clients adds up! A more modern video card with more Cores in it will slice off the background processes better then any built in one or anyone with older ram even, my absolute min is 1gb of DDR5 ram! DDR5 or nothing! What this does is makes sure you are getting a more modern card that can and will slice off the clients you want. Its easy to shop for a ddr5 card, not so easy when you try to figure out the other speeds, cores, technopuke they all throw around. Basically get DDR5 and you are golden, The min card I use is the 7770 or the 550 ti, both are excellent at EQ boxing. There is a difference between the 550 and the 550 ti.... I was just explaining how I had a box that was laggy as shit, all I swapped was the video card to the 550 ti and now its 30 fps to all clients! Video matters!

Operating system? Windows 7 is the most stable and least intrusive for older machines, win 8 and 10 are fine but are resource hogs. NEVER leave Internet browser up while boxing, as a matter of fact shut all non essential shit down!

I run a metric fuckton of boxes and clients and I know which ones can handle 6 clients and which ones can handle 60.... You do not have to spend a lot to box! I can show you the cheapest 6-9 box setup and the cheapest 12-24 box setup.... But I can also tell you that running them longterm, nothing over 12 boxes is as stable as 12 boxes can be. I bought 2 extra i7 boxes to split off the 36 I was running to 3x 12 boxes and the world is good!

 

[LurkMcGurk]

Who told you that? I hope they didn't tell you that just so you'd purchase that insanely expensive CPU. If so, they lied to you and I'd be pissed as hell.

Your processor is 100% a Desktop processor that is intended to be used by whoever can afford it. It is not made for servers.

The Intel Xeon processor is built for servers and they begin with an E instead of an I in their model number.

Someone told me when I linked them my computer's specs after I first got it. I was told by everyone I know actually to not purchase that processor as it was the most overpriced expensive processor I could possibly buy. It however was in my price range and has the most cores I could get for that money. I was torn between a new Skylake and this one , the skylake was said to be better but it had only 4 cores.

In my experience those cores are by far the most important thing. I could not possibly be more happy with this computer. I bought it expecting to be able to run 24 - 36 tops but yet I can load up 36 and only use up 40% of my entire processor. I honestly don't know how many I can push on this computer, I ran out of monitor space before I ran out of CPU power.


also it's worth mentioning if you don't use the Isboxer layout that makes all of your clients individual boxes on your screen but instead stack each client and use hotkeys to swap between them it will greatly reduce your graphics lag.

Me and a fellow 30+ boxer tested this with /follow. If you don't stack your clients and use hotkeys your follow studders after you load up a certain number. They'll run 5 steps and pause briefly before running another 5. I know a lot of you guys here probably use /stick or some other mq2 follow so it won't be as big of an issue since you can /stick across the zone.

For me though it wasn't until just recently that I started using mq2 so I am still used to old archaic methods for boxing without it. I still use the normal follow and actually only use /rez accept on from Mq2 while I am boxing raids these days. MQ2 for me is more of an afk tool to PL chars/farm augs than it is an assistance tool for boxing. I'm a stubborn man and when I find something that works I loathe trying new things or making alterations to it. There's still a TON I need to learn about mq2 there may be more that can assist me on raids than just rez accept on, however, that is fucking massive. I never knew it had this feature or I may have used it sooner... Not having to click rez boxes while trying to tank, heal and dps = love

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While you can run a surprising amount of accounts on old hardware, you also have to consider heat production and electric consumption. I had an old box that ran fine, but it ran hot as a griddle and chewed up power.. I built a 300$ replacement with newer tech, which paid for itself after a year (in cooling cost & raw wattage usage).

What program did you use to calculate wattage usage on your machine? I have been looking for a program to calculate my electricity usage but according to the internet it doesn't exist. You can't reliably use your power source as how much your computer uses varies entirely way too much. Also you can't go by monthly electric bills as each computer is 10 - 15$ at most and a variable such as a hotter month than the previous one can offset your math by a large percentage.

The most I have been able to do/calculate myself is when I owned 1 computer I was paying 120-150 a month. Now that I own 11 different computers I am paying about 250-295 a month. This also includes the air conditioner I installed in my computer room which runs 24/7 and keeps it at 65 degrees.

I literally searched for weeks and the most I found was something you can plug into your outlet to tell you how much wattage that outlet draws but never ever ever found a program to do it for me. It was in conjunction with Joulmeter which is mixed reviews for how reliable it is across the interwebs.

 

[nyghteyes]

This is probably one of the best threads I've read in the last month, besides Maskoi's Kiss 9 teaser...

At 12 boxes I have zero lag and run with graphics near max but If I try to do 17 or 18 with everything turned down I get crashes. After reading this I'm sure its the RAM. I don't have a Pagefile because I run 2 SSD's. I guess its time to upgrade my RAM if I want to get away from my basement box for the other 6.

I have 2 edge servers but without graphics support I never messed with them and are just collecting dust.

 

[DriveCrash]

What program did you use to calculate wattage usage on your machine? I have been looking for a program to calculate my electricity usage but according to the internet it doesn't exist. You can't reliably use your power source as how much your computer uses varies entirely way too much. Also you can't go by monthly electric bills as each computer is 10 - 15$ at most and a variable such as a hotter month than the previous one can offset your math by a large percentage.

The most I have been able to do/calculate myself is when I owned 1 computer I was paying 120-150 a month. Now that I own 11 different computers I am paying about 250-295 a month. This also includes the air conditioner I installed in my computer room which runs 24/7 and keeps it at 65 degrees.

I literally searched for weeks and the most I found was something you can plug into your outlet to tell you how much wattage that outlet draws but never ever ever found a program to do it for me. It was in conjunction with Joulmeter which is mixed reviews for how reliable it is across the interwebs.

At best I have found spreadsheets / websites that estimate your wattage, but every electrical device is different. Depending on the ambient temp it is working in, the quality of the coil windings, etc etc. the amp draw can vary from machine to machine. Because of my day job, i have several meters that I can use to check power usage. My go to meter is a clamp meter (mine is a Klein Tools CL2000 400A AC / DC meter) which just clips over the wires without hassle. It's great for ball-parking, but if you want accuracy, you have to get involved. an easy option are those meters you mentioned (inline draw meters), which have come down a great deal in price. Mine is a extech which has data logging capability, but it is expensive. Yay company expense!

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I have 2 edge servers but without graphics support I never messed with them and are just collecting dust.

I haven't had time to get mine setup the way I want, so for now it's powered off in the closet. Maybe this summer I'll have time to get it running like I want... but yeah, absolutely no possibility of gaming on it, even something as simple as eq. Trying to install even the crappiest of video cards in it is more hassle than it's worth.

They are some heavy sob's though, are they not?

 

[LurkMcGurk]

At best I have found spreadsheets / websites that estimate your wattage, but every electrical device is different. Depending on the ambient temp it is working in, the quality of the coil windings, etc etc. the amp draw can vary from machine to machine. Because of my day job, i have several meters that I can use to check power usage. My go to meter is a clamp meter (mine is a Klein Tools CL2000 400A AC / DC meter) which just clips over the wires without hassle. It's great for ball-parking, but if you want accuracy, you have to get involved. an easy option are those meters you mentioned (inline draw meters), which have come down a great deal in price. Mine is a extech which has data logging capability, but it is expensive. Yay company expense!

I will have to do some googling for it. I like doing mathematical breakdowns of everything and the only thing I have been unable to estimate or even find a good means to estimate is wattage. For the tool you're mentioning do you have to strip the wires at all or use the neutral/ground(I used to do HVAC when I contributed to society but its been so long my electrical knowledge is rusty)? I'd much rather use something that could just clamp onto a wire instead of having to plug in that bulky ass thing that comes with Joulmete. In order to plug that in i would have to unplug about half of the shit in my 12 way just to make room for the friggen thing

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This is probably one of the best threads I've read in the last month, besides Maskoi's Kiss 9 teaser...

At 12 boxes I have zero lag and run with graphics near max but If I try to do 17 or 18 with everything turned down I get crashes. After reading this I'm sure its the RAM. I don't have a Pagefile because I run 2 SSD's. I guess its time to upgrade my RAM if I want to get away from my basement box for the other 6.

I have 2 edge servers but without graphics support I never messed with them and are just collecting dust.

What makes you sure it's the RAM? With the processor you mentioned it should be capping out sooner than the ram is. If we're taking bets I put a krono on it's the processor capping out not the ram. (unless there's something faulty with your RAM I don't know about). Also do your crashes come when zoning, when standing still, or both? I find that I only crash when my computer has been on for more than 24hrs, I have mq2 running and I zone. Otherwise I never crash unless I try running more than I can (which... duh of course!)

Also I fubbed up /hideafk earlier and called it /hideallafk.


When you get in game turn on broadcasting and type /hideafk players all .. /hideafk pets all ... /afk on - this will make all your characters "disappear" and the only thing still being displayed will be their name and their weapons will be floating mid air. Once you start using this you'll realize stick figures blows chunks (if you even use stick figures) and should never be used. /hideafk works better, can be turned on/off at will and won't make you suffer having to look at such a horrible stick figure model while playing the game.

In my experience when you /hideafk you'll be able to push 2 more characters per PC. If your limit was 10 without it you'll be able to run 12 at the same CPU usage/RAM usage as 10. For you, /hideafk could very well be the difference between running 12 and 18. Give it a whirl when you get in game next time, trust me, it'll change how you box forever.

 

[nyghteyes]

They are some heavy sob's though, are they not?

Holy shit yes. I ended up getting some Store racking like what you see them stuff row and row of dog food/ kitty litter on. Double sided and put all my PC's that live in the basement on. FREE was why I made it work out haha. I just wish I could find a good use for them, I couldn't bear to see them get recycled.

LurkMcGurk

Crashes happen more when zoning.

Yeah turned on the monitor and CPU/Ram are pretty balanced at 12boxed with my current config. Ive never done a /hideafk before and will give that a shot. But if my Processor is hitting 70% at 12-14 boxes I guess I'm toast and need another pc. I'm remote atm so I don't want to mess with too much til I get home.

 

[LurkMcGurk]

Holy shit yes. I ended up getting some Store racking like what you see them stuff row and row of dog food/ kitty litter on. Double sided and put all my PC's that live in the basement on. FREE was why I made it work out haha. I just wish I could find a good use for them, I couldn't bear to see them get recycled.



Crashes happen more when zoning.

Yeah turned on the monitor and CPU/Ram are pretty balanced at 12boxed with my current config. Ive never done a /hideafk before and will give that a shot. But if my Processor is hitting 70% at 12-14 boxes I guess I'm toast and need another pc. I'm remote atm so I don't want to mess with too much til I get home.

Do your crashes generally leave you with a black screen and when you go to click on that screen that's when the crash report pops up? (I have no solution to this issue, I am just trying to see if someone else out there has the exact same issue I do - I never crashed before I downloaded MQ2 so I know for a fact that's the culprit but now that I've used mq2 it's just too good not to use, I will deal with any and all crashes) - I'd say test it without mq2 and see if you crash, but for most of us here playing without it'd be no fun so what good would testing to see if you crash without it? =P

I just turn off mq2 when I raid that way each time I zone into a new expedition half my raid force doesn't crash. Most of the time when botting I don't zone unless it's a wipe anyway in which case I got bigger issues than crashing ;P

If your processor is hitting 70% with 12-14 /hideafk all should put you at about 50% with 12-14. Especially if you use newer models.

This is what /hideafk does to your CPU - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dJolYw8tnk

 

[nyghteyes]

Yeah, MQ2 blocks the EQ crash for safety reasons, therefor gives you the mq2 window to click. Mine will do the same thing as yours, quite often I have trouble getting the crash window to come to front. I'll definitely play with the /hideafk players all when I load up tonight. I'm not so keen on having all my toons with afk tags but I guess it sounds commonplace for boxers.

No MQ2 means I'll play and alt til its back up. Did a year on p99 and realized I'll never want do that again.

Wish I had more Redcents to give This is what Id be doing here.



EDIT: After setting up virtual configs on innerspace to ensure all configs are the same. And hiding all afk I'm running 12 @ 36% CPU and 73% RAM.

 

[DriveCrash]

But if my Processor is hitting 70% at 12-14 boxes I guess I'm toast and need another pc. I'm remote atm so I don't want to mess with too much til I get home.

It depends. If you have a mismatch in your cpu and motherboard, you could have a processor that cannot utilize full power because the bus (fsb, northbridge, etc) is bogged down somewhere. Sometimes you can have a virtual bottleneck if you have driver resource conflicts somewhere.. but i'm getting into the deep nerd stuff.

When you're running full out, open your resource monitor and look at your cpu, hard drive, and memory.

ctl-alt-del <or> right click task bar and click start task manager
go to performance tab
click resource manager button in the lower right side
in each group, change the sorting:
     CPU: Click "average cpu"
     Disk: click "total (B/sec)"
     Network: (minimize with the up/down arrow on the far right)
     Memory: Click "Commit (KB)"

Now you can see if you are using up all your ram, check what is munching your cpu other than eq, and see how your hard drive is holding up to the data exchanges. You can also verify easily that your CPU is at max frequency (if not, heat issues or power management).

If your computer is not at it's limit, something else (software) is holding you back.

Hope that's helpful.

 

[HouseOfX]

Thanks for this thread; getting back into the game and currently setting up plans for a new system

 

[LurkMcGurk]

Yeah, MQ2 blocks the EQ crash for safety reasons, therefor gives you the mq2 window to click. Mine will do the same thing as yours, quite often I have trouble getting the crash window to come to front. I'll definitely play with the /hideafk players all when I load up tonight. I'm not so keen on having all my toons with afk tags but I guess it sounds commonplace for boxers.

No MQ2 means I'll play and alt til its back up. Did a year on p99 and realized I'll never want do that again.

Wish I had more Redcents to give This is what Id be doing here.

View attachment 9038

EDIT: After setting up virtual configs on innerspace to ensure all configs are the same. And hiding all afk I'm running 12 @ 36% CPU and 73% RAM.

Glad to hear it has assisted! I do wonder why it's gobbling the shit out of your ram though I've never had one of my computers use up more ram and less CPU. Weird! But, computers can be pretty weird =P

As for all your afk groups having the AFK tag, I look at it like this, when a person is hitting buttons and stuff they never go /afk (an AFK bot group would never go /afk unless they broke down and stopped fighting) Has your bot groups ever gone /afk on ya randomly?

Most people don't even ask about the AFK tags, I have had 1 person ask in a few years and I told him what it did. His response was something like "hot fucking shit im going to use that when I box!!!!!!"

I've had 1 GM who saw me with it, it was when Kunark launched on Lockjaw and I was camping a HS key mob with my entire raid. He showed up cause I was roadblocking a key mob and said "I hope you're not really afk!" and I said "Nope! I'm here just using /hideafk to hide my character models!" and he kindly opened another instance for me/the others, summoned me a bunch of Gnome sandwichs (since my whole box team is gnomes to decrease collision/lag further) waved goodbye and left.

While I do agree seeing a large amount of /afk could raise a red flag, it doesn't happen as much as you would think it happens. Usually the people that are going to start shit with your bot groups are going to start shit with them no matter what I've come to find.

 

[Warl0ck45]

Yes I realize this is not a "compare PC" thread. I put this box together some time back, and it is still doing everything I ask of it, and since this discussing "older" rigs and how to build them.. and I had some time on my hand.. I figured why not toss in some pics and do a little show N tell. If it is inappropriate.. feel free to drop the post.

This is using a full sized coolmaster tower (With casters on the bottom! heh) with 2 front mounted 8" fans, 2 top mounted 6" fans, and one 12" side mounted fan blowing in , with 4 back mounted blowing out. With full graphics on, and just MQ2Clip/WinEQ2/Mq2FPS for system lag control, had up to 18 toons on here before hitting lag. I since had the main HD tank.. and when I reinstalled... the damn MB drivers (extreme edition) are poof from the Intel website... which means no more tweaking the MB.. and I can get roughly 12-14 toons in before hitting lag.

The pics above are while running 14 toons, with the mentioned (all toons afk /hideafk) thing going.. and no lag ( though of course toon drops while zoning... 12 seems to be the limit there)

System ran me fairly cheap... using TigerDirect I picked up a MB+CPU combo for $250, original video card for $200, case+PSU+CPU cooling tower for another $200, and the ram (tri channel) a 6G kit for $100, then a 12G kit for $110 later.

Admittedly that is a bit more then the $500 PC being talked about. I spent a month researching different specs at the time, the video card and MB/CPU taking me the longest. I feel like I got the best bang for my buck, and only needed to replace the HD recently. (Yes I know Seagate has issues, but I got my time out of the first one, and working on more SSD)

I already had plenty of the other stuff sitting around (Keyboard/mouse/monitors/optical drives) but I was mostly driving at, you are more then capable of building a a solid rig that will do you good for 5+ years on a budget.

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Before someone freaks.. the MB high reading is false... Specy for some reason reads it incorrectly.

And yes, I know I can load up plenty more... waiting graduation expenses for the kiddos to pass and planning on another build though, so I can spread out the toons I am abusing a little... the "lose 1+ toon every time you zone" thing gets annoying =)

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Sorry, my thoughts run faster then my damn typing so somedays I sound like english is my 5th barely learned language, heh

 

[Redbot]

Looking for a little help on this. Here's the current (very rough) draft:


1) Single box EQ - 1 instance - with full graphics
Processor: ?
CPU cooler: ?
Motherboard: ?
Memory: ?
Graphics: ?
Storage: ?
Storage2: ?
Case: ?
PSU: ?

2) Beginner multiboxer - 6 toons - with full graphics
Processor: ?
CPU cooler: ?
Motherboard: ?
Memory: ?
Graphics: ?
Storage: ?
Storage2: ?
Case: ?
PSU: ?

3) Big multiboxer - 18 toons - with full graphics
Processor: ?
CPU cooler: ?
Motherboard: ?
Memory: ?
Graphics: ?
Storage: ?
Storage2: ?
Case: ?
PSU: ?

4) All purpose PC - Play modern games, plus multibox EverQuest
Processor: Intel Core i5-6500
CPU cooler: stock
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD3
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-3000
Graphics: MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4G
Storage: Crucial MX200 250GB SSD
Storage2: WD Blue 2TB
Case: Fractal Design Define R5
PSU: EVGA Supernova G2 550W

If you like modern games with eye-candy turned on high, the GeForce 970 should handle the latest and greatest, while the four-core Skylake CPU is definitely multi-boxer friendly. 16GB of RAM will run 12 toons in TBM zones without hiccups.

For the CPU, we're going with Intel over AMD because it consumes less power, runs multiple EQ instances without issue, and isn't tied to older chipsets unlike AMD's tempting FX-series. The GA-Z170X-UD3 mobo is included for the great Realtek ALC1150 audio, dual M.2 slots, and a slick USB-C 3.1 port for your next-gen devices. While DDR4-2133 RAM would suffice, we went with DDR4-3000 RAM combined with a quick SSD drive like the Crucial MX200 (which we selected for its low price) to shave a few seconds off your zoning times.

MSI does a good job tuning the GTX 970, so we went with it over other GTX 970s, and under load it consumes 120W less than the Radeon R9 390 while giving similar performance. The GTX 970 is also an overclocker's dream, with users reporting that it can be pushed to outperform a stock GTX 980. For non-performance storage (video files, downloads, photos, etc.) we recommend a reliable drive, and going by Blackblaze reliability tests the most reliable and affordable right now looks like the WD Blue series. For the case, we love the Apple-like simplicity and cooling performance of the Fractal Design Refine R5, which includes two 140mm fans behind removable dust filters. It's also spacious, with ample room for more fans, 8 3.5" drives and two long graphics cards.

For those of us who leave our computers on for long periods, the PSU is extremely important. And according to PSU experts over at JonnyGuru, the 80+ Gold-certified, fully modular EVGA Supernova G2 is worthy of a perfect score.


Questions:
Is there a difference between 1) and 2)? By that I mean, are there actually PC parts being sold today (not a used heap on ebay) that can run 1 instance, but not 6?

For the "big multiboxer" I picked 18 toons out of the air. Is that too many, or too few to be considered for a top-of-the-line multiboxing rig?

I just want to make sure the categories make sense before I start digging around for parts.

 

[jestisp]

I would be really interested in "Cheap" laptops that can multi-box 6 sessions. Right now I am using an Intel Quad Core with 4gig ram. I can do 5 just fine, but at 6 it becomes horrible to try and even move most of the time.

 

[Warl0ck45]

have not dipped my toe in the well of knowledge recent enough to offer anything but generalizations, of which I am sure the more tech savvy can help on, other then do NOT scrimp on the PSU (Power Supply unit), burned up 3 systems from cheap materials used in the PSU/PSU connectors. Get a name brand that has a solid reputation.

Outside of that, I would think anything sold today should be able to handle 3+ instances of EQ, outside of netbooks of course (glorified e-mail checkers...) with winEQ I would think they can handle 4-6, provided it has the RAM

 

[AutomateEverything]

have not dipped my toe in the well of knowledge recent enough to offer anything but generalizations, of which I am sure the more tech savvy can help on, other then do NOT scrimp on the PSU (Power Supply unit), burned up 3 systems from cheap materials used in the PSU/PSU connectors. Get a name brand that has a solid reputation.

Outside of that, I would think anything sold today should be able to handle 3+ instances of EQ, outside of netbooks of course (glorified e-mail checkers...) with winEQ I would think they can handle 4-6, provided it has the RAM

Remember that EQ makes copious use of the GPU, unlike some modern games that are more CPU bound. It may be worth mentioning, even at the entry level (which sometimes don't have a GPU to speak of), that the computer should include one, even if its just an APU chip from AMD or something offering similar functionality for very cheap. I imagine that could run more instances for the same entry level price.

 

[Warl0ck45]

Well, I figure if I can get a celeron 333 with onboard graphics to run 3 instances of EQ, today's PCsought to have a fighting chance

 

[ctaylor22]

This is great timing. I am building a new box as we speak, but this is what I am building, I am going to make this my main box.
CPU: AMD FX 8350
Mother Board: GIGABYTE GA-990FX-Gaming
RAM: G.SKILL Sniper Gaming Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Video Card: GeForce GTX 750 Ti
Primary HD: ADATA Premier SP550 2.5" 120GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

I am not after top of the line, I just need something that can handle my 6 box crew. I plan on using my current box for a new group I am working on.

I am open to suggestions. I have not pulled the trigger yet, but I have everything in the shopping cart ready to go.

 

[AutomateEverything]

This is great timing. I am building a new box as we speak, but this is what I am building, I am going to make this my main box.
CPU: AMD FX 8350
Mother Board: GIGABYTE GA-990FX-Gaming
RAM: G.SKILL Sniper Gaming Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Video Card: GeForce GTX 750 Ti
Primary HD: ADATA Premier SP550 2.5" 120GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

I am not after top of the line, I just need something that can handle my 6 box crew. I plan on using my current box for a new group I am working on.

I am open to suggestions. I have not pulled the trigger yet, but I have everything in the shopping cart ready to go.

Being pretty frugal there and seems like good picks.

Only real adjustment I would make it that I think you are overspending on a motherboard. If its just for EQ basically, you can shave 50 bucks+ off not going for a "gaming" one. I've never actually bought a gaming one and they run fine for games. Couple examples:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128627
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262

Don't know what else you wanted on that Mobo, though.

You didn't mention a "storage" drive since you have a very small SSD. Prices on SSDs are getting to the point you can find a 500 gig for ~120, which could be total storage for the system at awesome speeds, which is something to consider.

- - - Updated - - -

Well, I figure if I can get a celeron 333 with onboard graphics to run 3 instances of EQ, today's PCsought to have a fighting chance

The question was with full graphics, though. Doubt that Celeron ran with full graphic settings comfortably for those 3 instances. I'm sure it ran reasonably, though!

 

[Warl0ck45]

At the time and for a long while after, yeah it was full graphics. Over time I had to dumb it down, until the PSU connector burned a hole through the MB.

Currently have 2 10yr old student laptops I can run EQ on, full graphics, and via winEQ can get multiple instances of EQ on (one a single core, the other a dual). So I do feel confident in saying today's PCs ought to have a fighting chance...even with full graphics.

 

[HouseOfX]

I will echo the thought regarding an inexpensive laptop for a 6 box team. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes in for the big multi-boxer build also!

TY to all contributors!