Minimum requirements to multibox 5 World of Warcrafts

[Tim]

This post will explain the minimum requirements to run 5 World of Warcrafts on 1 PC effectively.

Just how do we define "effectively"?

• 1x World of Warcraft standing in Orgrimmar, 5 yards away from the main bank mailbox, achieving 40 frames-per-second, with the other 4 games achieving 15 or more frames-per-second. System must be using Vista64 and not have any special hard drive or video card assignments (eg RAID, SLI).

We tested on the following systems, all with Vista64, with the following results

• Pentium4@2.00ghz, 4G ram, Geforce4
  • FAILED: Main WoW: 7fps, 4x Alt WoW: 2fps
• Pentium E2200@2.00ghz dual core, 4G ram, Geforce8200
  • FAILED: Main WoW: 18fps, 4x Alt WoW: 5fps
• i7 Extreme 975@5.2ghz, 12G ram, Geforce 295
  • WAY TOO FAST: Main WoW: 320fps, 4x Alt WoW: 60fps
• Pentium E8200@2.66ghz, 4G ram, Geforce 9400
  • PERFECT: Main WoW: 40fps, 4x Alt WoW: 16fps
• Pentium E8400@3.00ghz, 4G ram, Geforce 9800
  • PERFECT: Main WoW: 50fps, 4x Alt WoW: 18fps

Conclusion: While each system may vary based on a CPU that is a little faster, or a GFX that is a little slower, you should be able to use the following CPU and GFX charts as a reference to find something just around the PERFECT system listed above.

I rather like the e8400, and you can build a multiboxing system capable of running 5x WoWs for under $700.

References: CPU Chart

>$700 System: E8400, 4G RAM, 9800GT, 600wPS, DVD, 380GBHD, Case - Newegg/Ibuypower