computer question for multi boxxer

[trixbro]

Ok so I am bored at work and thinking about coming back to my old eq/crack habit. I was reading a post below that included peoples opinion about homebuilt computers vs store bought. Dell doesnt seem to be high on the list for quality products, so what store bought computers under 1k do people seem to prefer? I have a laptop now and dont have access to peices I can recycle to build my own for a comparable price. I'm only thinking about 2 boxing and think a quad core processor and 3g of ram will work fine for that.
thanks

[Damim]

I'd say that store bought computers are fine for EQ, but I would spend a little more and get a good graphics card.  I recently bought a AMD Phenom machine with 5GB of RAM for around $700, and spent about $200 on an 8800GT vid card.  So for less than $1000 you got a decent EQ machine.  It may not be the best for high end gaming, but it runs EQ great.

[Obsessedwith]

You could get a quad core intel 6600 for 189, decent mobo for 189, 2 8800gt's for 300, 4 gig of ddr2 800mhz for 70, 500gb sata hd for 80, a psu for 100, and vista premium 64bit for 80, total of 1008.  If you can build it you can get a lot more for your money.  All you would have to scavenge is a case, monitor, keyboard, mouse which i am sure you probably have laying around.

[trixbro]

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, I dont have any spare parts laying around to recycle for a homebuilt machine. I only have a laptop now, have never actually owned a desktop. I move around alot, so laptop just worked better for me. 
thanks

[bobokatt1970]

Number one thing when "two boxing -- two accounts" is to have each account on a separate physical hardrive.  To me that was the SINGLE BEST "upgrade" I noticed.  Obviously this is true if you have enough ram in the first place.  Anyhow ever since I added 2 HD (one is for my OS) and the other 2 are for games and storage (but have one install of EQ on each)... the difference has been very noticeable.  At the end of the day a better top of the line video card did nothing for me.  I went from an ATI X1950 XT to 2 X1950XTX's in crossfire to one 8800GTX to 2 8800 GTX and now I have one 280 GTX and honestly I can't tell a damn difference in performance.  At the end of the day as long as you got a decent one with enough VRAM you are good -- I find your hardrive, RAM and to a point, CPU speed to be the main thing for playing multiple accounts.  With a dual core it's all you need really.

[jdpatt]

I really can't say anything about a DIY computer, I have no experience with building one from scratch, but I've been very happy with my last 4 or 5 computers, which I purchased through the Dell Outlet.  They sell scratch & dent computers, ones that have been refurbished, and ones that were ordered and cancelled.  You can save about half the cost of a new one.

I bought 2 Inspiron 530 models through the outlet this year.  In the spring I got:

Core 2 Quad (Q6600 2.4g) with 3g RAM, 500g hard drive, Vista 32 bit premium, and a Radeon HD2600XT video card for $600 shipped to my door.

Just a couple weeks back I got:

Core 2 Quad (Q9300 2.5g) with 6g RAM, 750g hard drive, Vista 64 bit premium, and the same video card for $600 shipped yet again.

I still have my doubts that I could build the same system for less money, and with the Dells, I have customer support for a year and no compatibility problems so far.

I've purchased 4 desktops and 1 laptop through the Dell outlet, and I've been very pleased every time.  It's worth a look at least.

Dave