Difference between revisions of "Multiboxing"

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== Recommended System Specifications ==
 
== Recommended System Specifications ==
As a general rule of thumb for multiboxing 3D games, you want about one CPU core and at least 1GB of RAM per game instance, and a middle to high grade video card with at least 1GB of RAM on it.  
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As a general rule of thumb for multiboxing 3D games on one PC, you want about one CPU core and at least 1GB of RAM per game instance, and a middle to high grade video card with at least 1GB of RAM on it.
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; Approximate recommendations
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* 2 instances: 2 CPU Cores, 2GB RAM, 1GB video card
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* 3 instances: 2-4 CPU cores, 3GB RAM, 1GB video card
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* 4 instances: 3-4 CPU cores, 4GB RAM, 1GB video card
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* 5 instances: 4-6 CPU cores, 5GB RAM, 1GB video card
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* 6 instances: 4-6 CPU cores, 6GB RAM, 1GB video card
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Note that some Intel chips, such as the i7, will list having more CPU cores (logically) than they ''physically have''. These extra CPU cores '''do not''' count as part of our recommendations as they ''cannot'' fully power a game instance and must be paired with a physical core (See [http://isboxer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=1090 i7 CPU: Assigning Separate Cores to Different Clients]).
  
 
=== Should I use two video cards? ===
 
=== Should I use two video cards? ===
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== See Also ==
 
== See Also ==
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* [http://isboxer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=1090 i7 CPU: Assigning Separate Cores to Different Clients]
 
* [[Supported Games]]
 
* [[Supported Games]]
 
* [[Supported Operating Systems]]
 
* [[Supported Operating Systems]]

Revision as of 14:31, 20 June 2011

Multiboxing is playing multiple characters together in a multiplayer online game like EVE Online, EverQuest, Lord of the Rings Online, RIFT, World of Warcraft and many other free and pay-to-play games.

Traditional multiboxing demonstrated on 2 PCs

The term multiboxing comes from referring to a PC as a "box", with the traditional method of multiboxing being a couple of PCs side-by-side with their own monitors, keyboards and mice.

The ISBoxer multiboxing software makes it easy to multibox on one PC, or on multiple PCs, with a range of games. In fact, ISBoxer works for more games than other multiboxing software due to Inner Space's unique ability to separate each game client's input stream from the others.

Minimum System Requirements

System requirements for multiboxing are pretty much the same as for playing one game, except multiplied per game instance you want to run. Generally, if your PC can launch one instance of the game you want to multibox, it is probably capable of launching two -- if that is what you think of as the "minimum". Performance (often measured in frames per second, or FPS) will largely depend on whether or not your CPUs and GPUs (video cards) will have power and memory to spare.

Recommended System Specifications

As a general rule of thumb for multiboxing 3D games on one PC, you want about one CPU core and at least 1GB of RAM per game instance, and a middle to high grade video card with at least 1GB of RAM on it.

Approximate recommendations
  • 2 instances: 2 CPU Cores, 2GB RAM, 1GB video card
  • 3 instances: 2-4 CPU cores, 3GB RAM, 1GB video card
  • 4 instances: 3-4 CPU cores, 4GB RAM, 1GB video card
  • 5 instances: 4-6 CPU cores, 5GB RAM, 1GB video card
  • 6 instances: 4-6 CPU cores, 6GB RAM, 1GB video card

Note that some Intel chips, such as the i7, will list having more CPU cores (logically) than they physically have. These extra CPU cores do not count as part of our recommendations as they cannot fully power a game instance and must be paired with a physical core (See i7 CPU: Assigning Separate Cores to Different Clients).

Should I use two video cards?

You certainly do not need two video cards to multibox, but if you are looking for ways to improve your graphics quality an extra GPU can help you do this without sacrificing performance. But there is a catch.

There are two ways to use two video cards, either separately with monitors attached to each card, or in SLI/Crossfire mode where they attempt to work together.

  • If your video cards are in SLI/Crossfire mode, your mileage may vary. These technologies previously only had driver support in Full Screen mode, and the only way to multibox on one PC is in Windowed mode. Additionally, in order to gain a significant advantage from these technologies, the game you are playing needs to be designed to use them. You may find that your second video card is not being used at all in this mode with your favorite game, even with the latest drivers, in which case you will need to separate the video cards to make use of the second card.
  • If your video cards are configured for separate use on different monitors, then your game windows must each remain on a monitor powered by the video card they are assigned to. If a game window is moved away from its host video card, you will experience a significant performance hit (FPS drop). To help prevent this problem, ISBoxer's Window Layout generator includes a "Cross-monitor swapping" option that can be used to prevent this performance hit for your Window Layout, and ISBoxer also ensures that the correct GPU is powering each window.

See Also