Issues, Workarounds & Localization

hello fellow multiboxer!

tl;dr I have the same processor as you, with 2x 7970 eyefinity cards. can run 12 screens

my setup: http://imgur.com/a/Ii7Q1

this is a pair of Radeon HD7970's in crossfire. http://goo.gl/7t71u specifically, the six display Eyefinity edition (I'm pretty sure I got them for $430 on newegg). they have ports for 6 monitors each, and I have them paired to share the processing load of the same 6 monitors. you could un-pair them and run 12 individual monitors.

I haven't tried this myself, but I have *heard* of motherboards with multiple PCI-E slots (as low as X4) running individual video cards. so if your motherboard has 4 PCI-E slots (as newer performance models do such as the asus extreme line), you could run 4 cards capable of 6 screens each, = 24 individual monitors... would be a nightmare, though. or 4x3... probably cheaper

and even if the PCI-E slot isn't the fastest X16, the X8 and X4 slots are fast enough for most games.

I'm also using SSD (solid state disks) for storage, to help with the computation side of multiple clients. I recommend SSD for multiboxing. I use two in RAID 0 just to have a contiguous 256GB drive, instead of 2x128GB.

each client has its own separate install. takes up a -lot- of space. anyway

my roommate's setup:

Nvidia 680 classified, can push three 3-D graphics (gaming) displays, +one for strictly 2D only (desktop) display. (3+1)

previously had a 660 classified, and it was "OK" with 3 clients, and strained under 4.

so if you're using multiple Nvidia cards, say four of the 680's, you'd have twelve screens for 3D graphics and four 2D displays.

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Radeon and its Eyefinity is ahead of Nvidia when it comes to multi-display cards.

the only other consideration is you'd probably want to turn down one or two graphics settings

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For CPU I recommend Intel. I'm using an AMD 8120 black edition "8-core" which is actually 4 full-cores managed as 8... but I would've bought Intel if it was available at the time. (I went to Fry's and bought off-the-shelf parts to fit the graphics cards--on the fly).

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I have 32GB of RAM and windows 8 64-bit professional. monitors are samsung px2370's which are 1920x1080, 2ms response time, and you can get them refurbished for less than $200 each. most common refurb reason is the plastic molding of the stand are tilted ever so slightly. but you could use them on their side or upside down and save a ton of $$ for 2ms gaming displays.

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my recommendation for multiple clients, specifically 12? Asus Extreme motherboard, keep the CPU you have (same as mine! high five), give it 32GB of RAM... and buy four Eyefinity cards capable of 3 monitors each. super common. even my old 5770 with three monitors was fine. also: the 6000 series cards are the same as the 5000 series, just re-branded. (check the specs). I think you could save a bunch of cash if you found new-in-box 5770's, they used to sell at Best Buy.

or you could get two of the 7970's I have, power consumption-wise, a 850W power supply is more than enough. just get something with modular cables, the Corsair line of PSU's is perfect.