1 Tower multi Game station

[CanvasGm00]

Budget (including currency): $1,500 USD

Country: USA

Games, programs, or workloads that it will be used for: Running 3 or more gaming stations with 1 tower.

Games: Mostly Fortnite, Rocket League, Starcraft 2, LOL, Halo. I would like to run higher-tier games if the budget allows.

Other details (existing parts lists, peripherals needed, upgrading from, when to buy, resolution, and refresh rate preferences):

Existing parts: None, this will be a fresh build.

I recently learned about a program called ASTER (https://www.ibik.ru/). I want to create a computer that can run at least 3 gaming stations. Currently, I have a room with 12 computers comprising a mixture of 2nd and 3rd generation i5 processors, GTX 745 GPUs, and 8GB RAM. I work for a non-profit, and we take these computers to camps and events. I am looking for a budget-friendly way to bring 4 computers instead of 12 to these events while still providing a good gaming experience.

I don't know much about ASTER or similar programs, but I was at a friend's house for a gaming weekend, and he had ASTER set up on his computer. He played Helldivers 2 while his son played Ninja Turtles on the same machine. This got me thinking about doing a similar setup.

Any advice on what GPU/CPU I should be looking for would be great. My rough draft build is here: (https://pcpartpicker.com/list/fjhF28). However, it is too expensive, and I am not sure if I need all those parts.

[kb5zue]

ASTER (https://www.ibik.ru/).

 

You do know what the ".ru" in the address means, right?  I would avoid that like the plague and try to find something a little closer to home.

 

Take care and good luck.

[Electronics Wizardy]

I'd generally stick with multiple systems here, and just upgrade the systems one by one. Aster has its own problems with programs like steam, and multiple systems is gonna be simpler.

 

 

That system you linked is kinda weird. Why the 10900k, espically for that price. Why 6 dimms? Its a quad channel CPU, so 4 or 8 is best.

 

Why 3 m5000 GPUs? One 4080 super would be much faster and supported for loner. And aster lets you have multiple games running off one GPU.

 

[Levent]

That website looks as sketchy as it gets. Licenses are dumb cheap for what this app claims to do. Overall there are more things worrying about that app than I would even  consider buying even with Paypal (which by the way is not supported, I am not sure how they are able to advertise MasterCard and Visa as SWIFT is banned for Russia)

[OddOod]

20 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

One 4080 super

Non-quadro cards are TERRIBLE for multi user setups like this. I hate it but NV just locks off the ability to split a GPU between VMs on consumer cards
 

40 minutes ago, CanvasGm00 said:

budget-friendly way to bring 4 computers instead of 12

I'd see about snagging a used tower server and running Proxmox. Might even be able to convince a local business or uni to give it free as a (say it with me) writeoff. And Proxmox forums seem to indicate that they are cool with non-profits running the full system with no license, though maybe reach out to their customer service email to double check

You'll want at minimum 4 cores and 8GB of RAM for each system.

[CanvasGm00]

27 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

I'd generally stick with multiple systems here, and just upgrade the systems one by one. Aster has its own problems with programs like steam, and multiple systems is gonna be simpler.

 

 

That system you linked is kinda weird. Why the 10900k, espically for that price. Why 6 dimms? Its a quad channel CPU, so 4 or 8 is best.

 

Why 3 m5000 GPUs? One 4080 super would be much faster and supported for loner. And aster lets you have multiple games running off one GPU.

 

The funky build is mostly do to not really knowing how much power I would need for 1 tower to handle 3+ gaming stations.

[CanvasGm00]

3 minutes ago, OddOod said:

Non-quadro cards are TERRIBLE for multi user setups like this. I hate it but NV just locks off the ability to split a GPU between VMs on consumer cards
 

I'd see about snagging a used tower server and running Proxmox. Might even be able to convince a local business or uni to give it free as a (say it with me) writeoff. And Proxmox forums seem to indicate that they are cool with non-profits running the full system with no license, though maybe reach out to their customer service email to double check

You'll want at minimum 4 cores and 8GB of RAM for each system.

Thank you! I will look into Proxmox. And that write off is how we got our 12 i5 computers. There has only been $600usd put into those computer and that was for monitors and head phones.

[jaslion]

So flat out as someone who had the misfortune of doing this 4 fucking times already because people didn't want to listen to all the downsides and later ran into them real quick.

 

DONT

 

1 hour ago, CanvasGm00 said:

Mostly Fortnite, Rocket League, Starcraft 2, LOL, Halo. I would like to run higher-tier games if the budget allows.

Of all these games NOT A SINGLE ONE ALLOWS VIRTUAL MACHINES. The anti cheat will trigger and either, ban the machine, ban the user, not launch the game,... or all of the above.

 

Then the usual downsides of stability, compatibility, fragility of operation, windows updates EASILY fucking this up FOREVER, low performance, CONSTANT TECH SUPPORT, need for workstation hardware,... it is not even remotely close to worth it.

 

Every single time someone does this it's as a showcase. These things are NOT USABLE IN THE REAL WORLD.

 

Also that aster program is sketchy. Always has been. It does work somewhat but it still triggers anti cheat and is seen as a cheating software since you are running multiple clients which is NOT allowed usually whilst it also being sort of virtualized. Do not get this if you want to keep your accounts! Also tmnt is a easy to run game and aster pretty much forces one frame after the other of different games to be rendered and this drops performance a lot too. It's iffy the way it does it and will trigger anti cheat and also has limited compatibility depending on the games wanting to work togheter.

 

What I recommend you do is simply just get some decent boxes with a mix of new/used hardware and call it a day. You can quite easily buy some used ryzen gaming boxes or 10/11th gaming boxes with already a gtx1660ti class card or up in it for 350$ a piece IF even that much.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266746985993?itmmeta=01J09DA2CV9M0C6RAQ1KVCREM0&hash=item3e1b5bfe09:g:owwAAOSwSm5mKxuH&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4CEwKD3AfjjLvKDp9mJYroIJRJVbQ3y6DLP%2Fy68Hbk64mXyOh%2F5%2B%2Bg%2BLazHWelvzG3vpeVT1giJOWC5yaqPOTX5EkI0CtK9Bcd%2B4cZRVQvOelMjvxrNTDDgY7mmqJuPnmqw%2BYN93jO8hBDNNQZ1Ga0E9p3OHSCI8eIMp5MIotEYG3ZcXlAvg8mrzzPf6e7us5rF3KmahTUgBENUSzf0TZkn5JWxvQOXya3rTM4P5mXPW2WlpXRymWh38V0tTs6QHH4xe2TNDE%2FL%2FSz8X%2BaetvIt6B8osytWVMH71OTkvJnrK|tkp%3ABk9SR76mqK2CZA

 

Dont get this one but well. Case and point! This one is nice.

 

The most important thing to look for is:

AT LEAST a 6core/12thread cpu. Anything less HARD FUCKING PASS.

A gtx1660ti class card. Getting that is not hard a rx5700xt is 120$ if even and is that level plays anything fine and well.

16gb of ram minimum AND AT LEAST 2 STICKS.

A case with airflow please

AND A GOOD PSU thats the main lacking part in the one above.

 

Some feedback on the build you made. It's very out of date and very expensive for what it is.

 

It's using mostly stuff from 2015-2017 which is extremely outclassed by even budget stuff these days so I would not get that at all.

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 hour ago, OddOod said:

Non-quadro cards are TERRIBLE for multi user setups like this. I hate it but NV just locks off the ability to split a GPU between VMs on consumer cards

There aren't being VMs used here, so the extra quadro features won't matter. I've used this program on GTX cards and it works fine, so no reason to pay the premium here.

 

 

[CanvasGm00]

1 hour ago, jaslion said:

So flat out as someone who had the misfortune of doing this 4 fucking times already because people didn't want to listen to all the downsides and later ran into them real quick.

 

DONT

 

Of all these games NOT A SINGLE ONE ALLOWS VIRTUAL MACHINES. The anti cheat will trigger and either, ban the machine, ban the user, not launch the game,... or all of the above.

 

Then the usual downsides of stability, compatibility, fragility of operation, windows updates EASILY fucking this up FOREVER, low performance, CONSTANT TECH SUPPORT, need for workstation hardware,... it is not even remotely close to worth it.

 

Every single time someone does this it's as a showcase. These things are NOT USABLE IN THE REAL WORLD.

 

Also that aster program is sketchy. Always has been. It does work somewhat but it still triggers anti cheat and is seen as a cheating software since you are running multiple clients which is NOT allowed usually whilst it also being sort of virtualized. Do not get this if you want to keep your accounts! Also tmnt is a easy to run game and aster pretty much forces one frame after the other of different games to be rendered and this drops performance a lot too. It's iffy the way it does it and will trigger anti cheat and also has limited compatibility depending on the games wanting to work togheter.

 

What I recommend you do is simply just get some decent boxes with a mix of new/used hardware and call it a day. You can quite easily buy some used ryzen gaming boxes or 10/11th gaming boxes with already a gtx1660ti class card or up in it for 350$ a piece IF even that much.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266746985993?itmmeta=01J09DA2CV9M0C6RAQ1KVCREM0&hash=item3e1b5bfe09:g:owwAAOSwSm5mKxuH&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4CEwKD3AfjjLvKDp9mJYroIJRJVbQ3y6DLP%2Fy68Hbk64mXyOh%2F5%2B%2Bg%2BLazHWelvzG3vpeVT1giJOWC5yaqPOTX5EkI0CtK9Bcd%2B4cZRVQvOelMjvxrNTDDgY7mmqJuPnmqw%2BYN93jO8hBDNNQZ1Ga0E9p3OHSCI8eIMp5MIotEYG3ZcXlAvg8mrzzPf6e7us5rF3KmahTUgBENUSzf0TZkn5JWxvQOXya3rTM4P5mXPW2WlpXRymWh38V0tTs6QHH4xe2TNDE%2FL%2FSz8X%2BaetvIt6B8osytWVMH71OTkvJnrK|tkp%3ABk9SR76mqK2CZA

 

Dont get this one but well. Case and point! This one is nice.

 

The most important thing to look for is:

AT LEAST a 6core/12thread cpu. Anything less HARD FUCKING PASS.

A gtx1660ti class card. Getting that is not hard a rx5700xt is 120$ if even and is that level plays anything fine and well.

16gb of ram minimum AND AT LEAST 2 STICKS.

A case with airflow please

AND A GOOD PSU thats the main lacking part in the one above.

 

Some feedback on the build you made. It's very out of date and very expensive for what it is.

 

It's using mostly stuff from 2015-2017 which is extremely outclassed by even budget stuff these days so I would not get that at all.

Thank you, I'm leaning more and more to sticking with individual machines and just putting them in a road case with a server rack in it. Getting 15ft, 12ft, 6ft  cables to run to the different stations. 
Didn't even think about anti cheat causing any issues. Thank you for brining that up.

[jaslion]

13 minutes ago, CanvasGm00 said:

Thank you, I'm leaning more and more to sticking with individual machines and just putting them in a road case with a server rack in it. Getting 15ft, 12ft, 6ft  cables to run to the different stations. 
Didn't even think about anti cheat causing any issues. Thank you for brining that up.

Going individual is the safest and best bet.

 

Either way like to get every machine at least 8 threads youd need a 12c chip. The current cheapest one is like 320$ or you could get 3 5500's new for around that (dont they are not great value).

 

You could get a 4080 for 1000$ or so or could get 3 6700xt's new for around that. Used well thats even in rx6800 range and such. Or hell if you are ok with just a great 1080p card for all those games you can say fuck it and just buy some used 200$ cards like a 1080ti Or well smarter purchases. A 5700xt would be about 8 or 9 availavle for the budget of 1 4080.

 

Ram and such? Ddr4 is CHEAP used 32gb? Haha 50$ often. New? Lol 65$ sometimes.

 

Storage? Fuck it 1tb ssds for everyone 60$ a pop. Just dont get the cheapest shittiest ones. But ones with a good tbw (terrabytes to be written) so they will for sure last a loooong time.

 

Cases? Plenty nice 40$ options or well on the used market FREEEEEEEEEEEEE

 

Fans? Arctix p12 5 pack for top spec fans at 30$ a pop and done woohooooo

 

Motherboards? Well yeah just get something decent here. This you shouldnt spend too much but not too little either.

 

Psu? Plenty good c tier cheap units out there from the psu tier list! msi a650b 650w c tier psu? 55$ done

 

Just if you look for liquidation options be VERY aware of the limits. Proprietary psu = gtx 1650 is sorta the limit of gpu power cost effectively and btw these are not that cheap to get for the 6 pin less cards.

 

Older i5 8th and 9th gens? SKIP SKIP SKIP They stutter like mad in new games such as halo, fortnite and helldivers. Minimum 8 threads needed and those only have 6. Go for more threads than that btw if you want these systems to last!

 

Oh and general tip for transporting pcs since gpus have gotten a lot bigger. 3d print some gpu supports and MAKE THAT GPU SIT AS STILL AS POSSIBLE. A gtx 745 is basically the size of a pcie slot so not much weight or wiggle. Anything modern is bigger and well can destroy the slot during transport.

 

Same with big n heavy coolers!

 

Ive seen plenty lan party mangled systems