Running bots using minimal resources (Part 6 of 6)

Hello, on these series I will help you on how to setup a bot or multiple bots.My main focus will be not on how to configure and install everything, but on how to save as much memory and resources helping bot users with slower computers to experience a performance boost.

part 1  Virtual Machines
part 2  Operative System
part 3  Operative system Tweaks
part 4  Required software
part 5  Keeping resources to a minimum
part 6  Hardware recommendations and Conclusion

Part 6:  Hardware recommendations and Conclusion


I will separate my recommendations depending if you use your computer exclusively for bots or also for personal use or gaming.


Processor
For many applications the number of cores isn't much relevant on a processor, but when it comes to running multiple Virtual Machines  they can be crucial on the performance. If you use the PC exclusively for bots, my recommendation will be investing in a Intel Xeon Processor, with the biggest number of cores and the high QPI of 6.4GT/s its a top choice if you can afford, if in the other hand you still run the PC for personal use/gaming etc, a i5-2500k or i7 should be enough to run 5-6 bots on the same PC without any problems.



Memory
This one is very straight forward. with about 2-4gb required for most users usage + 2~GB required per virtual machine, I would recommend to run 4+2xNumber of bots GBs if you use the PC for gaming and about 2+2x Number of bots if you run it exclusively for botting. Higher frequency and/or lower timings usually don't bring a much noticeable boost in performance.


Storage
Solid State drives have a huge advantage on loading times, both windows and MTGO and having those fewer seconds of loading , less noise, less heat and less fragmentation I would recommend nothing but SSD's to run your machines main operative system and Virtual Machines.
I Recommend a SSD with a size of about 30GB for main OS and typical programs you usually install with Windows +6GB per bot (See previous parts to see on how making a small sized VM drive and fit windows and MTGO library into it).
Remember that you can still have a big Hard Disk Drive to store all the other non botting stuff.

Graphics Card

This one is mostly deppending on you gaming needs. If you wish to run a PC exclusively for bots you should save some money on this component since it wont affect your boting performance as long as it has a minimal memory and processing power to load all the virtual machines needs(any new "cheap range" pci-e graphics card with 512mb is more than enough).
 Remember to consider if you require support for multiple monitors.


 MotherBoard
Stability, Stability and... yes.. Stability. A rock solid stable and quality motherboard should be a priority, make sure yours will be compatible with all hardware choices and that isn't causing trouble to anyone else (a quick search online should do the trick).





Power Supply
Just like the motherboard, stable voltages can be the key to success, also remember that this beast will be on 24/7 powering a always in 50%+ usage powerful CPU and likely to have no "rest", so make sure you buy a reliable and powerful one to your system.

 




Cooling
I dedicated some attention to this one myself, with a constant cpu usage and memory load I've decided to use water cooling on my system. It's quieter, cooler and in my opinion safer than air cooling, mostly to the fact that if something fails, it will still cool for a few minutes and the temperature alarms will give me time to act, while if a fan fails, its more likely to cause overheat damage. Be aware that most new CPU's and Motherboards will slowdown your processor or shutdown your system if a certain threshold is reached (usually of about 90-95 Celsius) but this doesn't make your PC immune to overheating damage.

Conclusion

I Hope this series helped you on setting up your first botting machine or improve your current one. From tweaking the OS to the use of software to improve bots independence, we did learn to make the most of our hardware or on which one to pick if you're building from scratch. If you have any more questions regarding this series or suggestions please drop a comment.