Building 4 player Local LAN

[007ELmO]

Hi,

I plan on building out a 4 player LAN setup in my house.

I've wired the room to have 2 PCs and a monitor per breaker switch.

• I'm thinking I'd use 1070s for each box. What is a good bang for the buck combination of GPU and monitor for these gaming boxes?
• I really like ultrawide monitors, but 3440x1440 is a difficult resolution to push 60FPS for the 1070 and even 1080 in some circumstances.
• So what resolution is best to pair with a 1070? I haven't tried the high frequency (144hz) gaming monitors, yet, or if the 1070 can push it.
• ~650W PS per PC

An additional bonus of 1070 is VR support, so I'd like to ensure the machines can support VR in case I go that route.

Thanks!
ELmO

 

[VirtualLarry]

Let me give you my perspective; LAN gaming is mostly dead, now that most people have decent internet these days.

As well, most multi-player games aren't designed for LAN usage. Indeed, some of the NAT-traversal schemes they use are downright hostile to having multiple PCs on the same LAN, behind the same NAT router, hosting or playing the same game.

That said, in 2006 when I got my apt., I set out to create a LAN gaming area for my friends to come over, that I have largely carried over to this day. (I've moved once since.)

I have three computer desks, with multiple PCs connected on them.

How many times have a ACTUALLY "LAN gamed" with my buddies? Actually... never.

Sure, I've had some friends over, and while they were here, I let them "use the internet" on one of the stations, but no-one has actually asked me to fire up a game of UT on them.

So yeah, LAN gaming is dead.

If MJ is legal in your state, then you might be a lot more profitable making a "grow room" in that space instead.

 

[007ELmO]

Yep, that I get, it won't be used daily or perhaps not even monthly. I'm not doing it for profit of course there's no money to be made in this room lol.

It will definitely see use as guest PC usage and my own personal gaming/programming rig.

It's more of a place to organize some of the hardware I already have. I have a 1080 in one machine and a 980TI in another, so I already have some of the setup in case I don't care about each rig having the same components. I also have a Vive and a Rift from work, so the VR components are coming around.

I saw Linus' video of running 7 gamers off one PC. It made me think I probably don't have to stick to NVidia, he was using an R9 of some sort and a 3440x1440 monitor and getting great frames (60-120).

I'm more about oldschool, I barely play multiplayer online games on XBOX One/PS4. I save multiplayer for Nintendo. I still play my NES/SNES for local multiplayer games, so this is something I will still do even if I only use it a few times a year. Your NAT comment is interesting though, but I'm guessing I will figure a way around it.

Ideally we could take all 4 PCs online at the same time, if not, 2 v 2 is good enough for some games. Ideally 4v4. I have had 8+ player LAN parties with consoles before, though not a regular occurrence, it's a lot of fun.

 

[XavierMace]

How many times have a ACTUALLY "LAN gamed" with my buddies? Actually... never.

Sure, I've had some friends over, and while they were here, I let them "use the internet" on one of the stations, but no-one has actually asked me to fire up a game of UT on them.

So yeah, LAN gaming is dead.

Or you need new friends.

We still have several LAN Parties a year.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Or you need new friends.

We still have several LAN Parties a year.

Well, that's true. I've lost three great friends already. (As in, they passed away, kind of young. No, not any sort of patterns, they all had serious health issues.)

The remaining friends I have, one plays mostly console games, a few of them that are PC gamers all have families now, and one of them shows no interest in gaming whatsoever.

So, I'm finally coming to grips with the fact that I've had no need for a LAN party setup for the last 10 years, and maybe I should think about ditching the three computer desks, and getting a couch or something "normal".

(Had a comment from a young woman that I knew for a little while, that asked me on the phone when I wanted to show her my new apt., "Is it still a PC shrine." Yes. Yes it is. Sigh. Now with 4K!)

 

[XavierMace]

Yeah, I've never had a dedicated LAN party setup/area, we just setup tables when we play. I'd never dedicate that much space to something that got used that seldom. Plus, as you mentioned, that's generally not appealing to the ladies.

 

[007ELmO]

If you do it right, it will be appealing to the ladies. Lol, probably not. Then again I don't always have that in the forefront of my mind when doing home improvement projects...but I ought to. It can be obvious that you're single if an NES and SNES is connected to your TV in the living room.

It's not actually too much space considering I have nothing much else going on in the basement in this area. It is taking significant length (16ft) but really only 2ft of depth (desk) with monitor mounted on the wall. It will basically shrink the room a bit.

This is basically the "game room" of the house. I have a dining table I use for board games that I'll put down in this room (the room is about 15x16ft).

I started having ideas of doing 8 player LAN, but the other 4 PCs would be cheaper/slower (perhaps 1920x1080, 60FPS) - to have 8 player older games (Q2/Q3/UT/Counterstrike/etc). I'll probably plan the breakers out like that but not do the PC builds for now.

 

[007ELmO]

I am super slow to actually do home improvement projects.

Got the drywall up today.