Question / Help 2PC Stream w/ NVIDIA surround

[Endy Ifeanyi]

Hello,

I'm trying to do a 2 PC streaming setup with the NDI plugin (used this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH_ECDLkKEA&t=332s), but have been running into problems with the stream causing my gaming PC to slow down badly and the stream just not working very well in general. I posted a question in the chat and someone recommended I purchase a splitter and get a PCIE capture card for my streaming PC. I would totally ditch the NDI plugin in favor of this if it would allow me to stream without having to dismantle my NVIDIA surround configuration.

Currently, I'm running my center monitor on Display Port and the two side monitors on HDMI (because MSI has 2 display ports and 2 HDMI ports per card). Do I need to run the center monitor on HDMI for the splitter to work properly?

Gaming PC
-Corsair Graphite Series 780T Case + Corsair HX1200i 1200W PSU
-MSI Z270 GAMING M7 Mobo
-2x MSI GTX 1080 TI GAMING X GPUs in SLI + MSI HB Bridge
-Intel i7 7700k CPU (Delid/Relid & OCed to 5.2GHz) + Corsair H115i AIO WC
-Corsair DOMINATOR Platinum 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 RAM @ 4000MHz + Corsair DOMINATOR Airflow Platinum Fan
-3x Samsung CFG70 27in Gaming Monitors (NVIDIA Surround @ 5920x1080)
-3x Samsung 960 PRO 512GB M.2 SSDs in bootable RAID0
-3x Samsung 850 PRO 512GB SATA SSDs in Windows RAID0
-ASUS USB-AC68 Dual Band AC1900 Wi-Fi Adapter

Streaming PC
-Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-02 Case + XFX PRO 850W Black Edition PSU
-Intel i7 4790K CPU (Delid/Relid @ Stock Clocks) + Corsair H100i v2 AIO WC
-Gigabyte GA-Z97X-GAMING 3 Mobo
-MSI GTX 1050 TI GAMING X GPU
-Kingston HyperX Savage 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 RAM @ 2400MHz
-Transcend 370 512GB SATA SSD
-WD Black HDD 2TB
-WD Green HDD 6TB
-TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 Dual Band Wireless N900 PCIE Adapter

Router: Netgear Nighthawk X6

Also, could someone please point me in the right direction of good settings to use for streaming on two PCs? I'm new to streaming and my searches have not been fruitful.

Thanks in advance!

ND

 

[Erick Smith]

I use a dedicated streaming PC and if you want to maintain HDCP for all devices, grab a splitter, despite people saying that it "breaks" HDCP. It's good to keep all of your devices encrypted and you don't have to disable HDCP for the PS4 for example. I use the Razer Ripsaw and OBS. I use one dedicated monitor for the Ripsaw/OBS output on the 2nd PC and my PC/PS3/PS4 on my FreeSync Monitor.

As far as settings with the NVIDIA GPU, I use a GTX 1060 and I had some strange stuttering when I changed the application settings for OBS, so I left them at the default.

As far as my HDMI settings though:

PC; Output from the PC > Input on the splitter, then > Output from the splitter to the Input on the Game Capture Card/Device. Finally Output from the Stream PC to the second monitor. Plug the USB 3 cable into the Stream PC, unless you have a PCIe card.

PS4/PS3; Output from the consoles > Input on the splitter, then > Output from the splitter to the Input on the Game Capture device. Send another Output from the Game Capture Card/Device to the Gaming Monitor or HDTV. Finally Output from the Stream PC to second the monitor. Plug the USB 3.0 Cable into the Stream PC unless you have a PCIe card.

Here is a video of my results with OBS and the Razer Ripsaw setup with HDCP across all devices. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITWXYWIlESk

 

[Erick Smith]

I say, get a larger splitter in your case.

 

[Endy Ifeanyi]

Hello Erick,

Thank you for your reply. It looks like I need to swap my side monitors to Display Port so I can hook the center monitor up to HDMI and use splitter. Would I run into problems gaming at 120Hz refresh rate and streaming at 60Hz on the center Monitor? In other words, would the splitter restrict my refresh rate to 60Hz?

I found this splitter on Amazon which claims to support up to 225MHz. Would this allow the NVIDIA surround setup to run at 120Hz and the stream to run at 60Hz? What PCIe capture card do you recommend for my streaming PC?

Thanks again.

Endy

 

[Erick Smith]

Haha. That's the splitter that I use.

You are correct. The splitter cannot push beyond the recommended hz, unless you try this type of splitter, which may suit your needs.:

HDE Ultra HD HDMI Splitter

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LDTLD5...t=&hvlocphy=9011165&hvtargid=pla-318862108239

It can support 4 outputs and up to 120hz for two dollars more. Hell, I might even replace my splitter with this one. :P

I recommend the Elgato HD Pro PCIe card....the best Elgato one there is. Other than this, the Razer Ripsaw...literally.

https://www.amazon.com/Elgato-Captu...id=1500322037&sr=1-2&keywords=elgato+hd60+pro

Once you set this all up.....the quality is unbelievable, depending on the bitrate you use. I am using an older PC too, so your specs will handle ANY type of hardware. The NVIDIA GPU (Pascal) really is that powerful.

 

[Erick Smith]

Sorry, I took a look at my setup and made changes to the post where I mentioned the setup.

 

[Endy Ifeanyi]

Thanks for all of your help. Do you know of any splitters that support 144Hz refresh rate? My monitors actually push 144Hz which I can get through using DisplayPort, but my HDMI 2.0 cables only support 120Hz. I believe HDMI 2.1 cables which should be widely available soon will support 1080p@144Hz.

Is your center monitor 120/144Hz? Will the splitter have any problem providing a 120/144Hz signal to the monitor and a 60Hz signal to the capture card? I will probably get the Elgato HD60 Pro. I tried the USB version of the HD60 Pro, but returned it after I couldn't get it to work and it seems like other people have had issues with it.

Your stream looks sick by the way. That was an epic fight with Cleric Beast...lol.

 

[Erick Smith]

I haven't found any that will support 144hz yet. I think there are some splitters that will support it. I only have two monitors though.

 

[Endy Ifeanyi]

If the Elgato HD60 only supports 60Hz, does that mean that the splitter will force my center monitor to run @60Hz? See disclaimer on one of the splitters from Amazon.

 

[Boildown]

On the NDI front, can you post the OBS log file from your gaming PC from when it was slowing down? Do you have to capture each monitor separately or can you run OBS on a twice-as-big resolution to get both monitors?

 

[Endy Ifeanyi]

Hello,

I've come to find out that the splitter route will not work if I want to maintain 120/144Hz refresh rate on my center monitor. I've attached my log files if someone could be so kind as to help me get my NDI up and running.

Thanks in advance,

Endy

 

[Endy Ifeanyi]

Just to reiterate my problems with the NDI...my gaming rig seems to be taking a performance hit. Although CPU usage while I'm playing seems normal, I am getting stuttering while playing games. Also, the preview screen shows my game screen, but my streaming PC and twitch show a blank screen. Please help!

 

[Boildown]

Looking at your gaming PC...:

The main thing I'd change is the preset to HP (High Performance). Seeing how its lagging your gaming PC, that should help. The Default NVEnc preset isn't any good anyways, I wish the OBS people would get rid of that option in the UI. 99% of the time people should choose either HQ (High Quality) or HP.

Also change the profile to high and 2-pass to false. And keep it on 1920x1080p60, there's no reason to downscale on your gaming PC.

The tutorial video says that turning on NDI eliminates any lag on your gaming PC, but I don't think that's true, OBS's settings your gaming PC still have to be set specifically to avoid lagging it.