Question / Help Advice needed on stream PC specifications.

[HeXBLiTz]

Ok so I used to stream Console to PC via a capture card no problems.

Recently tho I've switched over to playing on PC.
I have a
4970k at stock 4.4ghz boost
32GB ram
GTX TitanX in 2 way SLI
Couple SSD ect ect

I'm finding on games like overwatch, battlefield 4, the division and paragon (cpu intensive games)

I'm either forced to lower the game settings or the stream output settings (sometimes both) just so the stream isn't choppy at 720p 30 and not having a large in game fps hit either.

Ideally I'd like to be able to smoothly hit for 720p 60fps aroubd 2800 bitrate on the "fast" or "faster" preset.

So to my question,
Is it worth upgrading the CPU to a 8 core OR putting together another seperate i5 system dedicated to streaming via my existing capture device I once used for consoles?

I have to add I play in 1440p natively and I'm unsure if I can duplicate my display to the capture device in 1080p at the same time

Thanks

 

[FerretBomb]

The Division is well known for being a 'heavy' game, requiring scaling back on settings just due to visual complexity. Likewise, BF4 is known for eating CPU due to poor coding. Overwatch and Paragon are extremely high motion games, again not lending themselves well to real-time video encoding.

If you're going to put together an i5 system, switch your GPUs over and use THAT for gaming. You want your strongest CPU in the encoding machine. NOT the gaming machine.

More of a potential problem, OBS Classic does not get along well with SLI setups, due to how they handle the memory pool. OBS uses VRAM for scaling/compositing/etc, so using an SLI setup can lead to significantly worse performance. Disable SLI and see if the streaming performance improves. You can also switch over to OBS Studio, which has multi-adapter compatibility measures coded in, that can reduce or eliminate the problems that SLI causes.

Cloning at a different resolution/refresh rate is entirely up to your GPU. If you're playing at 1440p, downscaling to 720p would likely be a better idea as it's a straight power of two downscale, and should come through sharper and cleaner than stopping off at 1080p, which will end up doing a double off-power downscale, likely leading to significant image quality degradation.

If you're looking to build a dedicated encoding machine, here's a budget-friendly one that works better than a 5960x:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Twitch/comments/47bzdc/budget_friendly_secondary_streaming_pc_guide/
I'd go for that one, if I was laying out money this second.


All of that said, if you're planning to stream to Twitch and are a non-partnered caster, exceeding 2000kbps is NOT recommended. 720@30 will fit into that bitrate budget. 60fps will not. But with a strong encoding machine you can use a lower preset, and get better quality video. Even going to 2500kbps will cause a significant number of viewers to start buffering badly, and leave.

 

[HeXBLiTz]

Hi thanks for your input.

I'm just looking for the most cost effective to performance ratio of stream quality and smoothness as well as least compromise of FPS in game.

I'll checkout the link you sent me I'm only restricted by my capture device being a aver media ucap it requires native Intel USB 3 far as I'm aware 4th Gen refresh itel chipsets and above only support it

 

[FerretBomb]

Again, if you're going to grab an i5, make it into your gaming machine and use the 4970k as your encoding machine.

If you're considering building a new machine, look at a Micomsoft/Yuan SC512, or a Magewell internal card. The U3 has significant issues even when it's working properly, most of the time. They generally re-sell well to newbie streamers if an upgrade is possible.

If you still want to use the Avermedia, I believe you can get an Intel chipset USB 3.0 PCIe expansion card if the motherboard you picked for that encoding build does not have it internally.

 

[HeXBLiTz]

i'm looking into that duel xeon option you suggested. if need be i can sell the Aver and grab a internal card or an Elgato HD that's not a problem