AMD Ryzen 5-series compatibility

blackwateravs

New Member
I am looking to purchase a desktop to use for live-streaming and recording a church service. I am using Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini Pro as the USB camera input into OBS as a scene. Also using a secondary screen capture as a scene to display scriptures. My current computer has not been working at all and the CPU usage is maxed out. I was wondering if this desktop would suffice for what I am doing. Listed below are the specs. Any help is appreciated.


Key Specs
  • Storage Type
    SSD
  • Total Storage Capacity
    256 gigabytes
  • Solid State Drive Capacity
    Info
    256 gigabytes
  • System Memory (RAM)
    Info
    12 gigabytes
  • Graphics
    Info
    AMD Radeon RX Vega 11
  • Processor Speed (Base)
    Info
    3.7 gigahertz
  • Processor Model
    Info
    AMD 3rd Generation Ryzen 5
  • Processor Model Number
    3400G
  • Operating System
    Info
    Windows 10 Home

Thanks!!!
 

Lawrence_SoCal

Active Member
You don't mention what your current CPU is, so hard to tell if a low-end 4-core Ryzen with builtin GPU will suffice.
You also haven't mentioned how long you want this computer to work for you, and how tight your budget is. Nor what else yo umight want to do with this computer. One issue I've read plenty about (frequently in these forums) is how the AMD drivers don't really work well for video encoding offload [non-issue if CPU is powerful enough to handle encoding tasks]. So, if GPU encoding offload is something you you'll want/need, then consider a nVidia GPU

I do live streaming church service using single monitor [started on a laptop, and found I didn't need dual monitor, which is my normal work setup]. For service bulletin (music, liturgy, scripture, prayers, etc) I use PowerPoint in a Windowed (not full screen) slide show view [I want it in a Portrait style layout, to fill approx 1/3 of screen], then use Windows capture in BitBlt mode (so cursor doesn't appear). PowerPoint can largely be in background as all I need to do is hover mouse over a portion of PPTx visible window and use scroll wheel on mouse. I don't have to make PPT active (foreground) to change slide (ie advance to next slide).
A 5 yr old gaming laptop [Inspiron 15 7559 with i5-6300HQ [4c/4t], 8GB RAM, SSD, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M] with a non-optimized OBS setup couldn't handle [choked terribly..ugh] going back and forth from live video feed (direct USB connected Logitech C920) and pre-recorded videos [members see other/ community engagement]. I suspect with my OBS knowledge now, I might be (probably) able to get that laptop to work...but wasn't worth it to me... a borrowed 2 yr old 6core-12threaded workstation laptop handled stream without breaking a sweat, so we got a new PC also 6c/12thread PC with nVidia 1660 Super [I only wanted a 1650 Super].. but we stream 6+ videos during service, and some of those are 4K, and I expect this computer to be able to be used for years, and be able to edit videos, etc. so built not just for streaming... for which it is overkill today.
Because I don't trust streaming provider, nor our consumer grade Internet connection, I record our stream on OBS computer (extra work) at 1080p, then re-encode stream at 720p [Facebook limit]. We are also just starting to get more into the audio optimization (filter, etc) which take even more CPU.
As the Ryzen 5 you mention is hyper-threaded, and you have enough RAM and a SSD, I suspect you can make this work. However, hard to be certain. Also worth considering is the likelihood that for health & safety reason, certain high-risk populations are going to continue to want (need) live stream service vs in-person for 12+ months, and we will have essentially established a new norm. So the sophistication/maturity of your stream may increase and that mean higher computer demands. And which target platform... YouTube requires a lot more subscribers than Facebook, and if you use Facebook Live Producer, schedule the broadcast, non FB users can watch just fine [not as easy on smart TV as with YouTube, but also not that much more involved. literally just point to facebook.com/{groupname}/live - no login required]. So again, budget constraints vs expected system longevity to be considered.

sorry I couldn't be more specific... but .. it depends... hopefully the above helps
 
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