Question / Help Been smashing my head against a wall over how I can get this to work

[IKill4Nuttin]

Hi Gang,

New to the forums and have been wanting to stream but my current PC doesn't cut it for my liking. I'm a stickler for ideal configurations and high performance and have been using OBS which has been great so far! Thanks for the hard work.

That being said this is what I have and I'm trying to figure out how to make it work the best.

Gaming PC:
I5 3570k OC to 4.2GHZ
8GB RAM
Pleanty of SSD's
24inch 120hz BenQ gaming monitor (primary for gaming)
2x 27inch 2560x1440 mintors (just additional monitors)
gtx 580 sli (each has 2x dual dvi-d and mini hdmi connector)

I want to encode with a second PC because frankly I can't play BF4 or resource intensive games while encoding at a decent quality or higher frames without taking a huge hit to FPS. That being said I have a new laptop and wondering if it's capable.

Laptop for encoding:
4th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-4300U Processor (1.9 GHz, 3M Cache)
12.5" HD (1366x768) Anti-Glare WLED-backlit
4GB DDR3
128GB Mobility Solid State Drive
Intel® Integrated HD 4400 Graphics

Questions:
1. Can this laptop handle 1080p 30fps encoding or 720p 60fps for encoding?
2. Can I use the Avermedia Extremecap U3 to run the signal from my desktop (using an active splitter or something) to the laptop so I can get the signal there to encode and stream?
3. Would I be better off getting rid of my sli 580's for a 780ti which is a bit better in performance and has more outputs? Does this even matter?
4. Would I better off getting a 6core I7 and new MOBO and RAM?

Money obviously matters but i'm not broke, would just rather not dump $2k to make this work the way I want it to. Buying a second desktop isn't an option due to lack of space. :)

Can't figure this stuff out, done a ton of reading and can't find anyone with a setup that I'm thinking.

Any help or suggestions are much appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Jack0r]

1. I cannot answer this 100% sure, I would say that 720p 30fps will be doable on the default preset. 60fps or 1080p 30fps might be too much for it. (Just checked its passmark value 3751, to get a rough idea of the cpu) Does the laptop support quicksync?
2. Does the laptop have an intel or renesas usb 3.0 port? Avermedia actually recommends an i7 system if you use a laptop with the U3.
3. that doesnt matter too much in this case. the biggest impact of streaming is on the cpu, so you could maybe slightly increase your fps, but that would be about it, in my case for BF4 switching from an i5 2nd gen to an i7 4th gen made the difference, while I kept my 7850 from before. (The i5 is now in my dedicated streaming box, although I could stream with the i7 right away I mostly prefer to use my capturecard still)
4. Well you could upgrade your gaming box to a "normal" i7, for example 4770k, and use your current system as the streaming box. In the end you could calculate which is cheaper, getting a 6-core for an one pc setup, or getting a quad i7 with new mobo and a capture card for the streaming box (using the i5-3570 in that).

The streaming box could use the intel integrated graphics of your i5 so you dont need an extra graphics card for that.

 

[FerretBomb]

Generally an i5 isn't going to have the juice to encode 1080p@30 in realtime at Veryfast. 720p@60 might be possible on a standalone encoding system, but it'd be a fairly iffy thing. You may be able to get away with it on the Superfast preset, but you'll take a quality hit. A hexacore i7 would definitely be able to do this, but maybe not if you're running BF4 and encoding on the same system... BF4 is notorious for being 'badly optimized' to put it politely (or 'the code is complete shit' to put it less-so).

Before you buy a new CPU, do be aware that the new i9 series are expected later this year.

 

[Jack0r]

Not sure how to tell you this, but in a dedicated encoding box 1080p30 veryfast uses around 30-80% of the i5 (and I only have a 2320, not an overclocked 2500K or the mentioned 3570K), depending on how much on screen action is going. And on an i7 BF4 can simply be limited to 100fps for example similar to CounterStrike, that way you can free up a lot of cpu and even gpu and record on the same pc without a big problem. I wouldnt do 1080p30 probably, but 720p30 or maybe 60 should be doable.
Last but not least he could use quicksync and stream with that if he gets a Haswell generation i7.

 

[IKill4Nuttin]

Thanks for the responses guys!

Jack0r to answer a couple of your questions, I don't have the laptop yet as it's being shipped (it's a work laptop) :)
1. Since it's an I5 4300u CPU with a 4400 Intel GPU, it should support QuickSync. I've used QuickSync before but the quality is just brutal. The CPU resource savings is however incredible.
2. I'm not sure if it has intel or renesas usb3.0 but will definitely check when I get it.
4. Upgrading to a new system and keeping the old one.....I simply don't have room. I could use my girlfriends PC but unfortunately it's on the other side of the room (can't be moved due to space) so no idea how I'd connect the two to have hers do the encoding.

So basically with an I5 4300u CPU in a laptop dedicated for encoding, I won't be able to encode 1080p @ 30fps or 720p @60 fps. But there's a maybe...

I'd be ok with 1080p @30fps or 720p @60fps if it could do that. This would be the cheapest option because I would just need a capture card to get the signal to the laptop.

Even if I upgraded to an intel 6 core like the I7 4930K, would I be able to maintain high FPS while still encoding at 1080p @30fps or 720p @60fps? Jack0r you seem to think it's doable with that upgrade... Then it's a matter of selling my old hardware... lol.

Basically what I'm hearing is the I5 4300U is not good for just encoding and may not be able to do what I want it to. I7 would obviously be optimal but unfortunately it's not coming with it and not in the cards for an encoding machine.

An upgrade to an I7 6 core, I'm still not sure based on what you guys have said if this CPU could maintain high quality encoding without a huge dip in FPS performance.

 

[Jack0r]

The big problem is, we cannot guarantee you anything. I can just tell you what I used so far and how my experiences went. Currently I can play BF4 and have enough free cpu power to stream at around 720p30 on the same PC. (4core I7) A minimal hit in FPS is probably countable, but not noticeable, I can play just fine. A 6core should, thinking about my experience, give you the ability to stream up to 1080p30 while playing bf4.
But I cannot say how it works with a badly optimized game that gives you no option to fix its framerate for example. (I limit bf4 to 100fps, 60 seemed a bit too for the game to run smooth) Such game could just eat up all your CPU or GPU power without asking or really using it, and boom, you are in trouble.

I personally moved over to a 2 PC setup roughly 5 years ago for this reason. It allows me to keep a normal budget gaming pc and whenever I need to upgrade that I put the old parts in my streaming box. That way I currently have a "a bit cheaper than 6core" I7 ;D and an i5 in my streaming box which can do, as mentioned 1080p30fps on veryfast preset(compression).
If your girlfriend had no problem in sparing her PC with you, you would just need to put a HDMI cable for example between the 2 pc's and add the capture card to her PC. Assuming she might also have a i5 or similar, that would work :) (I use a cheap 25$ splitter to output hdmi to my TV(main monitor) and the capture card)

There are just so many ways to do it, think about it a bit more, see if you can test the work laptop without having to buy a capture card already (for a desktop PC I would get an integrated, not an external). And see how much money you want really want to spend.

 

[IKill4Nuttin]

Thanks Jack0r! Good info. I'll try and test things out to see what I can do. Might be awhile, but i'll try and let you know how it goes.

Thanks for your help!