Best Specs for New OBS Streaming PC

[s220284]

I want to purchase a dedicated windows machine to stream (and record) with OBS. I'm not a gamer, I use OBS for business video streams. We have online guests, do talk shows, interface with Zoom, Skype, and other video chat clients. Money is not a consideration, just proper specs. Thoughts? Thx.

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

I just purchased a machine for video live streaming. However, my needs and yours may vary significantly in terms of computer spec (resource needs).
What I just got for live-streaming was a 6-core/12-thread CPU, 16GB RAM, SSD for OS, 1TB HDD for archiving,and a GTX 1660 Super GPU, and a 5yr next business day onsite warranty and upgraded support [tier 1 vendor, business class PC $1,500]
for build quality, reliability and support, I avoid consumer grade computers [even for my kids]

--longer answer--
For a current GPU encoding offload option, nVidia is usually strongly recommended over AMD graphics cards (GPU). Your needs may be met with built-in GPU, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to explain where the line is when one need a dedicated GPU. Maybe someone else will comment
The lowest nVidia GPU with the TU116 encoder is the GTX 1650 Super, though there is a rumor of a GTX 1650 (non-Super model) with TU116 vs original TU117 coming? The TU116 or better GPU is recommended for the Turing (vs older Pascal) NVENC encoder. The downside of the 1650Super is that it requires 100W power, which is more than the 75W a card can get from PCIe bus, meaning a separate power connection (and hard to find large tier OEM system Small Form Factor PC case with large enough power supply)
Personally, I expect a PC to last more than 4 years, so I wanted something with plenty of spare capability now. Also, we occasionally get 4K video that needs slight editing before streaming. So my requirements were a 6-core, SMT/hyper-threading CPU. My frustration with Intel failure to deliver for last 4+ years means that I'm strongly inclined to AMD Ryzen 3700X or higher CPU {though for other reasons, I ended up ordering an Intel 10700K based system ..because I don't build my own PC, and what I wanted wasn't available).
Realize that we are supposedly near Intel and AMD releasing next generation CPUs (formal announcements any day??). Intel's 11th gen PCU should finally have some of the hardware mitigations built-in for the gross security weaknesses in their CPUs for last decade [but there are software mitigations ...so you'll see deals on 10th gen systems once 11th gen released]. For upgradeablity, I much prefer a PC vs a laptop

So you could probably easily get away with a 4c/8t CPU, 8GB of RAM, SSD, and a decent GPU. But you might have to optimize OBS (and Win10 and some other app settings. Personally, I wouldn't recommend less than 16GB of RAM, and for longer life (if important to you) a 6c/12t CPU [enough spare capacity to minimize need for optimizations]. You'll end up optimizing system over time, I just like to not having to be real knowledgeable up-front on something I'm just starting to use, so spending a little extra now is a worthwhile trade-off for me. Also, you didn't mention camera setup, but beware USB processing limitations with multi-camera setups
I could go on, hopefully the above helps. if you have a more specific question, please let us know

 

[s220284]

I just purchased a machine for video live streaming. However, my needs and yours may vary significantly in terms of computer spec (resource needs).
What I just got for live-streaming was a 6-core/12-thread CPU, 16GB RAM, SSD for OS, 1TB HDD for archiving,and a GTX 1660 Super GPU, and a 5yr next business day onsite warranty and upgraded support [tier 1 vendor, business class PC $1,500]
for build quality, reliability and support, I avoid consumer grade computers [even for my kids]

--longer answer--
For a current GPU encoding offload option, nVidia is usually strongly recommended over AMD graphics cards (GPU). Your needs may be met with built-in GPU, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to explain where the line is when one need a dedicated GPU. Maybe someone else will comment
The lowest nVidia GPU with the TU116 encoder is the GTX 1650 Super, though there is a rumor of a GTX 1650 (non-Super model) with TU116 vs original TU117 coming? The TU116 or better GPU is recommended for the Turing (vs older Pascal) NVENC encoder. The downside of the 1650Super is that it requires 100W power, which is more than the 75W a card can get from PCIe bus, meaning a separate power connection (and hard to find large tier OEM system Small Form Factor PC case with large enough power supply)
Personally, I expect a PC to last more than 4 years, so I wanted something with plenty of spare capability now. Also, we occasionally get 4K video that needs slight editing before streaming. So my requirements were a 6-core, SMT/hyper-threading CPU. My frustration with Intel failure to deliver for last 4+ years means that I'm strongly inclined to AMD Ryzen 3700X or higher CPU {though for other reasons, I ended up ordering an Intel 10700K based system ..because I don't build my own PC, and what I wanted wasn't available).
Realize that we are supposedly near Intel and AMD releasing next generation CPUs (formal announcements any day??). Intel's 11th gen PCU should finally have some of the hardware mitigations built-in for the gross security weaknesses in their CPUs for last decade [but there are software mitigations ...so you'll see deals on 10th gen systems once 11th gen released]. For upgradeablity, I much prefer a PC vs a laptop

So you could probably easily get away with a 4c/8t CPU, 8GB of RAM, SSD, and a decent GPU. But you might have to optimize OBS (and Win10 and some other app settings. Personally, I wouldn't recommend less than 16GB of RAM, and for longer life (if important to you) a 6c/12t CPU [enough spare capacity to minimize need for optimizations]. You'll end up optimizing system over time, I just like to not having to be real knowledgeable up-front on something I'm just starting to use, so spending a little extra now is a worthwhile trade-off for me. Also, you didn't mention camera setup, but beware USB processing limitations with multi-camera setups
I could go on, hopefully the above helps. if you have a more specific question, please let us know

Thank you. This is very helpful.

 

[LauraMelanie]

I just got a new system for similar purposes. My specs were a bit different and I worked with my go-to IT guy.

I would recommend the BUSINESS side of Dell (never the consumer side). You get US support and live people to talk with.

These are the specs of mine (and I would have gone higher but I was working within a budget.). This should work fine for you too, but you could even tweak it a bit. This ran me about $2500 with tax. I as told by both my IT wizards that you should have at least 6-8 Gb of dedicated RAM for you graphics. I also highly recommend their PRO support, as it again connects you with US based tech folk and quick response time. Good luck!
Laura

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

Laura, I've been an Enterprise Architect for the last 9 years, with a focus on Infrastructure and Security (so I am my IT guy ;^)
I've said the same (in this forum) about avoiding consumer systems (which I've been doing for decades). And in my use case, I needed to make sure lots of good support was available in case I'm not around [house of worship]

So for anyone reading this thread wanting to consider alternatives, I ended up with a fairly similar system, at $1,500 in July for:
- Optiplex 7080 tower with 17-10700K (8c/12t) [my mistake in mis-remembering and thinking i got a 6c/12t CPU], 16GB RAM & GTX 1660 Super 6GB (I only wanted a 1650Super but that wasn't a standard offering]. I took a cheap drive option of a 2.5inch 1TB 7200rpm SATA Hard Disk Drive, and added my own SSD as boot drive for a fraction of the price [had a new unopened one in my drawer]. I'll use the HDD for local backups of stream recordings, and similar content
8x DVD+/-RW 9.5mm Optical Disk Drive [for possible archiving]
ProSupport Plus: Next Business Day Onsite , Accidental Damage, 7x24 Technical Support - 5 Years
Why not more RAM? I didn't need it at the moment, and similar as above - Dell's profit margin n certain items was too much for me to stomach. I can add my own later when needed. The RTX GPUs are nice, but I had no real use in my scenario for such [lowest end video editing only, nothing fancy]. and I figure I can upgrade to the just released RTX 3060 next year if the AI noise reduction works as well as marketed.
If doing non-simple video editing, then be sure to check your specific video editor software to see which GPU makes most sense for a given use case [lots of change in this area this year]
- Why 5yr ProSupport? because this system should last that long (plugged into auto voltage regulating UPS) and with volunteers, needed a low maintenance, high reliability, well supported (US based support staff) system, with next business day onsite support, which was worth $300-400 extra to us/me
- Why Dell? good experience with business class systems over last 15+ years, and better price than HP on comparable system when I went to order.

Today, Live streaming using a single USB webcam (switching to Panasonic NDI PTZ camera.. should arrive this week) and switching back/forth from pre-recorded content (including 4K) and live video, recording at 1080p, streaming at 720p, the CPU rarely breaks 10%, and around the same for GPU. I expect switching to NDI to bump my CPU usage. regardless, my new system is complete overkill today - just as I wanted it to be, so I can focus on streaming/presentation and not worrying about / have to focus on trying to figure out OBS optimization techniques/settings.

Anyways, long post in case it helps anyone looking for such info, and approx US pricing