Question / Help Does graphics card make a difference?

[ToejaM]

I originally set my streaming rig up with an old discrete amd 5670. I swapped in a GTX 460 because I sometimes use the streaming rig for my son and it was the best thing I had lying around that was a little less of a potato.. certainly runs Minecraft fine lol.

I noticed a significant difference in performance and I'm pretty sure there there was less load on the CPU. However I'm not sure if it was placebo or not.

I have spoke to other streamers who have said that it does make a difference. I've noticed many streamers with streaming rigs tend to have still very capable gaming graphics cards in such as GTX 670 and above.. with some opting for things like 980s and even above that.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

 

[Fenrir]

Yes, GPU absolutely makes a difference. OBS uses your GPU to composite and render the output video.

 

[ToejaM]

Is there a current card series that is the sweet spot where anything better and it makes very little if any difference?

Is there a certain type of GPU with certain features that we should be looking for?

Does it take any load off the CPU at all or is it just picture quality?

Thanks for your reply!

 

[idxearo]

No features, but just have a decent GPU, 970 and up for good results.
As Fenrir said, it renders the frames so it helps picture quality, particularly framerate output and quality on OBS tools such browser sources.

Most people just buy what they can afford at the time. No one realistically buys a GTX 670 because they aren't made anymore. Your choices should be 1070 or 1080. Not familiar with AMD alternatives, you would wait for their upcoming vega.

 

[Suslik V]

Look for GPU with build-in hw encoder (modern cards).

 

[ToejaM]

I'd pickup a second hand 670 is what I meant really, I got one for £44 the other day to upgrade my fiancee's rig from a pretty rubbish card.

Guess I better upgrade then lol

 

[Fenrir]

I'd pickup a second hand 670 is what I meant really, I got one for £44 the other day to upgrade my fiancee's rig from a pretty rubbish card.

Guess I better upgrade then lol

The answer really depends on what you're going to be trying to stream from the PC. If you're playing a game that will max out the GPU, OBS will run into issues since it needs some GPU resources.

No features, but just have a decent GPU, 970 and up for good results.
As Fenrir said, it renders the frames so it helps picture quality, particularly framerate output and quality on OBS tools such browser sources.

Most people just buy what they can afford at the time. No one realistically buys a GTX 670 because they aren't made anymore. Your choices should be 1070 or 1080. Not familiar with AMD alternatives, you would wait for their upcoming vega.

Going all the way for a 1070 or 1080 if you're not playing the current generation of games is a bit overkill, and kind of a bad recommendation. A GTX 670 would be fine for someone just streaming minecraft at 720p30fps or similar low-GPU use games.