Question / Help Few questions on building a dedicated streaming PC on a budget

[current1y]

I know some pc basics but very little about streaming and what is required for it in terms of hardware. I know just know my current rig suffers FPS wise streaming at 720p so its time to get it on a dedicated pc.

Generally speaking do I need a fast processor for a dedicated streaming pc? I will be gaming on another one so all the streaming pc needs to run is obs I guess right? Would like an i5-4460 do it? Can I go cheaper? Is there cheaper alternatives from AMD?

I know there are capture cards out there but I can't seem to find any info on them. What are popular capture card manufacturers? I have a GTX660Ti lying around but i'm not sure I really need that in a tiny dedicated streaming pc. I would rather just use a capture card if possible to keep costs and case sizes down.Does anyone have any suggestions on a basic capture card?

 

[Jack0r]

The dedicated PC must be powerful enough to deliver the incoming video signal from the CaptureCard to OBS and then encode it with whatever you add through OBS for your final stream output.
I would generally recommend to get the best CPU you can afford at the moment. It gives you more room to work with and improve your stream (add stuff to it, etc.). I myself currently use an i5 2550K, no overclock, and can at the same time use its integrated Graphics Chip (so no external GPU is needed) and could also use its QuickSync capabilities to do a local recording while also streaming (with different qualities and settings).
So, if you want to go with AMD, make sure it has at least 4 real CPU-cores, probably best to not get one of those APU thingies. And check if you need a GPU in that case. It might be that you end up at a similar price to an i5 and then go for the i5.

The capture card itself can only "capture" video and audio signals and give them to OBS. It does not produce a video for your PC so you need some kind of Graphics Card to control the Streaming PC.
I would recommend to get an internal capture device, they have less problems with audio and video synchronisation. For example an Avermedia Game Broadcaster HD or Live Gamer HD. There are also USB devices available but I can personally not recommend them because of the aforementioned sync problems.
I also wrote a small guide on how to find a good capture card:
Which Capture Card should I get for streaming or recording? And do I need one?

If you have further questions, just ask :)