Question / Help GeForce 750 Ti High Encoding Issue

[Skinthat]

I was streaming from a system with a GeForce 560 Ti at 1600x900 30 FPS pretty much flawlessly except for when running several applications at once. I decided to "upgrade" to a system with a GeForce 750 Ti expecting better results, but to my dismay I can barely stream at 800 x 450 25 FPS without getting high encode warnings every 20-30s or worse.

Here is a ~5 minute log from the 750 Ti system.

 

[Skinthat]

Here is a ~5 minute log from the GeForce 560 Ti system

 

[D2ultima]

Sorry to break it to you, but the 750Ti has a TERRIBLE CPU and it is probably a lot less powerful than the old system's CPU. You would literally benefit more by taking the 750Ti out, putting it in the 560Ti system and continuing to use that. AMD's APUs are very weak chips and are meant for little more than productivity. They are not designed for gaming (no matter what AMD's marketing may say) and they are UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES designed to stream.

Also, your 750Ti system is using double the bitrate that the 560Ti system is, and that results in more CPU usage. With the strength of both those CPUs, that little bit extra goes a long way, if trying to use any higher resolutions.

 

[Skinthat]

First of all, really appreciate the response! If I understand correctly, you're saying the A6-5400K is the problem, correct? Do you think there's a CPU I could put in my current MOBO that would be better than the old CPU?

 

[D2ultima]

The highest level APU would be the correct answer... one of the A10 APUs, but I am unsure as to which one. But as I said before, they are not designed for it. I am unsure if your socket can handle the FX-series processors, but if they can, then an FX-8350 should work, but if your machine was sold with an APU I would think that the board is likely not good enough for such a CPU upgrade.

You should really sell that PC, or return it, and get a new one with an Intel CPU if you plan on streaming. At the minimum, an i5, but an i7 is the most valued CPU for streaming. It will likely cost a lot more, but your gaming performance will also increase in that way.

 

[Skinthat]

This is my mobo: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4716#ov

I built this machine myself, basically based on budget and general reviews. I didn't do too much research about how effective my build would be for streaming. I was just operating under the thinking 'If I pay the same amount as my last PC which I bought 3 years ago, it has to be better!'. It appears this was a bad assumption to make.

I could just buy another mobo/processor combo, which I might do since I want to take streaming seriously. Do you have any suggestions given my video card for a mobo/CPU combo?

PS: is your name a reference to D2 and UO? I can only assume so, and UO has to be the most legendary game ever (D2 close behind)

 

[D2ultima]

My name is neither a reference to Diablo 2 nor to Ultima Online XD. It is 100% impossible to guess what my name fully means, though you can probably guess the "ultima" part if you dig hard enough =P

Your motherboard does not support the FX series.

I would suggest, if you want to be serious with streaming, an intel Z97 chipset motherboard and the i7-4790K, which is currently the best mainstream CPU on the market.

If you can afford it, the enthusiast line contains the hexacore and octocore CPUs from Intel, but those may be a bit expensive, and Haswell is not the best at... keeping cool. Or not drinking power like it's free drinks night at a bar.

Where streaming is concerned, the most important thing is your CPU, so it's not such a matter of "what is good for my GPU". It's more of "what will grant me the most CPU power so that no matter what game I run and how power hungry it is, I can still stream well".

If you plan to upgrade your GPU however, I would suggest an R9 290X or a GTX 980 if you can find one cheap enough. I do not suggest the GTX 970 if you plan to run multiple monitors (as you should be doing) to stream. It will eventually cause you problems and you will impale yourself for buying it after ignoring my advice. If you cannot pay for a 980, then a R9 290 or R9 290X should do fine, assuming you want a new GPU.

If those are too expensive, R9 280X is a good buy, or a cheaper GTX 770 4GB might be in order.

As for your RAM, I would suggest CL11 DDR3 2133MHz if you have the ability to get it. You may need to use an XMP profile to get the RAM running at this speed, but apparently 2133MHz RAM, while not wholly useful in everyday usage, helps a little with x264 encoding (aka livestreaming). So that should be taken into consideration as well.

 

[Skinthat]

Haha, that's funny on the name. I am a hardcore gamer, so I see everything through the lens of games :D

Even though I game religiously, I'm new to streaming. I've always built my own budget PC's and its always worked for what I needed, so I haven't really ever gone deep into the intricacies of hardware optimization; I've always let price dictate my purchase basically. Now it seems I might have to get a little more educated and put a little more investment in my system for streaming. I GREATLY appreciate your obvious expertise on this.

I'm going to take your advice on the CPU because streaming is something I plan to take seriously, and I want to make sure its as high quality as possible.

Thanks again and much appreciation for the education!

 

[Skinthat]

With the i7-4790k, do you think I will:

• have enough power with a 600W PSU? (I assume yes since my video card is efficient?)
• need to buy additional cooling? (this is something I've never done so I'll have to look into this if necessary)

 

[D2ultima]

I would suggest definitely some additional cooling, especially if overclocking is a plan. You may not need a water cooling solution, but a good air cooler is preferred, such as the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo.

Some good thermal paste as well may help, and I recommend IC Diamond. 7 carat or 24 carat is the same; it simply dictates the size of the tube. When removing it, you should soak the existing paste in solvent (like Arcticlean, or whatever else you want to use) for a while and then wipe it. Do NOT try to scrub it off, you will scratch your gear.

A 600W PSU with single GPU should be perfectly fine; just make sure you get a high quality one. If you want a list of good PSUs to cross-reference with, here is a good one: https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx?pi5025=1

And yes, a 4790K should do pretty well, especially if you can get it to a baseline 4.4 or 4.5GHz. Some games are a bit CPU heavy lately like GTA V and Dying Light, so it will help to have a fast CPU to have spare performance to let OBS use, etc.