Question / Help Help with the right purchase

Kielg413

New Member
Ive searched the web and have asked thousands of times, ok maybe not thousands but this seems like the place to finally get an answer.

I am looking to simply hook up elgato to my playstation 4 or Xbox1 and then install OBS and stream through my twitch account an finally make a channel that looks like a channel worth following. Right now I only use the ps4s on board streaming setup and have my very old laptop on a table to play around with moobot. I'm looking for a fast enough laptop and or tower to help this upgrade finally happen, I've read so many reports that you MUST run i7 and at least 8GB of ram to stream without issues, then ive read that many i5s with 8gb run just fine. Well truthfully the price difference between them can be monumental for what I am only trying to do.

How many of you stream like this? Not using the actually laptop or tower to play games but just as the passthrough to make a presentable stream for your viewers that works WELL.

What do I actually need? What will NOT run like shit? I have a great connection to the net and am looking for some serious help here. I don't want to spend more money on something because someone I ask thinks I'm playing games ON the system and streaming.

I hope I can finally purchase a new computer after all these years.
 

Harold

Active Member
Because you won't be gaming on the system an i5 Devil's Canyon (4690 or 4690k) would be plenty.
Laptop i5 processors are about equal to desktop i3, so you would need an i7 if you were going laptop. And it would NEED to be a high end laptop as well.
 

c3r1c3

Member
I would also recommend you get a quad core that's at least running at 2.66GHz. Some laptop i7 CPUs are actually only 2-cores, so you'll want to look carefully at the specs.
 

Kielg413

New Member
So because I will be doing NO GAMING on it an i5 will be ok and you recommend a desktop to a laptop for my intentions? I see that most desktops come with way more than 8gb. Should I be worried about GPU? or ?
 

Harold

Active Member
Prefer desktop in all situations where you're worried about processor performance. That includes streaming.
A 4690k based rig will be able to do the job IF you get a GOOD capture card.
 

Kielg413

New Member
I am having trouble finding that build anywhere. the 4690k, I see the 4460, 4690, 4790s and the 4790 all above 3GHz however
 

c3r1c3

Member
I find building systems to be very easy... but then again I've been doing it for 20 years.

As to the particular CPU, the 4460, 4690, and 4790 are good units.

Capture card is where you should be looking. I like Avermedia and Blackmagic, and given your experience level, avermedia might be a good fit. Magewell also exists, and I've heard good things about them, but their cards tend to run more then Avermedia.
 

Kielg413

New Member
Should I be looking at a capture card if I am using the Elgato HD60? My brain feels like pudding over here. I've "built" setups on like 4 different sites and then also compared those to pre-built towers and laptops off of places and nothing is quite selling me on something that's going to just work out of the gate. It worries me.
 

Kielg413

New Member
Nicely done. Yea. Unfortunately my budget is limited. I would LOVE to add a 249 dollar capture card but I am trying to put every penny I can towards a workable 6th gen i5 with 8 or more GB of ram. I haven't even been looking at graphics cards. I'm literally not even going to use what I build or can buy for anything but streaming. More like a hub.
 

c3r1c3

Member
Well the funny thing is that by using an Elgato you actually increase your CPU usage/load (requiring a better CPU - i.e. spend more money), and you make it harder on yourself to keep stuff in sync... and also make it a harder to use other USB devices (like a webcam).

As to spending $250: Where are you getting that price? I really want to know so I can avoid that place like the plague and not get ripped off. ;-)

Avermedia Gamer HD Lite... about $100-$120.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Liv...chrome&ie=UTF-8#q=Live+Gamer+HD+Lite&tbm=shop
 
Last edited:

sam686

Member
Graphics cards for a stream-only computer? Any cheap directX 11 or newer should do, many DirectX 10 graphics card may be compatible. Integrated graphics like my intel HD graphics 2000, or newer should work for stream-only computer.

Capture Cards? After a few more years or when HDMI 2.0 video game consoles come, more 4K capture card models will soon come with HDMI 2.0. Might be worth a few more years of waiting time, while still using existing capture card.
 

Kielg413

New Member
Until the ps4 releases their version of the 4k system I wont worry about that but back to topic. For the capture card its not that I don't want one, its that my original thread is about finding a budget build with decent enough speed and processing to even handle a stream.

I'm looking for an i5 6th gen quad core with a minimum of 8gb of ram, or even a used i7 that is just as expensive. my budget is in a very low range but possible with the i5 instead of the 7.
 

c3r1c3

Member
Well without you actually SAYING what your budget is, it's hard to recommend/list stuff. You could go to a site like PC Parts Picker and put a system together and post a link to it.
 

sam686

Member
My i7-2600 CPU is plenty fast, but appears that intel don't make old CPU anymore, so old stuff is limited to Ebay and some other stores that sell used stuff, sometimes they sell a few cheap stuff, sometimes not.

AMD FX is widely available everywhere like Newegg. If expensive intel CPU is a problem, maybe try to get AMD FX 8xxx or 9xxx (x = any number) as those CPU have 8 threads, 4 modules (misleading "8 cores")

Most AM3+ socket motherboards don't have integrated graphics so get a cheap directX 11 or later (some DirectX 10 may be compatible)

As I look at some searching in pc parts picker, many old i7 don't have a price as probably isn't sold as new, anymore.
https://pcpartpicker.com/builds/#X=...4,201,293,282,145,287,234,165,180,267,288,327
(My link might break after a few months or years...)
 
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