Laptop Just for Streaming (no gaming)

[VSW]

Hi All,

Just wondering what to look for in a windows laptop (no gaming involved) for streaming to youtube. Currently using MacPro with two iPhones, Camera for OBS app, occasional slide show or video and audio from a mixer (output from mixer can be either USB A or C port). We are considering a 2019 or 2020 Dell XPS 13 or XPS 15 as possibilities, but having trouble deciding. Currently we stream 720p at 30fps, but would like to go to 1080p at 30fps. While we currently use iPhones, we are may be going to PTZ cameras over ethernet (PoE). Some of my questions are:

- do the PTZ camera over ethernet add extra workload as compared to the iPhones that requires more advanced windows hardware
- is it better to have a laptop with a separate graphics card or is Intel integrated graphics (ie UHD or Iris Plus graphics) sufficient
- looking at 16GB RAM, but is 8GB RAM sufficient
- debating i5 (4 core) vs i7 (6 core) (either 9th or 10 generations) - ie is i5-1035G1 with Intel UHD graphics (newer XPS 13) sufficient or do we need to step up a notch for a processor and graphics like the XPS 15 with i7-9750H and Nvidia GTX 1650

Open to other suggestions or comments.

Thanks.

 

[qhobbes]

You don't need a lot to stream 1080p at 30fps (see sig, it's an 8 year old processor) for just video. The integrated graphics should be good enough. Windows 10 uses ~2GB of RAM. OBS with my 720p webcam on uses 62 MB so you should be fine with 8 (if the RAM is not easy to get to and/or you got the $ go with 16).

Does your MacPro have QuickSync or NVENC available as an encoder in OBS?

If you're Bootcamping with OBS, post a log here.

 

[Dee Adesanwo]

I have a Dell XPS 15 9570 i7-8750H with GTX 1050 Ti and I can stream and record without any issues.
I was streaming 720p due to bandwidth limitations, but I'm sure my laptop can handle 1080p just fine.

It is better to get one that has the Nvidia integrated graphics that supports NVENC for the encoding your stream, it takes alot off the CPU - without the encoding my CPU usage would go from 20 to 40% sometimes, with NVENC it was < 5% consistently.

 

[VSW]

Thanks for that feedback.

Some of the posts I have reviewed indicate that the CPU mainly does the encoding for x.264 in OBS, but I am basically a novice so I am not sure. Some of the posts seem to indicate that the GPU is used more for the video for gaming while the CPU is used more for the encoding and streaming, but perhaps that can be confirmed. The XPS that I am looking has the Nvidia GTX 1650 with NVENC, and I trying to understand if that is more efficient/faster than encoding with the CPU. Any input on that would be helpful.

I have upload speeds of between 15 and 20 MBps, so I believe we are okay for 1080p at 30fps. We currently use a video bitrate of 5000 to 6000 fps and it seems to be fine for 720p at 30fps, but want to experiment to find the ideal setting. Any input on that is also welcome.

Thanks again.

 

[Dee Adesanwo]

No problem,

If you select x264 as the encoder, then the CPU will handle the encoding because that is a software based encoder. NVENC is hardware made specifically for encoding on some Nvidia GPUs, so it is designed for this purpose.

Now when it comes to quality, the x264 has always done better with quality than compared to NVENC.
The quality of older NVENC cared were no close to x264 especially for fast moving scenes, but if you needed that CPU to do other things while streaming, NVENC helps take the load off the CPU.

Based on this article I found, it looks like things have improved with the newer Turing (which the 1650 has) based cards at higher bitrates i.e. 6Mbs

NVENC vs. X264 — Does CPU or RTX GPU encoding work best for Twitch?

Livestreaming to Twitch, Mixer, or YouTube Live requires you to use an efficient codec, but which is better in October 2018?

venturebeat.com

So for only streaming I would say get a laptop with the best CPU and just use x264 and you should be fine.

If you plan to do other things on the laptop while streaming e.g. running a powerpoint, recording audio separately, or looping in a zoom meeting into your stream; my advice would be to get a laptop that has the GTX 1650 in it so you can free up the CPU to do the other things.

To save even more money you could build a mini-itx based machine to handle the stream with the option of adding a graphics card later if you need it...but you lose out on portability.

 

[VSW]

Thank you for the very helpful posts. The link in Dee's post was, for me, an excellent explanation and comparison between NVENC and CPU encoding.

Given that we likely won't be doing anything else substantive at the same time as streaming and we don't have any fast moving scenes, the CPU would work best for us, but have the Nvidia GPU on the Dell XPS we are considering as an extra in case.

Thanks again.

 

[VSW]

One more option I am looking at is a 2020 Dell G5 with a i7-10750H CPU and Nvidia RTX2060 GPU for about $200 more. I see that the Nvidia 1650 in the XPS 15 uses an earlier and less efficient NVENC (I discovered that the 1650 GPS uses Volta rather than the more efficient Turing). The G5 is heavier (extra 1 lb) with a less bright screen at 300 vs 500 nits for the XPS 15 HD screen. The newer G5 has some extra bonuses such as two USB-C (TB3) ports and a separate ethernet port. Too many options to look at and compare and perhaps I am over researching. We will mainly be using the laptop for streaming (no gaming) and want to stream at 1080p with 30 fps with two cameras (now use 2 iPhones but probably moving to two PTZ cameras).

Any thoughts?

Thanks again!

 

[Dee Adesanwo]

One more option I am looking at is a 2020 Dell G5 with a i7-10750H CPU and Nvidia RTX2060 GPU for about $200 more. I see that the Nvidia 1650 in the XPS 15 uses an earlier and less efficient NVENC (I discovered that the 1650 GPS uses Volta rather than the more efficient Turing). The G5 is heavier (extra 1 lb) with a less bright screen at 300 vs 500 nits for the XPS 15 HD screen. The newer G5 has some extra bonuses such as two USB-C (TB3) ports and a separate ethernet port. Too many options to look at and compare and perhaps I am over researching. We will mainly be using the laptop for streaming (no gaming) and want to stream at 1080p with 30 fps with two cameras (now use 2 iPhones but probably moving to two PTZ cameras).

Any thoughts?

Thanks again!

These kind of decisions are never easy :D

My thoughts are this, get the G5 with the rtx2060 if:

1. You want to do other things on the laptop with the CPU and offload the encoding to the GPU (if not just get one with a good CPU)
2. Will be broadcasting remotely a lot and don't want to carry a separate monitor and keyboard
3. You don't want to build or buy a machine that you can upgrade parts when they become too old
4. Less dongles because it has a dedicated ethernet port
5. Your budget is okay with the extra

Or...buy a desktop machine/ build a mini-itx machine for the opposite reasons.

Another thing to think about is if you do get the PTZ cameras how will they be controlled via a desktop app or completely separate system. If they have a desktop app, then having an additional monitor for the extra real estate makes sense, but then you'd be better off going the desktop route.

Lots of things to factor...let your long term requirements be your decider.

Good luck.