Question / Help Optimal settings for my stream?

[ShadowU]

Hi all, I recently got my new internet connection so I was thinking of getting back into streaming. So for that reason I'd like to know what the optimal settings for my stream are.

I've read most of the resources on the stickies here, but I'm still not quite satisfied so any tips on how to improve the quality of my stream with various optimizations would be really nice. In particular, I am looking for opinions on such matters as:

720p30 vs 1080p30
32 bit OBS client vs 64 bit
Higher bitrate with slight frame drops vs steady bitrate with slight blockiness

My system is:
i7 920 overclocked to 3.4 GHz
HD 7970
6GB RAM
4.5 mbps upload

Thanks in advance for your help. I've also attached a log with my settings.

 

[alpinlol]

1st gen i7's tend to perform poorly at this resolution and by the way you have a 16:10 screen so its 1200p keep that in mind thats even more pixels.

so i'd recommend downscaling by 1.5 which should be 1280x768 on 16:10 and using a bitrate of around 2000-2500 which should enough and not limit your viewers

 

[ShadowU]

What do you mean, "perform poorly"? Because I tried streaming at 1200p and it was okay more or less - I had some frame drops when I set the bitrate too high, but overall it didn't seem to have any problems.

I'll try downscaling to 1280x768 at some point then. Thanks a lot! Any other advice is welcome. :)