PC Specifications

Studio100

Studio100

Member
I'm looking to buy a PC tower dedicated to OBS streaming (UK based) and as a bit of technophobe could really do with some help with the specs. I am happy to pay for any advice. is anybody available to help?
 
L

Lawrence_SoCal

Active Member
The problem is that your question isn't really answerable.
The real answer is ... it depends. And it depends on a lot of things, that as a new user, you probably can't answer up front.
Things like resolution, framerate, color space, sophistication of compositing (ie filters, effects, chromakeying, etc)
Depending on such things, a couple of year old system may be plenty, to needing a monster $5K (or more) powerhouse

A challenge for a 'consultant' is that many folks ask for simple stuff, get into streaming, then quickly want to do more (to attract and retain audience) and now computational demands go up and a previously recommended value option system no longer suffices

So, it depends
at a high-level, because real-time video encoding is computationally intensive, the go to recommendations have been
- to get a GPU capable of video encode offload (ie take workload off CPU and move to GPU). The general rule-of-thumb has been a Turing or newer NVENC (nVidia) GPU {so was GTX 1650 Super or newer/better... but there are some oddballs, so you'll have to check). With RTX 4xxx due soon, and GPU prices dropping like a rock, I'd stick with Ampere (RTX 2xxx or newer) GPUs. Low-end RTX 2060/3060 is fine for encoding, higher GPUs only if other graphics demands dictate so (back to 'it depends').
- Intel 12th Gen CPUs work better with OS scheduler in Windows 11, but Win11 is NOT fully baked. so.. a challenge. Hopefully OBS 28 will help, but some of issue is core OS under-developed (and M$ history of screwing up every other OS release for decades).
- don't skimp on RAM (I wouldn't get a new system today with less than 16GB of RAM, presuming a multi-year usable life, and my target is at least 5 years)
- Personally, I prefer business class PC for better build quality over typical pre-built consumer systems. Fortunately, there are now (finally) some AMD Tier 1 business class PCs. but whether that is advisable for you... depends. At the moment, I'm looking to replace my primary system with a laptop, as portability is more important than outright performance. And to get USB4/TB4, really means an Intel 12th gen CPU... unfortunately. For a Desktop, I'd be looking at best value/deal on latest gen AMD/Intel CPU (with preference for AMD), slightly below the top-end consumer CPU stems (I don't need workstation class CPU, but .. it depends). With AMD CPU, no concerns over Win10. And even Intel 12th Gen is only slightly slower with Win10, so I'd still be inclined in that direction. Though in reality, I'd probably start with WIn11 and see if it works for me, and if yes, great, otherwise I'd downgrade and revisit OS version in a year or two.

Then, beware almost all CDNs (content delivery networks) like YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, etc re-encode videos for distribution bandwidth efficiency. So, if you want to retain higher quality videos, you'll need disk space for archiving. In my tower, I have SSD for OS/OBS drive, then HDD for video archiving.
Then there is video encoding standards. Today, most CDNs require H.264 video due to licensing mess that is the newer H.265. AV1 is likely to be the future, and an encoder now available with latest Intel ARC GPU, and that is likely the future (more bandwidth efficient)... but it could easily be a year or more before some CDNs accept AV1 input. So if not gaming, the Intel Arc A380 might be interesting, but would require technical patience. If not in a rush, the next gen nVidia's are presumed to also support AV1 encoding (TBD). so .. depends on your timing . Swapping out for a newer GPU in a couple of years isn't that involved

Good Luck
 
Studio100

Studio100

Member
Lawrence_SoCal said:
The problem is that your question isn't really answerable.
The real answer is ... it depends. And it depends on a lot of things, that as a new user, you probably can't answer up front.
Things like resolution, framerate, color space, sophistication of compositing (ie filters, effects, chromakeying, etc)
Depending on such things, a couple of year old system may be plenty, to needing a monster $5K (or more) powerhouse

A challenge for a 'consultant' is that many folks ask for simple stuff, get into streaming, then quickly want to do more (to attract and retain audience) and now computational demands go up and a previously recommended value option system no longer suffices

So, it depends
at a high-level, because real-time video encoding is computationally intensive, the go to recommendations have been
- to get a GPU capable of video encode offload (ie take workload off CPU and move to GPU). The general rule-of-thumb has been a Turing or newer NVENC (nVidia) GPU {so was GTX 1650 Super or newer/better... but there are some oddballs, so you'll have to check). With RTX 4xxx due soon, and GPU prices dropping like a rock, I'd stick with Ampere (RTX 2xxx or newer) GPUs. Low-end RTX 2060/3060 is fine for encoding, higher GPUs only if other graphics demands dictate so (back to 'it depends').
- Intel 12th Gen CPUs work better with OS scheduler in Windows 11, but Win11 is NOT fully baked. so.. a challenge. Hopefully OBS 28 will help, but some of issue is core OS under-developed (and M$ history of screwing up every other OS release for decades).
- don't skimp on RAM (I wouldn't get a new system today with less than 16GB of RAM, presuming a multi-year usable life, and my target is at least 5 years)
- Personally, I prefer business class PC for better build quality over typical pre-built consumer systems. Fortunately, there are now (finally) some AMD Tier 1 business class PCs. but whether that is advisable for you... depends. At the moment, I'm looking to replace my primary system with a laptop, as portability is more important than outright performance. And to get USB4/TB4, really means an Intel 12th gen CPU... unfortunately. For a Desktop, I'd be looking at best value/deal on latest gen AMD/Intel CPU (with preference for AMD), slightly below the top-end consumer CPU stems (I don't need workstation class CPU, but .. it depends). With AMD CPU, no concerns over Win10. And even Intel 12th Gen is only slightly slower with Win10, so I'd still be inclined in that direction. Though in reality, I'd probably start with WIn11 and see if it works for me, and if yes, great, otherwise I'd downgrade and revisit OS version in a year or two.

Then, beware almost all CDNs (content delivery networks) like YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, etc re-encode videos for distribution bandwidth efficiency. So, if you want to retain higher quality videos, you'll need disk space for archiving. In my tower, I have SSD for OS/OBS drive, then HDD for video archiving.
Then there is video encoding standards. Today, most CDNs require H.264 video due to licensing mess that is the newer H.265. AV1 is likely to be the future, and an encoder now available with latest Intel ARC GPU, and that is likely the future (more bandwidth efficient)... but it could easily be a year or more before some CDNs accept AV1 input. So if not gaming, the Intel Arc A380 might be interesting, but would require technical patience. If not in a rush, the next gen nVidia's are presumed to also support AV1 encoding (TBD). so .. depends on your timing . Swapping out for a newer GPU in a couple of years isn't that involved

Good Luck
Click to expand...
Wow Lawrence, that’s amazing. You’re so knowledgeable. Can I email you somehow?
 
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