Question / Help Single or Dual PC Setup

[ekajjj]

So I'm kind of just getting into streaming and have some questions about which setup I should use. Ideally, I'd like to use the dual PC setup but it's kind of a lot of hassle and I feel as though I'm getting better quality using the single PC. Here are some specs:

Main PC:
i7-7700k @ 4.5GHz
16GB RAM DDR4
GTX 1070

Streaming PC:
i5-2500k @ 4.0GHz
12GB RAM DDR3
GTX 770
Elgato Game Capture (not HD - max 1080p/30fps or 720p/60fps)

Now when I run the OBS Studio wizard for optimizing settings, on my main PC it sets my bitrate as ~3400. When calculating it on the streaming PC it is more around ~2400. Is the i5-2500k really bottlenecking my bitrate that much?

Quality wise, I felt like the single PC setup looked better.

Performance wise, I'd love to be able to use the dual PC stream. I mostly play CSGO and PUBG and would like to minimize any sort of input lag. After testing the streaming on just the single PC though, it hardly had any difference in performance as far as gaming.

I realize my Capture Card is a bit outdated but I bought it at Microcenter with a giftcard a few years back. Being that I'm gonna stream at 720p/60fps anyway I don't see it being an issue. Just trying to get an idea on what other experienced users might suggest. I might still be able to get a small chunk of change for my Streaming PC if I were to part ways soon enough.

 

[ekajjj]

Bump

 

[Boildown]

Bitrate is independent of CPU speed, so that's not a factor.

I think you have a couple problems. First an i5 doesn't make a good streaming PC CPU. I'd really say you'd want an i7. You'd be limited at what quality settings you can achieve, and it might not be any better than running OBS on the same PC you're gaming on, especially with lightly threaded older games.

Second, most people like to run CS:GO at insane framerates and that is incompatible with capture cards, because capture cards can't run at those framerates. They need the framerate set low, typically 60fps, although there are (expensive) exceptions that can get to the 120-144Hz range. This is kind of a problem with OBS in general, but its especially problematic when running with a video capture card.

If I were you, based on what you've said so far, I'd stream with a single PC for a while and down the road if you still want to do a 2 PC solution, look to replace the i5 with something better.