Question / Help Streaming PC Build Help

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Logan Dozois

New Member
Hello OBS Forum Users,

I am putting together a pc, strictly for streaming, and would like some help with the parts. So far, this is what I have thrown together.

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117402&cm_re=5820k-_-19-117-402-_-Product
CPU Cooler - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...cooler_master_lga_2011-_-35-103-099-_-Product
MotherBoard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130841
Power Supply - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438053
SSD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4048&cm_re=850_evo_120-_-20-147-371-_-Product
Memory - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231790
Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119277&cm_re=cm_n400-_-11-119-277-_-Product
OS - Windows 10 64bit Pro
GPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127904

First, let me explain what I want to accomplish. I will have 3 Xbox Ones coming into this streaming pc with 3 AverMedia Live Gamer Extremes, granted only one Xbox feed will be shown at one time. There will be 3 webcams and microphones also going into the computer. Each webcam will have a greenscreen behind it. I do not know if that requires a lot more power to key out the green. Really, I want to know if having the 3 Xbox feeds actually requires more power since only one will be shown at a time and switched between. Ideally, I want to stream at 1080p 60fps, but I am willing to bump down to 30fps, if needed. This computer will just be used for this purpose and nothing else, no gaming. From what I understand, streaming does not require a dedicated gpu. I just through something in at the end because the 5820k line does not have integrated graphics like some previous cpu. If it matters, my internet will be 150 down and 150 up. Finally, will this computer be strong enough to do what I want, is is overkill, or just right? All help is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Logan,
 
Boildown

Boildown

Active Member
OBS requires a GPU, but the 950 you have in there is plenty good enough. And actually a nice deal if you get the rebate.

The CPU you have specced is a little bit of overkill, but it won't be wasted, as you can increase the quality of the output stream a bit.

I'm most concerned about hooking up three USB capture devices. You say they won't all be used at the same time, but I'd still be worried about overloading the USB bus, especially with three webcams in the mix as well. If you're going to build a system such as this, it doesn't make sense to me to not get PCIe capture cards. USB capture devices are (imo) for people who want to encode on a laptop. I'm not even sure that the three webcams will work for you, without USB capture cards in the mix as well. Suffice to say I think you'll have problems with so many USB devices and IMO you should definitely make them all PCIe instead.
 
FerretBomb

FerretBomb

Active Member
Seconded on the USB, would advise against Avermedia in general though. I use an SC512, but for HDMI only Elgato HD60 Pros would work. Magewell also make good gear from what I'm told (I don't own any myself, yet), including a quad-input HDMI 1080@60 card. Pricey, but likely cheaper and better results than with the Avermedia junk.

Yes, having multiple captures running simultaneously (as global sources) will increase CPU load. Having them as non-global will force init time any time one is started or stopped. You could probably minimize this by hiding the starting-up one behind the active one on the layer list, but would run the risk of hitching/freezing or having the active one stutter as the to-be-switched-to one is starting up. Plus wouldn't be able to use separate scenes for swapping, without freeze-jumpcutting on each scene switch due to how hardware vidcap devices are handled if non-global.

The 5820k can do 1080@60 on Veryfast (mine is OC'd and can run on Medium for most games, but that 212 EVO isn't going to let you do much of that).

The real question is your bitrate budget though. If you're going to Twitch and are non-partnered, 1080p is Right Out. Not going to happen. You simply can't use the bitrate you need to have your stream stay watchable, while also maintaining a low/zero level of buffering.
2000kbps is about the realistic limit for non-partners; even 2500 is strongly advised-against. 1080p@30fps starts at 3000kbps with poor quality. 3500 is poor-middling. 1080@60 starts around 5000kbps for low, and 6000 gets into the territory of potentially getting banned for being a denial-of-service attack without being pre-cleared.

720p@30fps, 2000kbps, x264 with the lowest preset your rig can handle is the 'golden point' for non-partners.
 
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Logan Dozois

New Member
Thank you both for such quick responses! I have been looking around at a few different internal capture cards. Between the Game Capture HD60 Pro, Black Magic Intensity Pro 4k, and the Live Gamer HD, which one would you recommend for my situation of using 3 and why? FerretBomb, do you think that the cpu can handle 3 video sources without problems, streaming at 720p@30fps?
 
Boildown

Boildown

Active Member
I've never read anything good about anything from Black Magic on these forums. Opinions are split on Elgato devices, but I think the HD60 Pro is the first PCIe capture device they've sold and its pretty new, so not a lot of details that I've seen about it yet. The Live Gamer HD is very common and should work, but its capabilities are lesser than the HD60 Pro, since it only captures 1080p30, not 1080p60. Although I think it takes 1080p60 and lets you decimate to 30fps or downscale to 720p60. I actually have one but haven't used it in years, so I forget exactly.

I want to recommend three of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Datapath-Vi...-Capture-Card-PCIe-PC-APPLE-NEW-/291675044875 which would work great for you, and is only slightly more expensive than the ones you listed, however it won't work with the motherboard you picked. Each of these Datapath cards requires a PCIe 4x or better, electrically and physically. That motherboard can only do a maximum of 3 PCIe 16x slots at a time, and you need one for your GPU too. You'd have to pick a different motherboard and be careful about how many of the PCIe 16x slots can be active at once ( for this plan you'd need four active PCIe slots at once, 3 of them at least 4x, and one of them at least 8x for your GPU).

Another alternative might be three of these: http://www.amazon.com/SC-512N1-LDVI-HD-capture-card-Micomsoft/dp/B00QUBK6GG but I don't know if you can run more than one of them at once.
 
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Harold

Harold

Active Member
The elgato generates a disproportionately large number of support requests. USB or PCIE doesn't matter. Avoid their stuff. Period.

The blackmagic actually performs a lot better overall.
 
FerretBomb

FerretBomb

Active Member
Could be just because they're a popular option, Harold. I've never had an issue with mine aside from early beta drivers showing some judder, but it was fixed in a version or two. Plus Elgato support is top-notch. Seriously have to hand it to LtRoyalShrimp here on the OBS forums, and the EG dev team. They're on the ball. I'd rather have that most times. The HD60 Pro is also known/tested to work in a multi-card environment, and is PCIe 2.0 1x.

Have to go with Boildown on this one. BlackMagic gear has a reputation for being incredibly fragile/a pain in the butt to work with on the old stuff (BMIP) and glitchy to outright broken on the new stuff (BMIP 4K with its early dustbuster-fan issues to simply not working at random). They have a once-industry-leader name and an array of gear that can create their own locked-in production vertical, but there frankly are better options now.

If I was in his shoes I'd still probably roll the dice and go for one 4x Magewell and be done with it though. Good user responses from everyone I've seen who has one of their products, no screwing around with multi-card solutions, and saves space in the case.
 
Videophile

Videophile

Elgato
Harold said:
The elgato generates a disproportionately large number of support requests. USB or PCIE doesn't matter. Avoid their stuff. Period.

The blackmagic actually performs a lot better overall.
Click to expand...
That could be because there's a disproportionately large number of users using Elgato gear, so obviously support related questions scale as well. ;)
 
Boildown

Boildown

Active Member
Looked up the Quad-Input Magewell. Pretty nice specs on it, price is around $900. It appears that you can pick any resolution and framerate up to the pixel clock limit, like the Datapath and unlike others. Amazon reviews are middling. I would give it a shot if you can find one cheap on Ebay.
 
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Logan Dozois

New Member
From research and videos I have watched, I believe I will be going with 3 Elgato HD60 Pros. My next question, will running these 3 under global be "okay" with the build I have setup? Aka, can my cpu handle, without overclocking, 720p@60fps@2500 bit rate with these 3 video sources plus 3 webcams running under global? Thanks again for all the help!
 
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Videophile

Videophile

Elgato
Yea, should be fine. Its not the getting the frames from the capture cards that's hard on your PC, its the actual encoding of the video.

I can personally vouch for the motherboard. My streaming PC has the same one, and it runs 4 HD60 Pro's plus an Nvidia 750ti with no issues.
 
FerretBomb

FerretBomb

Active Member
Seconded. I was running three mirrored-source 1080p@60 captures at once on my old i7-920 (DPV E2+SC512+HD60P), and was only seeing 20-60% CPU depending on the amount of on-screen motion. Granted, I was only doing local recordings, but a 5820k should have no problems.

For comparison, the 920 could only swing 720p@60 or 1080@30 with some extra lean-running measures taken. The 5820 I have now will run 1080@60 on the Medium preset all day long. 720p@60 should be a breeze, and let you really turn the preset down quite a bit to get even better video quality out of the bitrate budget.
 
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