Question / Help Two PC Setup Question

[Crashbombs]

I'm not sure this is the right place to ask this, but I am thinking of going to a 2 PC setup for recording and streaming.

My goal is to be able to record higher quality game play than I am currently, and also to stream and record more easily.

PC1 / PS4
I have a good gaming PC currently but trying to record at the quality I want with OBS is very hard on the CPU. Which leads to stuttering and all sorts of messed up recordings. Also sometimes I forget to check if I am on the right profile when switching to the PS4 so my PS4 recordings get messed up too.

PC2

My thought is to setup a 2nd PC with an internal Elgato HD Pro to capture game play. This should allow me to use the same setting for PS4 and PC since the capture card will see them merely as inputs. A second PC will also allow me to utilize higher settings because there will be no CPU load outside of OBS running.

Question 1: Do I have the correct thought process so far? I will probably need an HDMI splitter and some other things I realize. I just want to know if the premise is sound so far.

Question 2: I have a pretty good build in mind for the second PC, my question is will it need a good graphics card? My thinking is that it does not because it is only encoding video on the CPU, but I figured I would ask for sure. I'm not entirely certain how OBS runs.

 

[FerretBomb]

Yes, this is why you'd run a 2PC setup.

No, you just need a DX10 compliant GPU. Most modern budget-grade cards fall into this description.

Be aware, the MOST IMPORTANT part of the second system is a VERY BEEFY CPU (or two!). Meaning avoid AMD if possible, and it should be significantly stronger than your gaming PC's CPU. Otherwise there's no point, and you'd be better off with the simplicity a 1PC setup provides.
Audio setup is also a major hassle, getting mic audio to both systems, and being able to hear things like follower/sub/donation alerts, if they're running on the streaming PC (and should be!).

If you want a solid second encoding PC, here's a guide recently put up, that takes advantage of the recent glut of server-grade Xeon CPUs that are currently flooding the resale market; it'll give you excellent performance, and probably will only run in the $600-700 range all said and done:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Twitch/comments/47bzdc/budget_friendly_secondary_streaming_pc_guide/

 

[Crashbombs]

Thanks for the reply! I will continue my research into the subject. That guide seems pretty awesome so I will definitely check into that more!

 

[Boildown]

I built a dual E5-2670 machine using that reddit thread as a guide, and its pretty awesome. Make sure you use a PCIe capture card, not USB. Oh and the hardest part to get right is the motherboard.

Rule of thumb for GPU is any gamer-oriented card that cost $100 or more when it came out, in the past 5 years or so, should be good enough. I recommend a GTX 750 (Ti) or GTX 950, that'll unlock NVEnc recording and they run around $100-$150. If you have an old GTX 460, 550Ti, or 650 laying around, those will also work.

I haven't used an AMD GPU in a gaming PC in forever, but with Nvidia you can clone your screen and that works in lieu of an HDMI splitter. Possible that AMD has a similar feature.

 

[FerretBomb]

AMD cards do, but they can't use separate refresh rates on cloned outputs. Which tends to break VSync anyway, so shouldn't be a problem.

Yeah, I'm still considering building one of these myself with a Tyan motherboard, but it's hard to justify the cost after having shelled out on an 5820k. Great for a 1PC setup, but not great if you're going to be offloading to an encoder box and could go for an i7-6700k on the gaming machine, which will be better for gaming performance.