What PC for streaming ?

[Oldnewbie]

Hello,Glad to join this community.

I'm an old man who still has things to say. So video is a nice world for me!

I haven't found a particular place to post messages on the hardware. But if I'm wrong, please corrected myself.
I read general requirements for obs in the help I'm unhappy with hardware encoders and I want to assemble a PC only dedicated to streaming with OBS.

I want to assemble a pc with theses specs: Input in SDI 4Kp50 and stream in SRT or RIST. No need for a super display even without a screen. I plan to get a used decklink 8K. Two streams main and backup will be nice.

What configuration (motherboard, processor, graphics card...) would be sufficient?

Thanks for help

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

I'm unhappy with hardware encoders and I want to assemble a PC only dedicated to streaming with OBS.

Be careful when asking for technical help, as sometimes your comments have very specific technical meaning, which in this case I suspect you do NOT mean.

There are dedicated video encoders.. ie 'little black boxes'.
Then there are hardware video encoders (typically GPU based)
and then there is software video encoding

real-time video encoding is computationally demanding.... like, a LOT
So, one can get a beefy CPU, or it usually cheaper to offload video encoding to a dedicated chip/encoder BUT, like so many things technical... it depends [encoder, encoding bitrates, resolution, color depth, etc.]

I want to assemble a pc with theses specs: Input in SDI 4Kp50 and stream in SRT or RIST. No need for a super display even without a screen. I plan to get a used decklink 8K. Two streams main and backup will be nice.

So , EU I take it? (50p)
Why SRT/RIST? bandwidth can be an issue with direct streaming... which very few folks do... most use a free consumer service like YouTube, Facebook (which with new video deletion after 30 days... seems like they will quickly become irrelevant in video streaming world), Twitch (for gamers), etc
These platforms take you video stream, re-encode for bandwidth efficiency and then distribute at different resolution and bitrates as clients need. One can do this yourself, but is NOT for the technical newbie (without a really deep budget, and technically sophisticated people running the operation)

What configuration (motherboard, processor, graphics card...) would be sufficient?

You post misses one of the most important details.... which encoding format? H.264 (old, but less resource intensive to encode, uses more bandwidth); H.265 ( a licensing mess so usually not used for streaming); or the latest and greatest but not universally used just yet, AV1. Most likely, in a few years time, many (most?) will have migrated to AV1... the challenge is that AV1 encoding is only practical on most recent discrete GPUs

so that begs the question(s)? what is your expectation of usable system lifetime? laptops generally don't have upgradeable GPUs, and thermal throttling means care is needed with miniPCs and laptops. 'desktops' by default can better manage thermals (avoid throttling) and upgrading a GPU is relatively simple, so you can get what you need now, and wait to upgrade and avoid the constrained market (high [prices) on AV1 encoding capable GPUs for the time being.

As for CPU? AMD or Intel will work fine. Certain 'integrated' CPUs (have inbuilt GPU) may suffice for your current needs... maybe.. depends [I had a career out of that answer for this type of situation... one overspends/over-provisions to be safe, underspends and takes the risk, or get into the details]

Years ago, I made 16GB RAM my default. That is ok to start, but 40k50? depending on what else going on... 16GB RAM might get tight. I like get quality stuff and making it last... but that is just me. I'd not get less than 24GB RAM, and prefer more.. IN part depends on whether you plan to do Video Editing as part of this, and which software. For example, many folks use DaVinci Resolve (steep learning curve, very powerful capabilities). I'd recommend using its hardware recommendations and know that will be fine for OBS Studio as well [basically, DaVinci Resolve (and similar software) is demands more hardware than OBS Studio for a given resolution/encoder... but...as usual, it depends
Basically you have to consider your workflow... will you direct stream? or Record, edit, then post a video? there are HUGE differences between those two impacting numerous hardware requirements. And beware starting one way (simple OBS Studio setup, or video editing) then getting more advanced/sophisticated over time, and that driving up hardware requirements
For example, chromakeying (green screen) depending on how accomplished can add significant CPU load

Up until very recently, NVidia NVENC simply was more reliable than similar AMD offerings ( AMD basically ignore H.264, shooting itself in the foot in regards to streaming... with AV1... we'll see.. neither AMD nor NVidia consumer graphics driver code quality is anything to brag about.

so, a simple answer? no
We are using a 10700K with a NVidia 1660 Super for 1080p30 with 1080p60 NDI video feed [relatively simple OBS Studio setup avoiding CPU impactful plugins]. and that PC is very lightly tasked [but I also have decades of experience in Operating System security and optimizations].

 

[Oldnewbie]

First, thanks for this long answer.

Be careful when asking for technical help, as sometimes your comments have very specific technical meaning, which in this case I suspect you do NOT mean.

There are dedicated video encoders.. ie 'little black boxes'.
Then there are hardware video encoders (typically GPU based)
and then there is software video encoding

Thanks for warning. Not native language so translation may be misinterpreted. I use black boxes like webpresenter, kiloview... and they are not offering much streaming controls or RIST. Not say that they are bad products but only they are not covering my needs.

real-time video encoding is computationally demanding.... like, a LOT
So, one can get a beefy CPU, or it usually cheaper to offload video encoding to a dedicated chip/encoder BUT, like so many things technical... it depends [encoder, encoding bitrates, resolution, color depth, etc.]


So , EU I take it? (50p)
Why SRT/RIST? bandwidth can be an issue with direct streaming... which very few folks do... most use a free consumer service like YouTube, Facebook (which with new video deletion after 30 days... seems like they will quickly become irrelevant in video streaming world), Twitch (for gamers), etc
These platforms take you video stream, re-encode for bandwidth efficiency and then distribute at different resolution and bitrates as clients need. One can do this yourself, but is NOT for the technical newbie (without a really deep budget, and technically sophisticated people running the operation)


You post misses one of the most important details.... which encoding format? H.264 (old, but less resource intensive to encode, uses more bandwidth); H.265 ( a licensing mess so usually not used for streaming); or the latest and greatest but not universally used just yet, AV1. Most likely, in a few years time, many (most?) will have migrated to AV1... the challenge is that AV1 encoding is only practical on most recent discrete GPUs

I plan to use one of castr, womza, restream... in H265 or may be AV1. Secure transport with protocols made for, is mandatory. Restreaming after to plateforms or private vps.

so that begs the question(s)? what is your expectation of usable system lifetime? laptops generally don't have upgradeable GPUs, and thermal throttling means care is needed with miniPCs and laptops. 'desktops' by default can better manage thermals (avoid throttling) and upgrading a GPU is relatively simple, so you can get what you need now, and wait to upgrade and avoid the constrained market (high [prices) on AV1 encoding capable GPUs for the time being.

As for CPU? AMD or Intel will work fine. Certain 'integrated' CPUs (have inbuilt GPU) may suffice for your current needs... maybe.. depends [I had a career out of that answer for this type of situation... one overspends/over-provisions to be safe, underspends and takes the risk, or get into the details]

Years ago, I made 16GB RAM my default. That is ok to start, but 40k50? depending on what else going on... 16GB RAM might get tight. I like get quality stuff and making it last... but that is just me. I'd not get less than 24GB RAM, and prefer more.. IN part depends on whether you plan to do Video Editing as part of this, and which software. For example, many folks use DaVinci Resolve (steep learning curve, very powerful capabilities). I'd recommend using its hardware recommendations and know that will be fine for OBS Studio as well [basically, DaVinci Resolve (and similar software) is demands more hardware than OBS Studio for a given resolution/encoder... but...as usual, it depends
Basically you have to consider your workflow... will you direct stream? or Record, edit, then post a video? there are HUGE differences between those two impacting numerous hardware requirements. And beware starting one way (simple OBS Studio setup, or video editing) then getting more advanced/sophisticated over time, and that driving up hardware requirements
For example, chromakeying (green screen) depending on how accomplished can add significant CPU load

Up until very recently, NVidia NVENC simply was more reliable than similar AMD offerings ( AMD basically ignore H.264, shooting itself in the foot in regards to streaming... with AV1... we'll see.. neither AMD nor NVidia consumer graphics driver code quality is anything to brag about.

so, a simple answer? no
We are using a 10700K with a NVidia 1660 Super for 1080p30 with 1080p60 NDI video feed [relatively simple OBS Studio setup avoiding CPU impactful plugins]. and that PC is very lightly tasked [but I also have decades of experience in Operating System security and optimizations].

- I think of 19" rackmount, so more upgrades possibilities than laptop or minipc but with limited thermal dissipation and noise in mind.
- As said only for streaming. No others jobs than encoding. So requirements for general purposes are less relevent. As you said, Nvidia seems to be a part of the solution.
- Many motherboards mentionned in BMD listing for decklink 8K ot others websites are obsoletes now. I need to identify actual model supporting enough lanes for GPU, SDI acquisition board and ssd.

thanks for your feedbacks