Which computer should I get?

[Just Push record Studios]

Hey all, so I'm super tech savvy but I haven't purchased a computer that's not a Mac in like 10 years to be honest.

We're opening up a new podcast studio (location #2) and of course we'll be using OBS.

We're trying to save money and essentially just need a computer that can handle OBS well.. and that's it. Don't need anything else fancy.

Any ideas?

Budget is $1500 but would prefer to get as close to $900-$1000 as possible.

 

[AaronD]

When I did that, I got the best CPU and the fastest RAM that I could at the time. Not necessarily the most RAM, but the fastest, and there are more specs on that than just Hz. Everything else is simply to support those two parts, so they can be as basic as the rest of your budget requires.

The GPU only has 1 requirement: that it support video encoding on the card. Speed and memory don't matter so much, as the encoder is a separate, sectioned-off, dedicated spot of silicon that only does that one job, and doesn't factor into the advertised numbers anyway.

It's good to have two physical drives too:

• Operating system, programs, settings, etc.
• Recording only

If you're installing the OS and software yourself, leave the recording drive out until *everything* is done. That way you *know* that nothing's going to rely on it to work at all. I've made that mistake before...

Yes, I did order parts and assemble it myself. :-)

---

I'd also recommend Ubuntu Studio Linux:

Ubuntu Studio – A free and open operating system for creative people.

ubuntustudio.org

It's made specifically for media, with lots of optimizations in that direction, and lots of preinstalled stuff that already "just works". OBS is one of those things, but you'll need to add the official PPA and then run the updates again to get the current version:
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:obsproject/obs-studio

If you do that, then *all* of the software is free, and you can spend your *entire* budget on hardware. :-)

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

Your budget should be fine... depending on your OBS Studio expectations. Assuming you don't get carried away with chroma-keying, filters and effects, 3rd party plugins, etc in OBS Studio and/or excess background processes at OS layer, you have lots of options. There have been a number of recent such conversations in the Windows OS forum on this site with lots of thoughts/recommendations/considerations, etc. I strongly recommend checking them out

A big consideration is whether Recording Only, or livestreaming as well. In general, presuming typical H.264 livestreaming, AMD GPUs (encoder and/or associated driver/software) leaves too much to be desired to recommend. For 1080p streaming, a current Intel 13th gen APU (CPU/GPU combo, using QuickSync) would probably be fine. If you want same PC to also be able to handle in the future, without a hardware upgrade, 4K video and/or AV1 (vs H.264) encoding, then a discrete GPU would probably make more sense. On the other hand, a typical desktop PC can typically be upgraded easily in terms of video card (certain SFF/1Liter) PCs being the exception).

Can you get a much older system work for 1080p Streaming/Recording... absolutely.... but then you get into support considerations, PC expertise, OS installs, etc... Something to consider is expected life of this system, what you plan for hardware support and do you want/need next (business) day onsite support if something goes wrong.

For further discussion, best to start a new thread in the Operating System of choice forum

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

Budget is $1500 but would prefer to get as close to $900-$1000 as possible.

With recent sales/discounts (PC market dropping), a US$1,000 PC is very doable, for an up-to-date, powerful system, good enough for 4K non-gaming streaming, video editing, etc. Getting a similar but much better built, longer-lasting, business class PC (which is what I always recommend), with at least 3 years onsite next business day support, for $1K... doable, but now starting to cut some corners. so depends on priorities and budget. If you really would replace PC in 3 years or so, then $1K should be fine.... *if* more likely to push replacement out to 4, 5 years or possibly longer.... then I'd spend a little more now (not cutting corners) and be all set. I say this with decades of professional IT experience, and have many >5 yr old PCs (up to 10+ yrs old) working great for non-computationally demanding tasks.