Making a streaming PC, need to know what to focus on.

[Infernalz]

Budget (including currency): $1500

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Streaming games over Twitch

Other details: Planning for a friend. I know streaming takes more resources since the computer has to split between the game itself and the streaming software and encoding. I don't know what exactly we need to focus on for this though.

Right now we're looking at:

 

Intel i7-10700k, 8-core

AIO CPU cooling

MSI Z490-A PRO ATX LGA1200 motherboard

Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 32GB (2x16gb) DDR4 3200 RAM

Team GX1 960GB SSD

EVGA 750W 80+ Gold PSU

Fractal Design Meshify C ATX mid tower case

GPU:lol they're gonna keep their gt 1030 and like it for now. They might have access to a 970 in future.

 

I have questions on this list though.

Would it just be better going AMD for the CPU, more cores at least would help? I doubt AIO cooling is going to be needed, if not just a beefy air cooler. For these parts I can only think the mobo is whatever, it'll work. Never heard of the brands for the RAM or SSD, buy brand name or else? What about he PSU for a 30 series with the power spikes? Is that a non-issue after this long? They're gonna deal with their current GPU for the time being anyway but they want something better when able.

 

Thanks for the help

 

[K2S]

Definitely you should go for a high core CPU. An i7 10th gen 8 core is enough for sure, but it's not great value at this time to put it lightly. The improvements over previous intel generations are soo small in raw performance. So if you can find a r9 3900x or r9 3950x then it would much better. I didn't mention Zen 3 from AMD cause it's really hard to find it but if you do, well then there's nothing better than that. Please do not buy a cpu or anything for that matter from scalpers. 

 

AIO or Air cooler? Good Noctua fans like Noctua NH-U12A or any decent AIO again depending on what you are comfortable with. 

RAM: Since you are opting for a Z series board for Intel, then you obviously should get high quality high speed ram, since that's what you pay for with a Z series motherboard (and some overclocking features). Brands are plenty like Corsair, HyperX, GSKill. You should go for atleast 3200 mhz ram running in dual channel. In case of AMD, I would suggest 3600 mhz.

 

SSD: your ssd of choice is just fine. You don't need necessarily need a nvme drive. A Sata 3 ssd is totally fine too. Pick something with plenty reviews like the one you chose. 

 

PSU: If they are looking to get a 30 which is either 3060 ti/non ti or lower like the 3050 then their current 750 is totally fine. No problem. Over than that a 1000 watt is strongly recommended. But you were talking in the range of a 970 which is completely fine on the current psu.

 

Hope this is helpful.

[boggy77]

Gpu is most important. With a 1030 it won't matter what cpu you have, even a 4 core will deal with it.

[Infernalz]

20 hours ago, K2S said:

Definitely you should go for a high core CPU. An i7 10th gen 8 core is enough for sure, but it's not great value at this time to put it lightly. The improvements over previous intel generations are soo small in raw performance. So if you can find a r9 3900x or r9 3950x then it would much better. I didn't mention Zen 3 from AMD cause it's really hard to find it but if you do, well then there's nothing better than that. Please do not buy a cpu or anything for that matter from scalpers. 

 

AIO or Air cooler? Good Noctua fans like Noctua NH-U12A or any decent AIO again depending on what you are comfortable with. 

RAM: Since you are opting for a Z series board for Intel, then you obviously should get high quality high speed ram, since that's what you pay for with a Z series motherboard (and some overclocking features). Brands are plenty like Corsair, HyperX, GSKill. You should go for atleast 3200 mhz ram running in dual channel. In case of AMD, I would suggest 3600 mhz.

 

SSD: your ssd of choice is just fine. You don't need necessarily need a nvme drive. A Sata 3 ssd is totally fine too. Pick something with plenty reviews like the one you chose. 

 

PSU: If they are looking to get a 30 which is either 3060 ti/non ti or lower like the 3050 then their current 750 is totally fine. No problem. Over than that a 1000 watt is strongly recommended. But you were talking in the range of a 970 which is completely fine on the current psu.

 

Hope this is helpful.

 

Working it with this right now:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor	$484.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler	$99.95 @ Amazon
Motherboard	MSI MPG X570 GAMING PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard	$160.77 @ Amazon
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$89.99 @ Best Buy
Storage	Western Digital Blue 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$59.99 @ Lenovo
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$144.99 @ B&H
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Pro Tempered Glass ATX Full Tower Case	$109.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair RM (2019) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$196.00 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1366.67
	Mail-in rebates	-$20.00
	Total	$1346.67
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-04-05 10:32 EDT-0400

 

This is what I needed to see and thank you for the reply.

 

I'm moving them towards AMD with higher core count for streaming, I think that was the line I was remembering for building a streaming PC was for more cores.

 

On PCpartpicker the NH-D15, a dual tower, is showing cheaper than a single tower so I'm thinking that is the way to go. Though it's saying compatibility with it isn't guaranteed? It versus taller RAM and "may require a separately available mounting adapter to fit the MSI MPG X570 GAMING PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard" though I think it comes with hardware for the right socket mount? And then it versus cases are never known until it's in the case unfortunately.

 

The RAM speeds was a good thing to be reminded of, though is capacity something I need to be thinking of for streaming too? Is 16GB still enough or should it be 32GB? Could just put 2x8GB and then go 4x8GB later if need be.

 

For the PSU; I highly doubt they'll get the 3080 they were looking at, hell none of us will. If they get the 970 as a place holder they should get them going, and honestly I think they'll end on a 20 series. 850W will be able to handle it all for now but is it worth it to go 1000W in case they're dead set on the 3080? It could almost double the price on that piece alone.

[K2S]

On 4/5/2021 at 8:09 PM, Infernalz said:

 

Working it with this right now:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor	$484.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler	$99.95 @ Amazon
Motherboard	MSI MPG X570 GAMING PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard	$160.77 @ Amazon
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$89.99 @ Best Buy
Storage	Western Digital Blue 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$59.99 @ Lenovo
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$144.99 @ B&H
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Pro Tempered Glass ATX Full Tower Case	$109.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair RM (2019) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$196.00 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1366.67
	Mail-in rebates	-$20.00
	Total	$1346.67
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-04-05 10:32 EDT-0400

 

This is what I needed to see and thank you for the reply.

 

I'm moving them towards AMD with higher core count for streaming, I think that was the line I was remembering for building a streaming PC was for more cores.

 

On PCpartpicker the NH-D15, a dual tower, is showing cheaper than a single tower so I'm thinking that is the way to go. Though it's saying compatibility with it isn't guaranteed? It versus taller RAM and "may require a separately available mounting adapter to fit the MSI MPG X570 GAMING PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard" though I think it comes with hardware for the right socket mount? And then it versus cases are never known until it's in the case unfortunately.

 

The RAM speeds was a good thing to be reminded of, though is capacity something I need to be thinking of for streaming too? Is 16GB still enough or should it be 32GB? Could just put 2x8GB and then go 4x8GB later if need be.

 

For the PSU; I highly doubt they'll get the 3080 they were looking at, hell none of us will. If they get the 970 as a place holder they should get them going, and honestly I think they'll end on a 20 series. 850W will be able to handle it all for now but is it worth it to go 1000W in case they're dead set on the 3080? It could almost double the price on that piece alone.

Sorry for the late response,

I am not too sure about the noctua fan. I would say make sure you're buying the ram/fan which is refundable so incase something doesn't work out you can switch, but generally that would only be a problem unless you have some really fancy ram with a bigass heatsink or really small motherboard, so I don't expect that to cause any issues.

For choosing between 16 and 32 gigs, its perfectly fine to go with 16 for now. Make sure your motherboard has four slots and you can get 2x8 more sticks. It depends what type of a person are you. Discord, steam, your game and twitch running? 16 is fine. If you are having a lot of other apps also running and you find it a hassle keeping track of them, then you can consider upgrading. Though I'll assure you even with 32 gb, your CPU and internet connection play a bigger role in streaming.

For the Power supply, I agree that prices of 1000w units is almost double, and the reason is because of shortages due to mining crypto taking most of the good PSU's. Incase you find a good deal on a 1000 watt unit tho, then it's not a bad idea to get it because 1) It will make even less noise on average load and 2) it will be better suited if you decide to do overclocking. If not, the 850 watt with gold efficiency seems to be the best choice here. It is overkill for your current 970 and will be above the recommended psu incase you get your hands on a 20 series or 30 series.

 

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3575494/do-you-need-a-new-power-supply-for-nvidias-geforce-rtx-3080.html#:~:text=The GeForce RTX 3080 is,Ti required a 650W PSU.

 

I hope this helps, have a good day!