2nd PC for Twitch Streaming

[TravisTea]

Hey guys. I'm toying with the idea of setting up a second pc to record my main pc for streaming to twitch, and capturing gameplay for YouTube. What would be the ideal setup for this, and what would be the minimum, in terms of specs, that I could use to pull this off? I'm not looking to dump a huge amount of cash into this, but am open to suggestions if it helps out. Would an old core2duo/quad be enough or are we talking i7/FX chips? Thanks!

[lani100]

Hey guys. I'm toying with the idea of setting up a second pc to record my main pc for streaming to twitch, and capturing gameplay for YouTube. What would be the ideal setup for this, and what would be the minimum, in terms of specs, that I could use to pull this off? I'm not looking to dump a huge amount of cash into this, but am open to suggestions if it helps out. Would an old core2duo/quad be enough or are we talking i7/FX chips? Thanks!

You want to get the fastest cpu you can get for streaming I would say an amd 8320 atleast.

Or a i7.

But a core2quad will do for some lower resolution streaming.

[TravisTea]

I'm looking at 720p PC and console streaming. Also, any recommendations for capture cards, and would an older i7 920 or Xeon 3520 work ok?

[lani100]

I'm looking at 720p PC and console streaming. Also, any recommendations for capture cards, and would an older i7 920 or Xeon 3520 work ok?

Yep an older i7 should be fine. That i7 is also good for gaming these days.

[Shrake907]

I'm looking at 720p PC and console streaming. Also, any recommendations for capture cards, and would an older i7 920 or Xeon 3520 work ok?

 

Older generation i7 / Xeon would be fine, honestly.

I stream with just one PC, but I heard Avermedia cards are decent.

[TravisTea]

Yep an older i7 should be fine. That i7 is also good for gaming these days.

 

Yeah I'm using the W3520 @ 3.8ghz with a Gigabyte G1 GTX 970 and it seems to be working quite well. I have a friend upgrading his stuff soon from a 920 so I may make him an offer on it.

 

 

 

Older generation i7 / Xeon would be fine, honestly.

I stream with just one PC, but I heard Avermedia cards are decent.

 

Awesome! I'll look into them. I appreciate the quick responses guys!

[Spev]

I would think you could go with an AMD system. It would be a lot cheaper and would smash streaming.

[mlbguy4life]

why would you need 2 pc's? i mean wouldn't it be cheaper to just upgrade your 1 pc?

[TravisTea]

why would you need 2 pc's? i mean wouldn't it be cheaper to just upgrade your 1 pc?

 

Yes and no. Less taxing on my system now. If I can get these other parts from a friend for pretty cheap ($150 range) it would cost me less than spending $500+ on a new cpu, motherboard, and ram. I already have hard drives, an extra psu, and case, so in this case I think it'd be cheaper to just build a second pc. It won't run all the time. Only when I decide to do this. Also, I can always use it as a server down the road if I decide streaming isn't for me. Now, if I can't get his stuff, or anything comparable, then yes, I might as well just upgrade my current pc. I'm hoping to get his  stuff. Plus I like his motherboard more so I'd swap it out with my current one lol

[Wardojack]

Oh I thought about doing this once, I had this massively over complicated setup all planned out for live switching of feeds whilst recording and streaming, but in the end I just scrapped it all.

Sorry not much help is it?

[Spev]

why would you need 2 pc's? i mean wouldn't it be cheaper to just upgrade your 1 pc?

Top streamers do this all the time. Separate PC so that your GAMING PC doesn't have to do any additional processing power, and you can game with 0 performance decrease. Then the 2nd PC will do all the steaming work.

[Spev]

Oh I thought about doing this once, I had this massively over complicated setup all planned out for live switching of feeds whilst recording and streaming, but in the end I just scrapped it all.

Sorry not much help is it?

If I ever get into streaming  again which I plan to in the coming months I might use my old PC as a dedicated streaming PC. Honestly though if you're PC has an i7 or is high end you shouldn't have a problem streaming in full quality....unless you are playing 1440p on Far Cry 4 or something then that might become an issue lol.

[Kevinkt]

You want to get the fastest cpu you can get for streaming I would say an amd 8320 atleast.

Or a i7.

But a core2quad will do for some lower resolution streaming.

I can stream 720p on a fucking penitumK just fine. if I use OBS and quicksync I get almost no cpu useage out of OBS. so at 4.2 I was streaming world of warcraft 25 raids@720p and still getting over 50 fps with a 6670, and most people will tell you wow raids are painful on CPU's. so you do not need a "fast" cpu, but anything from intel with quicksync is great.

[TravisTea]

I can stream 720p on a fucking penitumK just fine. if I use OBS and quicksync I get almost no cpu useage out of OBS. so at 4.2 I was streaming world of warcraft 25 raids@720p and still getting over 50 fps with a 6670, and most people will tell you wow raids are painful on CPU's. so you do not need a "fast" cpu, but anything from intel with quicksync is great.

 

Interesting.

[rcarlos243]

Why not just use your main pc as a gameplay and recording/streaming?

You could get an AMD Hawaii chip and it would stream and record no problem at 1080p with virtually no performance penalty. Also note that AMD produce better video quality at lower bit rate vs NVIDIA.

[TravisTea]

Why not just use your main pc as a gameplay and recording/streaming?

You could get an AMD Hawaii chip and it would stream and record no problem at 1080p with virtually no performance penalty. Also note that AMD produce better video quality at lower bit rate vs NVIDIA.

 

I may do this. Just depends if I can snag these secondary components from a friend for cheap. And I already have a gtx 970 so I don't see a need in getting an AMD card.