Best CPU for streaming?

[zPithy]

What is the best CPU for streaming games with a budget of $100-150?

[wyattzx]

Probably going to be something like an AMD FX-6300 at that price point. An FX-8350 if you can find one on sale. 

[dadasmithywinkle]

What is the best CPU for streaming games with a budget of $100-150?

For about $180, I'd get an i5.

[zappian]

HMM if its 150 MAX.

 

I3 with quicksync.

 

The fastest i3.

[HEU7Hwhu7]

I'd get a 8350 and OC it to about 4.3-4.6GHz. It should do just fine.

[typographie]

I'd go with a high-end i3 for about $150. In my experience, streaming performance is more likely to have trouble with upload bandwidth than CPU performance.

 

I don't know how common it is for streaming/recording apps to leverage Quick Sync, but I know OBS does. I'd recommend using that.

[D2ultima]

What is the best CPU for streaming games with a budget of $100-150?

FX-8350 beats any i5 on the market as far as streaming is concerned, especially if streaming console games (where your games don't need to take up your PC's power).

 

Also, please actually USE some compression beyond the default "veryfast" or asking for the best CPU is kind of a moot point.

[D2ultima]

For about $180, I'd get an i5.

HMM if its 150 MAX.

 

I3 with quicksync.

 

The fastest i3.

I'd go with a high-end i3 for about $150. In my experience, streaming performance is more likely to have trouble with upload bandwidth than CPU performance.

 

I don't know how common it is for streaming/recording apps to leverage Quick Sync, but I know OBS does. I'd recommend using that.

8350 beats all i3 and i5 models, ESPECIALLY those that can't overclock, as far as *streaming* is concerned.

 

And quicksync, like NVENC/Shadowplay, SUCKS for streaming as far as quality is concerned.

 

Be neutral here, boys & girls. He's asking purely about streaming performance, not about running a multitude of games. He hasn't even mentioned if he's using his PC to game or if he's going to use a capture card. The only time you should recommend intel over AMD without fail is if the CPU in question is an i7. The only time you should recommend an i5 over an AMD CPU is if (and only if) the user wishes to stream a lot of PC games (especially ones which use a single thread to its maximum, like UE3 DX9 titles for example) AND the user is fine with doing a bit of OCing to get quality.

 

If leaving streaming settings at default, pretty much any CPU on the market might do it at 720p and below as far as stream resolution is concerned, but the AMD ones have a lot of cores and a lot of power that most programs won't use, but OBS/Xsplit/etc will.

 

The same goes for users who wanna render out things. A locked i5 isn't better than an 8350 if the render program will use all the cores.

[papeles]

8350 beats all i3 and i5 models, ESPECIALLY those that can't overclock, as far as *streaming* is concerned.

 

And quicksync, like NVENC/Shadowplay, SUCKS for streaming as far as quality is concerned.

 

Be neutral here, boys & girls. He's asking purely about streaming performance, not about running a multitude of games. He hasn't even mentioned if he's using his PC to game or if he's going to use a capture card. The only time you should recommend intel over AMD without fail is if the CPU in question is an i7. The only time you should recommend an i5 over an AMD CPU is if (and only if) the user wishes to stream a lot of PC games (especially ones which use a single thread to its maximum, like UE3 DX9 titles for example) AND the user is fine with doing a bit of OCing to get quality.

 

If leaving streaming settings at default, pretty much any CPU on the market might do it at 720p and below as far as stream resolution is concerned, but the AMD ones have a lot of cores and a lot of power that most programs won't use, but OBS/Xsplit/etc will.

 

The same goes for users who wanna render out things. A locked i5 isn't better than an 8350 if the render program will use all the cores.

why do people still think that you can't overclock locked i3/i5/i7 ?

You can, just not as much as a K cpu and you can't mess around with vcore stuff as freely. But you CAN overclock it. I got a friend running an i3 at 3.8 (a "locked" one).

[D2ultima]

why do people still think that you can't overclock locked i3/i5/i7 ?

You can, just not as much as a K cpu and you can't mess around with vcore stuff as freely. But you CAN overclock it. I got a friend running an i3 at 3.8 (a "locked" one).

Yeah... but that still isn't nearly enough to beat an unlocked-out-the-gate 8350. And I'm sure that's messing with bclk too, which many aren't prepared/willing to do.

[Kc7vwc]

I'd go with a high-end i3 for about $150. In my experience, streaming performance is more likely to have trouble with upload bandwidth than CPU performance.

What @typographie said - I'm currently using an A10-6800K (and using the iGPU for gaming) and I'm streaming just fine. With my ISP, I'm doing default OBS settings with video encoding at 1200 kb/s. When my stream goes live, I'm only losing about 5-15FPS as measured in-game.

Right now I'd be willing to say any CPU will stream just fine if the system can already play the game fine. Your bandwidth will matter more beyond that.

[i_build_nanosuits]

What is the best CPU for streaming games with a budget of $100-150?

FX-8320

[zappian]

@i_build_nanosuits

 

I dont agree with you on this on.

 

i3+quick sync works wonders.

 

But i Respect your opinion

[i_build_nanosuits]

@i_build_nanosuits

 

I dont agree with you on this on.

 

i3+quick sync works wonders.

 

But i Respect your opinion

the i3 is just as good...depends what games he want to stream/play really.

i'd spend an extra 15$ for an i5-4440 or i5-4460 personaly.

 

Both the i5-4460/H97 and FX-8320/ 8 phase 970 socket board/ cpu cooler will end up costing the same.

 

i would personally buy this along with a single 8GB stick of DDR3 any speed as cheap as possible and i'd call it a day:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($171.98 @ NCIX US)

Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($39.89 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $211.87

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-08 14:02 EST-0500

[zappian]

the i3 is just as good...depends what games he want to stream/play really.

i'd spend an extra 15$ for an i5-4440 or i5-4460 personaly.

@i_build_nanosuits

 

This one has the best igpu for streaming.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=i3+4360&N=-1&isNodeId=1

 

Yup me too.

[i_build_nanosuits]

@i_build_nanosuits

 

This one has the best igpu for streaming.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=i3+4360&N=-1&isNodeId=1

 

Yup me too.

what's the difference between the IGP of this particular i3 vs i5-4460 IGP?

on intel site it says intel HD graphics 4600 for both processors?

[zappian]

@i_build_nanosuits

 

Compared to the i3 4160 its the 4400 vs 4600.

 

That was what I was referring too.