Streaming in 720p Upgrade question

[Deleted]

Hello there, fellow MMO-Champions. I'm currently looking to upgrade my current PC to allow me to stream my WoW raids in decent 720p quality. My current specs are:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2 GHz (hasn't been overclocked to my knowledge)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460
Motherboard: ASUSTeK M4A77T/USB3
8GB RAM

From my understanding, biggest deal in streaming is CPU and of course upload speed. I'd welcome any suggestions for proper processor that could handle WoW in 60fps on at least good settings while streaming in 720p quality, 30fps. I'd also like to mention that I'm looking for most economic solution as I can't really afford too much as a student.

Second question is regarding my connection - I'm currently sitting on only 1 Mbps upload speed, which I know is not enough for this. I already picked different ISP and would like to ensure that declared upload speed of 6 Mbps is enough (as it will of course drop from time to time).

Thanks

[Riverness]

I have the exact same CPU, similar GPU and 12GB of ram, and 1Mbps of upload too.

My settings for streaming are lowest possible settings for WoW; my PC runs it in a 25man raid at around 45-50 fps, and while streaming it drops to 20-25. And I have my CPU mildly overclocked to 3.6GHz..

It would certainly be better quality with higher bitrate provided you get better upload speed, but that will only make the viewers' experience better. FPS won't change much for you.

Edit: I completely overlooked the question!! SORRY!!!!

Your best bet would be going Intel. i7-3770K is the best you could get for your money (I know there are better ones, but this is the most reasonable one in terms of price/performance, even if it leans towards the price bit a bit more), i5-3570K is the most common choice I believe, which will probably double the X4 955 in performance. Get an aftermarket cooler to overclock it to 4.2-4.4 GHz, and you have a beast.

And 6 Mbps will be more than enough to stream 720p 30fps.

[Deleted]

Yeah, I'm also able to run stream on like 25 FPS but I hate when streaming hinders by ability to be fully aware of everything, it also just sometimes freezes for a milisecond and that's sadly unacceptable. I'm not really sure here, but I believe my motherboard wouldn't be able to run those Intel processor as it says AMD chipset... or would it? Don't really want to buy new board AND processor, especially as i7 or even i5 don't really seem to be too cheap

[Riverness]

Yeah, I'm also able to run stream on like 25 FPS but I hate when streaming hinders by ability to be fully aware of everything, it also just sometimes freezes for a milisecond and that's sadly unacceptable. I'm not really sure here, but I believe my motherboard wouldn't be able to run those Intel processor as it says AMD chipset... or would it? Don't really want to buy new board AND processor, especially as i7 or even i5 don't really seem to be too cheap

Exactly, you'll need a new motherboard too.

Thing is, none of the new AMD CPU's are good for WoW. While Intel is better with each individual core, AMD adds more cores. WoW doesn't get better with more cores.

Stream performance might be better with AMD FX 8 core or something, but WoW might be worse.

[Deleted]

Oh well, thanks a lot for all the info, now I'm going to count my pennies and see what I can get

---------- Post added 2013-01-21 at 11:14 PM ----------

Or maybe - would it work if I bought AMD 6core or something? I don't mind if my WoW performance stays the same and it should increase my streaming ability, no?

[Riverness]

Or maybe - would it work if I bought AMD 6core or something? I don't mind if my WoW performance stays the same and it should increase my streaming ability, no?

I'd suggest saving up more and invest in an i5 or i7. AMD is a waste of resources atm. (IN MY OPINION)

[Deleted]

I'd suggest saving up more and invest in an i5 or i7. AMD is a waste of resources atm. (IN MY OPINION)

Alright, thanks again.

[Riverness]

Alright, thanks again.

You're welcome : )

[Fascinate]

Get a program called dxtory (it is not free, but you may be able to "Find" some free versions on the internet).

I can stream and literally not even notice a performance hit while running this program. Also, use open broadcast software rather than xsplit, it is less CPU intensive.

[Riverness]

I can stream and literally not even notice a performance hit while running this program. Also, use open broadcast software rather than xsplit, it is less CPU intensive.

XSplit 1.2 is almost as good as OBS, but yeah I agree. OBS is better in terms of performance. No idea about this dxtory, gonna check it out.