Computer for streaming - twitch.tv/sco

[Sco]

Hey guys, my brother recently posted on these forums and was very happy with the feedback in regards to building his new computer. I am looking for some general feedback as well in regards to upgrading/building a new computer. My main reason for wanting to upgrade is to improve my FPS/stream quality (www.twitch.tv/sco). I have $400 of HyperX 'vouchers' to make use of, and additionally I just received £300 Amazon.co.uk vouchers so now seems like a good time!

Budget: $400 HyperX budget (must be used on HyperX products), £300 Amazon.co.uk vouchers, cash budget is not so specific - but maybe around £500
Resolution: -
Games / Settings Desired: WoW PvE raids @ high FPS
Any other intensive software or special things you do: streaming (www.twitch.tv/sco)
Country: United Kingdom
Parts that can be reused: The below is available from current computer;
Graphics card: GTX 780, GTX 670
Processor: I7 3820
SSD: HyperX 480GB SSD
HDD: 1TB HDD
RAM: 8GB of mid range
Do you need an OS? No
Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc)? No

Right now I am thinking/wondering;

• I7 4790 processor
• GTX 970 OR GTX980 - is the difference worth the ~£150 variance?
• Which mobo should I get?
• Can't remember my exact PSU, but is it likely I will need a new one?
• What to use the HyperX $400 budget on? I already have a HyperX 480GB SSD - I assume the best possible DDR3 HyperX Ram? But then what to do with the surplus?

What are your thoughts? Am I going for the right approach here or should I be looking at other options/parts with my main intention being to get the stream quality as high as possible.

EDIT: Will do a speed test when I get home and add it to this thread for upload speed.

[Evildeffy]

Well Sco you have plenty of options but looking at what you already have I am going to ask you the following:

What Motherboard do you have right now? There are some "sidegrades" you can get but your rig is plenty powerful for it already.

However I DO have 1 proper upgrade for you that impacts your streaming very little depending on how much bandwidth you get from being a Twitch.TV partner.
It also depends upon what resolution you stream/game at and whether or not you use HDMI on your main monitor.

http://avertv.avermedia.com/avertv/P...d=571&device=4

That will allow you to stream, IF Twitch.TV partner status gives you the bandwidth, almost without any impact to your FPS.
You can use software based as well such as OBS (which you're likely using) or via graphics card itself (nVidia Shadowplay f.ex.)

But as far as I'm aware this is the least impactful way.

Looking at your system you could possibly upgrade your CPU and have it overclocked and get a nice big fat set of HyperX RAM with those vouchers you got.

Technically what you have is already powerful enough.

Edit: You stole a good couple of guildies from me during vanilla/early TBC, though the only ones I can remember are Liight and Lambi ... not sure about Lambi.

[Yenami]

GPU: I got a 980 myself but the difference between them is very slim (10-20%ish percent). Save the £150 and buy another 970 later to run them in SLI.
CPU: I7 4790K so you can overclock for that extra performance if you buy a CPU Cooler.
PSU: If the one you have is half decent it will probably be just fine. 9xx cards are not power hungry and the main difference between new and old PSU is the power saving mode on the new intel CPUs.
RAM: "Ram is ram", really doesn't impact your FPS much at all if its 1600MHz or 3000MHz. However no reason not to spend that HyperX money on some top shelf 16gb ram.
Mobo: Doesn't matter too much unless you are heavy overclocking. Just get the right socket for the CPU and look for one with the right amount connections that you need (usb3, sata etc. etc.)

TL;DR: Yes you are on the right track. A build like that should be more than powerful to play on max settings on a good 100+ FPS in raids while streaming 1080p.

[Sco]

Hey Evildeffy,

1. Can't remember the mobo atm will need to get back to you on that one.

2. In regards to the stream card I don't know much about it, how exactly does it work? I stream and game at 1080p, I don't currently use a HDMI connection on my monitor but it has one to use if I wanted to. BenQ XL2420T is my main monitor with a Dell ultrasharp IPS as secondary. I currently use Xsplit premium. "IF Twitch.TV partner status gives you the bandwidth" how can I find this out and what are the implications?

===

Liight the paladin? I remember Lambi more, good priest



Hey Inactive,

Thanks for your response, I haven't done in depth reading but from what I did skim over its mostly better to go with a single card if possible rather than 2 'lesser' cards in SLI? For example a single 980 vs 2x970. Yeah not sure yet what to use the HyperX $ on - I already have a lot of their great products

[Deleted]

Unless you are playing at higher than 1080p ie 1440p then your gtx 780 has more than enough power. You won't see any difference going for gtx 970 or even 980 where it matters.

To help you understand how it works in wow. In open world your cpu isn't doing much work when you fly/quest but your gpu is, so a better gpu increases your maximum fps. You probably already see 80-120 fps in open areas so playing at 1080p @ 60Hz gives you 0 benefit.

From the other hand, when you raid mythic cpu power is what matters. Getting a higher clocked cpu or overclocking your current one will increase your minimum fps. In other words when now your fps drops down to say 40fps during pulls or intensive fights in general, having a higher clocked cpu would increase tha min drop to say 50fps. You cpu matter more in wow and mmo's rather than gpu.

Your cpu atm can go up to 3.8Ghz and its a good overclocker. It makes more sense to overclock that to say 4.3-4.5 GHz with a good aftermarket cpu cooler rather than buying new for so little gains. For reference my i5 4670k is clocked at 4.4Ghz, with a gtx770 i barely drop below 60fps during raids with almost all on ultra except shadows. IF for whatever reason you don't want to get into overclocking then your only option will be an i7 4790k (the k one is alot higher clocked). That also means new motherboard since yours atm is a different platform. How much difference will it make, hard to tell. If i had to give you an estimate/assumption it would be in the 5-10fps tops in those fps drops. So will get say from 45 to 55fps at best during those intensive fights.

(going for X99 platform, the updated from the one you already got, besides more expensive, will give you nothing if you don't want to overclock)

I also see you got 8gb of ram. If you find yourself needing more you can add another 2x4gb of the same or similar specs ram sticks.

Psu you don't need another since your gpu won't change unless its old and you want a new one.

This is what i would go for, just tell us what ram you got exactly so the cpu cooler has enough clearance:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£221.94 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 93.3 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (£61.98 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£97.99 @ Novatech)
Total: £381.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-10 13:00 BST+0100

If go by amazon only it will cost you more:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£256.98 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£69.65 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£120.66 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £447.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-10 13:03 BST+0100


For HyperX vouchers, i guess you could buy another 2x4gb kingston ram sticks that match the ones you got atm. Other than that since you got a very good sized ssd...well there isn't much else if i assume that you use Cloud headset.


All the above options said, the following months intel is releasing the new Skylake cpu chips. Since the 1150 platform (i7 4790k) has almost reached its end of life, ie changing to the new 1151, i would say wait for it. You won't really see huge benefits for ~400pounds either its your money or vouchers. Unless of course those vouchers have an expiration date some times soon.

[Evildeffy]

Hey Evildeffy,

1. Can't remember the mobo atm will need to get back to you on that one.

2. In regards to the stream card I don't know much about it, how exactly does it work? I stream and game at 1080p, I don't currently use a HDMI connection on my monitor but it has one to use if I wanted to. BenQ XL2420T is my main monitor with a Dell ultrasharp IPS as secondary. I currently use Xsplit premium. "IF Twitch.TV partner status gives you the bandwidth" how can I find this out and what are the implications?

===

Liight the paladin? I remember Lambi more, good priest

Well Sco if you want I can go over all the options and implications regarding whatever it is you desire in detail.

Considering you're gunning for this type of info would you be interested in either say a Skype call or Mumble/Ventrilo talk about these things?
That way I can find out how many guildies you stole from me in total too

[Xjev]

Hey Evildeffy,

1. Can't remember the mobo atm will need to get back to you on that one.

This software can tell you what mobo you are using:

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

[Yenami]

@Sco: Single cards are usually the way to go. However 2x970s will easily outperform a single 980. Obviously a single 980 now and another 980 later will be even greater but you don't really need that much performance for WoW only. Kinda doubt you'll see much difference between 970 and your 780 even.




Kostattoo: Worth to mention other than the little Ghz difference between the i7 4790 and i7 4790k is that the k stands for unlocked. You can't overclock intel CPUs that are not unlocked so if you want overclocking you need the i7 4790k. Other than that little detail the rest of your post is spot on.

@Vegas82: Don't get me wrong, 980 and another 980 down the line will obviously be better. Saying 'most expensive' though is not correct as a 980Ti or TitanX will not do you any more good than a 980 (unless you're playing VR or 4K resolution). So if cost/performance is of any interest then the 970 is the way to go as it's literally 10-20% less than 980 for nearly half the price.

@Xjev: His current mobo is irrelevant if he is going to upgrade to i7 4790k (unless Sco decides to only go for a GPU and ram upgrade) as its LGA2011 socket and he would need LGA1150 socket.

[johnblund]

Hi Sco,

Different ways to go about it all.

Get like http://gamerzone.avermedia.com/game_.../live_gamer_hd or the lite depending on the price you wanna pay and your set and/or if you want to upgrade some hardware also but not really needed at all.

Are you looking for a longtime upgrade always go for the best in that case. Sure it costs a little bit more right now but it will last you years.

Kostatto gave good picks on hardware upgrades.

Good luck Sco.

[Deleted]

Kostattoo: Worth to mention other than the little Ghz difference between the i7 4790 and i7 4790k is that the k stands for unlocked. You can't overclock intel CPUs that are not unlocked so if you want overclocking you need the i7 4790k.

You can actually overclock a non k CPU it's just much more limited in comparison.

[Evildeffy]

You can actually overclock a non k CPU it's just much more limited in comparison.

It's actually even a bit different with this architecture which only Kostattoo has spotted barring myself.
He has an Intel Core i7 3820 which is Sandy Bridge-E and thus has no iGPU on the CPU.

Which means overclocking by using base clock has the same potential .. just a lot more of a pain in the ass to reach.

Hence why I asked the things I did rather than jump to recommendations to other things which aren't very helpful to his situation.
Also I'm willing to bet most of you haven't even seen any of the VODs he has on his channel on Twitch.

[Lathais]

Have you streamed with your current rig yet? Is it giving you any issues? It seems like a fine system you should have no problems with.

[Sco]

Thanks Kostattoo for that detailed post, you have made many things clearer.
Right now I haven't put the 780 GTX in my current computer nor the 480GB Hyper X SSD (currently got the 670 GTX and a 120GB SSD in), I will put those components in and investigate OC'ing the processor and see what the results are. And yes I use a Cloud II headset so still not sure what to do with the HyperX budget haha!

Evildeffy, yeah might take you up on that offer to learn a bit more about the stream card and possibly OC'ing the i7 3820? - I am heading out to Dreamhack Summer this weekend so possibly some time next week would be good if you are around.

Xjev, yep thanks man - I meant that I was at work and couldn't check tho

Inactive, thanks for reinforcing Kostattoo's point - will definitely try the 780 first before purchasing anything new.

Thanks for all your responses guys, great forum here.

Will update this thread with my mobo/PSU/upload speed when I get a chance (at work now).

[Evildeffy]

Evildeffy, yeah might take you up on that offer to learn a bit more about the stream card and possibly OC'ing the i7 3820? - I am heading out to Dreamhack Summer this weekend so possibly some time next week would be good if you are around.

I will be lurking about these fora so simply send me a PM when you want and I'll assist you with the entire matter.
It's easier to understand and explain things like this as you'll likely want to know a great amount of things you haven't thought up of yet

Also.. enjoy Dreamhack.

[Nuckels]

Depending on the mobo/psu/case I would overclock your current CPU with a good cooler and put in the 780. (as previously posted)

Your current CPU (depending on the silicon lottery) has some serious overclocking potential, seeing it go as high as 4.7 ghz.
Ofcourse as said it entirely depends on the luck of the draw with your chip but I see on reason to replace the current cpu.

What ram do you have currently? (The speed, you already stated 8gb.) Reason I ask is because you got some hyperx vouchers might be worth using em on some new ram.

[Obsession]

This is a very complicated question without knowing exactly which games you play (other than WoW) and how much you care about using maxed settings while streaming in those games. I know you said you wanted the best stream quality, which makes me really think you should use a 2 PC setup for streaming. Most of the popular streamers have switched to or have been using a 2pc setup for some time now. 3820 -> 4790k is a pretty big upgrade, but honestly, unless you get some serious overclocking on that 4790k it won't be anywhere close to night and day.

When Destiny switched to a 2 PC setup (from a single computer setup with a 5960x) he was saying it's just not possible to get the performance from a single processor for the stream quality he wanted, while playing games at the quality he wanted with no hit to performance. Anyway, that was a very verbose way of saying I think you should use the 3820 (overclock it a bit) to be your dedicated streaming PC (graphics card doesn't matter as much for this) and build a newer one for you to actually play games on. I'd talk to Destiny (@steven_bonnell) on twitter, his email/skype is pretty public knowledge as well but I don't want to post it because I don't know all of the rules here, about his thoughts on the matter. Historically, he has been very helpful to other streamers about things like this. I'm pretty sure your primary source of income or at least a major source is your streaming, so I'd strongly suggest someone who does the exact same thing as you what he thinks about the matter. He made a blog post about 5 weeks ago talking about his current PC setups, etc that might also help: https://blog.destiny.gg/current-stre...t-up-may-2015/ -- I don't think it would be that much of a help because he has like 8k in computer parts, but it's worth including.

TL;DR- I'd recommend using your current PC for streaming (overclock it a bit, reinstall windows, use the 120gb ssd you have, maybe get 16gb ram, and use your 670), but build a new one that you actually play on. This will ensure no matter what, your streaming will have no negative effect on your framerate in any game.

[Deafyx]

Just a thing, since you have said you own most of Hyper X Products and what not, you could consider doing giveaways on your stream with items you can get with the funding from Hyper X.