Building a new computer for gaming and streaming!

[HTPFliperon]

Good evening everyone,

I recently started streaming and it was a blast. I found it really addictive and with the many good feedback I had I want to dedicate a lot more time and effort to it. I plan on learning the ropes as we go but to me streaming is creating an amazing experience for the viewers, one that they enjoy and make them grow as gamers as well as individuals.

One of the key things here for me is video quality. Right now I have all the bandwidth needed to got 1080p easely but my hardware is just struggling (30m dowload/10m upload). Sadly, I barely manage to get the stream "not so much lagging" with video downscale at 1.75 in OBS for now.

So here is what I am looking for : 

1. Good advice on tuning OBS! This will at least make it more enjoyable for the viewers while I am contemplating the option of building a new computer (by contemplating I mean this is probably just a question of time )
2. I do know the IT world but I am not familiar with the hardware trends and things to look for. I will do my research on the net but I am looking for good advice there. Keep in mind I am looking forward to start streaming very regularly and I definitely want to do so with the highest quality possible (video and audio)
2. Experienced streamers advice What did you learn in the early days of your "streamer career" that you feel made a significant difference for you in term of success?

Best regards,
-----------------------------------------
"The greatest source of power one can harness is its own mind. But before being able to do so, one must first learn to surpass his own limitations. Always remember that square A and B are of the same color..."
- Philippe P. || Fliperon

[meetthefutur3]

I MIGHT BE WRONG, but that might also be an issue with twitch - all non-partner streams are lagging for some people
I'll ask a couple of mates who know more about this

Also watching 1080p stream requires quite a good internet channel - which not everyone have an access too. And for the channels w/o partnership there's no option to chose a resolution you want to watch the stream at - which means your stream will be always shown at 1080p and it till lagg for everyone who got a slower connection.

[GPrime]

Yeah, future is right on about user-end bandwidth. I don't think I'd ever upload more than 2500kbit video + 128kbit audio for that reason. But that bitrate is plenty sufficient for 1080p / 1.5 downscaling (720p user-end).

Even at 2200 + 128, some of my viewers say they get choppy playback occasionally.

With respect to building a PC, I can share some resources with you next time we meet on the TS.

[HTPFliperon]

First of all thanks for taking the time to reply to the thread with insightful tips

As meetthefutur mentioned, I was completely forgetting that if the quality is too high, it might make it so that viewers can't watch the stream smoothly. I think setting a goal of 720p with between 30-60 fps will be reasonable enough for what I want to do.

I made some more testings and I think i found the bottleneck of my system... my cpu which is an i7 Q720 1.60GHz... From what I gather, i'm lucky that my computer did not burn while I did a few hours of streaming last weekend! My graphics card is not so good either : Radeon HD 5800...

Long story short, even without streaming, I'll most probably need an upgrade to play Hex with decent settings when all the graphics and particle effects are in the game.

Conclusion, a new PC will be on the works and my wallet will never forgive me

If anyone has good resources or recommendations on PC parts I should be looking for please let me know! I'll definitly take Prime on his offer next time we meet.

In the meantime last question: I got an headset with a mic but i'd rather just have a good mic. Any suggestions?

Thanks again!

[htpFlyingMeatchip]

ReviewTechUSA on youtube built an affordable gaming pc for around 500-600 bucks.

[GPrime]

One issue between mics and headsets is sound isolation. Even a good, directional condenser mic will pick up some noise from your computer speakers if you don't mute is completely. Worse yet, if you have a guest speaker then you'll have feedback problems.

So you need headphones no matter what. If you'd like to do away with the headset mic then you can combine a desk mic with the headphones--the snowball is a decent, affordable solution that's popular with podcasters.

[juzamjedi]

Just saw this thread. What headset / microphone do you recommend? I recently started testing out streaming and some users are telling me that audio is a problem. If I play music at all in the background it is drowning out my voice.

[GPrime]

juzamjedi: The issue isn't as much recording quality as volume control. Voice is naturally lower volume than pretty much any other sounds on your computer. To fix this, I manually adjust the master volume of everything to make sure it all goes out right. It's a good habit to have if you just play online games without streaming, as well--Skype, Teamspeak, etc. are naturally quite quiet compared to game volume.

For reference, I stream with my iTunes and Hex volume both around 20%.

Also, make sure you have "Noise Suppression" enabled in your microphone properties if it's available. It helps reduce computer fan noise and other background noise pretty well.

[HTPFliperon]

Hi there everyone,

After digging a bit and weighting my options here is the computer I'll be using for the next few years for gaming and streaming

PART BRAND/MAKE
---- ----------
case Antec Twelve Hundred 1200 V3
motherboard ASUS Rampage IV Extreme
cpu Core I7-4820k
cpu cooling Corsair H100i
ram Corsair Vengeance Red 4X4GB DDR3-2133
gpu GeForce GTX780
power supply Corsair HX1050w

I should receive all the parts by the end of next week My only concern with the computer would be the noise level but I guess I'll have to deal with it if it becomes a problem.

I thank everyone for their advice I'll give you guys feedback with the rig is up and running and how I like it Hopefully it will make a big difference for streaming!