Advice needed for building a streaming and recording PC

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CrashAndBurn

668 posts

Ultimate Geek

#240009 15-Aug-2018 09:14

Last year I have built a PC for my son from old parts. Current specs below.

i5-3470 3.2Ghz

32GB RAM

6850 GPU

The current issue is the quality of recording and streaming while playing Fortnite and using SLOBS. Any recommendation on what needs to be upgraded or settings to use in SLOBS?

His birthday is coming next month so was hoping to gain some improvement without breaking the bank.

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1243 posts

Uber Geek

#2073714 15-Aug-2018 09:48

A graphics card with NVENC (Nvidia) or VCE (AMD) support should help. You should start by checking if SLOBS supports them though, as I have no experience with streaming.

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
13765 posts

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#2073715 15-Aug-2018 09:52

Newer video card def be of help. Anything other than that will require new cpu, board and RAM.

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SpartanVXL

1306 posts

Uber Geek

#2073717 15-Aug-2018 09:58

So main issue, you don't have enough of the right resources to both play the game AND stream/record.

If you are using CPU encode (h264 etc.), then you have not enough cores/threads. An easy upgrade is to pop in is a second hand i7 3700(k) or Xeon server CPU to get 4c/8t but this may not be satisfactory. Ryzen 2700(x) will do it the best with 8c/16t, but Coffeelake i7 8700(k) 6c/12t will be sufficient as well. The only issue is you'll have to rebuy RAM and motherboard for the new platform

If you want to use GPU encode (NVENC, or AMD equiv) you need a GPU upgrade. I only know of the nvidia side, Maxwell and above definitely have the required features to do hardware encoding.

Third option if to try one of those external capture cards that sit between your GPU's output and monitor. These usually run a few hundred $ and have lesser requirements.

Unless Fortnite is really the only thing being played, I would get a GPU upgrade first. Play around with it's encoding features and see if it's enough. Otherwise go for the Ivybridge i7 upgrade if you can find one cheap. You might also have better luck grabbing a Xeon equivalent to the 3770k from the US for around $50usd.

Also, overclock if you can, 4GHz is easily attainable on ivybridge and may give you a boost to what you already have.

CrashAndBurn

668 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2073722 15-Aug-2018 10:03

Thanks for the feedback. Keep them coming. Right now its just Fortnite. If he is only playing then the current specs is enough. Its only when he plays and record at the same time that it sh!ts itself :)

Coil

6614 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#2073797 15-Aug-2018 10:47

CrashAndBurn:

Thanks for the feedback. Keep them coming. Right now its just Fortnite. If he is only playing then the current specs is enough. Its only when he plays and record at the same time that it sh!ts itself :)

For him to be pushed past that line you will need to do a system wide upgrade. I would be looking at going for a new gen more efficient CPU with a higher core count. They handle video encoding and everything else much much better and efficiently. A clock speed and core count is virtually meaningless.

I'd also wait for the 11 series NVidia cards. I feel that upgrading his CPU is going to see minimal results, See the difference between a Ryzen and your current one here: http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Ryzen-5-2600X-vs-Intel-Core-i5-3470/3956vs2771

Cheers

CrashAndBurn

668 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2073801 15-Aug-2018 10:52

It seems thread count is the important bit based on the comparison. And yes I am waiting for the 11 series cards.

CrashAndBurn

668 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2073824 15-Aug-2018 11:17

SpartanVXL: So main issue, you don't have enough of the right resources to both play the game AND stream/record. If you are using CPU encode (h264 etc.), then you have not enough cores/threads. An easy upgrade is to pop in is a second hand i7 3700(k) or Xeon server CPU to get 4c/8t but this may not be satisfactory. Ryzen 2700(x) will do it the best with 8c/16t, but Coffeelake i7 8700(k) 6c/12t will be sufficient as well. The only issue is you'll have to rebuy RAM and motherboard for the new platform If you want to use GPU encode (NVENC, or AMD equiv) you need a GPU upgrade. I only know of the nvidia side, Maxwell and above definitely have the required features to do hardware encoding. Third option if to try one of those external capture cards that sit between your GPU's output and monitor. These usually run a few hundred $ and have lesser requirements. Unless Fortnite is really the only thing being played, I would get a GPU upgrade first. Play around with it's encoding features and see if it's enough. Otherwise go for the Ivybridge i7 upgrade if you can find one cheap. You might also have better luck grabbing a Xeon equivalent to the 3770k from the US for around $50usd. Also, overclock if you can, 4GHz is easily attainable on ivybridge and may give you a boost to what you already have.

The planned upgrade is GPU. Thinking of 1050/1060. If I go ahead with this plan. Will the CPU still be OK? I feel that the RAM is more than enough right now as when I checked task manager, it goes up to 9GB in use MAX.

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ratsun81

508 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2073831 15-Aug-2018 11:30

I run a Ryzen 5 1600 6c/12t. works very well for streaming with the nvidia geforce software and a 1070.

I have a few mates with i5 4000 series and they struggle to manage gamestreaming. It really is important to have enough cores/threads.

4c/8t would be my minimum suggestion having done this myself with more demanding titles like Battlefield1 and PUBG.

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gbwelly

1243 posts

Uber Geek

#2073858 15-Aug-2018 12:48

CrashAndBurn:

The planned upgrade is GPU. Thinking of 1050/1060. If I go ahead with this plan. Will the CPU still be OK? I feel that the RAM is more than enough right now as when I checked task manager, it goes up to 9GB in use MAX.

The 1060 6GB is a great price-performer. I'd say focus on hardware accelerated encoding on the graphics card, software encoding on CPU is crazy intensive in comparison.

Don't waste your money on a new motherboard, CPU and RAM.

CrashAndBurn

668 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2073864 15-Aug-2018 12:58

gbwelly:

CrashAndBurn:

The planned upgrade is GPU. Thinking of 1050/1060. If I go ahead with this plan. Will the CPU still be OK? I feel that the RAM is more than enough right now as when I checked task manager, it goes up to 9GB in use MAX.

The 1060 6GB is a great price-performer. I'd say focus on hardware accelerated encoding on the graphics card, software encoding on CPU is crazy intensive in comparison.

Don't waste your money on a new motherboard, CPU and RAM.

That is exactly what I am looking at the 6GB 1060. I am just holding off to see what the 11 series brings plus the added bonus of a few people offloading their 1060 to upgrade.

SpartanVXL

1306 posts

Uber Geek

#2073892 15-Aug-2018 14:48

Your RAM is more than enough, tune it in @1600Mhz (or higher if you got the good stuff) and you'll be right.

i7 3770k drop-in is still a good upgrade to consider. Doubling the available threads always has benefits.

I know quite a few people who went i5 back in the day, for good reason because it suited their need and budget. I've found that most of them have moved on from their Sandy/Ivy/Haswell/Devils Canyon to Ryzen+ (and the odd Coffeelake) simply because as time went on they wanted to do more with their machines, and that needed more threads available to handle the games + whatever in the background (or streaming).

While CPU encoding is a bit more taxing, from memory there is a quality difference between it and the GPU accelerated encoding. If this is no concern for you then go straight for the GPU upgrade and don't worry too much about cpu for now.

Coil

6614 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#2073893 15-Aug-2018 14:55

My only concern from here is that for some reason Fortnite thrashes graphics cards to the point where I suspect there is a "leak" of some kind.

If I run my game max settings I can get a solid 60FPS when frame limited and Vsync on (60fps limits and screen refresh).
My GPU usage is at 100% flat lining and CPU around 20%. (7700HQ)

If I run my game on lowest settings (keeping resolution at 1080p) I also get a solid 60 FPS when frame limited and Vsync on (60fps limits and screen refresh).
Surprise surprise my GPU is also still flatlining at 100% and CPU sits around 15%..

If you plan to encode video with a GPU while playing fortnite your gonna have a bad time...

SpartanVXL

1306 posts

Uber Geek

#2073910 15-Aug-2018 15:10

If using NVENC iirc it copies data direct from the frame buffer into dedicated hardware and shouldn't directly affect fps. Only downside is that it's a noticeable quality drop from h.264 at the same bitrate.

Otherwise there was that issue for UE4 that was reported fixed in latest nvidia drivers. I can't recall if it was related to usage or vram leak though.

Coil

6614 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#2073957 15-Aug-2018 15:35

SpartanVXL: If using NVENC iirc it copies data direct from the frame buffer into dedicated hardware and shouldn't directly affect fps. Only downside is that it's a noticeable quality drop from h.264 at the same bitrate. Otherwise there was that issue for UE4 that was reported fixed in latest nvidia drivers. I can't recall if it was related to usage or vram leak though.

I don't have a VRAM leak but it pegs usage.

gbwelly

1243 posts

Uber Geek

#2074039 15-Aug-2018 16:11

Coil:

My only concern from here is that for some reason Fortnite thrashes graphics cards to the point where I suspect there is a "leak" of some kind.

If I run my game max settings I can get a solid 60FPS when frame limited and Vsync on (60fps limits and screen refresh).
My GPU usage is at 100% flat lining and CPU around 20%. (7700HQ)

If I run my game on lowest settings (keeping resolution at 1080p) I also get a solid 60 FPS when frame limited and Vsync on (60fps limits and screen refresh).
Surprise surprise my GPU is also still flatlining at 100% and CPU sits around 15%..

If you plan to encode video with a GPU while playing fortnite your gonna have a bad time...

Maybe Epic is running crypto mining with any unused GPU cycles :)

What is your graphics card?

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