Old I7: Still okay for streaming to twitch? *BUDGET STREAM PC*

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Jun 3, 2014
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I've recently been looking for a used computer to handle streaming my game play to twitch. All I need is for the computer to run OBS/Xsplit and encode the stream at a high bit rate at 1080p 30fps.I have a PCIe capture card (Avermedia C985) currently in my single computer. The capture card encodes the stream instead of my CPU and frankly the quality is a bit lackluster, even though it allows me to stream a lot more games with my measly core I5 4590 ( Streaming and playing consistently makes my PC's CPU 100%.)

Anyway so I ran into a decent computer at a shop near me, It's an "HP Compaq 8100 Elite" but runs with an I7 860 with the low price of 180$ in total. I understand this is an older CPU but I was curious if it would be able to take the load of streaming at "Medium-Slower" encoding settings.

If I have to, I can spend 350$ on a dedicated streaming computer and if anybody insists that this I7 can not handle streaming please give me your own personal choices on builds for a streaming PC.

Note: I recently compared the I7 860 to my I5 4590 and I noticed the I7 is not only decimated by the I5 but also does not come with integrated graphics, luckily the build I'm purchasing comes with an ATI video card. Thank you for taking the time to read this and sharing your knowledge.
 
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synphul
If you already have a newer haswell platform but you're looking for hyper threading to stream you might consider the xeon 1231v3. Less than a 4790/4790k usually (depending on regional pricing/availability) and it's clocked like an i7 4770. Under $300 new.

The newer i5 is a faster cpu, however if you simply want a secondary system to do nothing but encode and stream while you game on your primary system it should work. How fast it will be is another story. Not sure you'll get much better of a complete system for that price range really.
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BIGMACASSASSIN

BIGMACASSASSIN

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Aug 24, 2014
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that i5 is probably better but you should save some money and try to get a skylake cpu like the i5-6600k that would be great for streaming and if you can get the money the i7-6700k that would be an awesome streaming processor but with the options you have listed the i7-860 would probably do worse than the i5-4590
 
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synphul

synphul

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Mar 11, 2011
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If you already have a newer haswell platform but you're looking for hyper threading to stream you might consider the xeon 1231v3. Less than a 4790/4790k usually (depending on regional pricing/availability) and it's clocked like an i7 4770. Under $300 new.

The newer i5 is a faster cpu, however if you simply want a secondary system to do nothing but encode and stream while you game on your primary system it should work. How fast it will be is another story. Not sure you'll get much better of a complete system for that price range really.
 
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Jun 3, 2014
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Thanks for the answers, sadly I have one more quick question, instead of getting an entirely new system would it be a waste to just upgrade my proccessor in my single computer? Like, get an I7 lga 1150 CPU and just run with a better CPU?
 
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synphul

synphul

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I'm not sure how the two would compare. The single haswell i7 would stream better than a first gen i7 for sure. However if you're gaming and streaming, using the cpu to encode the stream at the same time it's almost certainly going to be a bit more taxing than strictly gaming on an i5. Meaning somewhat of a fps hit. Many people looking for streaming without a fps hit will use two pc's, one to game and one to stream. Another option depending on your video card might be to try shadowplay if you've got an nvidia card. Rather than obs/xsplit.

Some of your streaming performance will depend on your internet connection as well, especially if you're playing a multiplayer online game that's downloading/uploading as you actually play as well as trying to upload a high quality hd stream. A newer i7 is preferable to an i5 for gaming/streaming on a single pc due to the ht but it's going to have some impact most likely, just less than it would on a single i5.
 
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