Configuration wrong? second PC for Streaming?

[forerunner]

Hi there, i have a Computer setup consisting of two gtx 670 ftw's, an i7 3770k, 16 gigs of ram and an Avermedia Live Gamer HD capture card.

The capture card alone increased my streaming performance quite a bit, but it still doesnt feel like, im not streaming at all, mostly, probably, because i have a 120hz monitor and am still using Xsplit on the same computer to stream with. Now, i have been doing some tests and it seems like i gain almost no benefit from the second 670, and only time i see a difference in performance is when i use the second card primarily to run my second screen, where i watch xsplit and the stream on while playing games on the other. Im wondering if theres a way, or method of configuring these video cards, that i havent tried that might help me out, or would i just save a lot of time and grief by basically taking an i5 3570k and slapping a bunch of parts around it just to make a stand alone streaming second pc?

At this point i could liquidate one of the video cards and basically replace it with a second PC, and not spend much, if any more money at all than i have already invested. Idk im lost at this point.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[alyoshka]

What kind of games are you playing and streaming?
What sort of loads do they exert on either card and are they actually using the SLI available.
These are a few things we'd like to know here at Toms before we jump to a conclusion....

 

[forerunner]

Well i play alot of Arma II OA, Diablo 3, Crysis 3 Alpha, Black ops II, AC3, pretty much the latest game stuff and etc. I do only play in 1080p tho, this is my thought of why i am not seeing much benefit from having the Second card in SLI, christ i see more benefit just having the second card run my second 1440x900 monitor

 

[alyoshka]

Yup, I'd agree with you on that one... If you are not planning on playing the games at HD and full effects, then you really don't need to waste all that power in the sli config, you would be better off putting the other card in a new rig for your streaming purposes....

 

[forerunner]

Oh i play at full effects and hd, just not super res. I don't like how people stream games on low settings, I'd rather improve my gear than sacrifice quality. But at this point even in games like bf3 I don't see the benefit of the second 670 and most games don't support sli, and with the streaming involved its all on the CPU and that's the only thing holding me back from running completely smooth , even with a 3770k

 

[alyoshka]

still the same answer... in that case if the second card does not see much or a little more than the bare minimum load even when under such game play..... then you don't need it in that rig....

 

[forerunner]

Thats what i was thinking, i was telling myself, if i have to test, and test, and try different things to even SEE the difference when i have SLI enabled vs not... then i should even question it, because im obviously not seeing it lol.

Do you think a 3570k would be good enough of a work horse for encoding?

 

[forerunner]

I mean, i could use a 3570k for gaming, and use this 3770k in a new machine for encoding if i had to..

 

[alyoshka]

well....
they're both actually neck to neck in most applications...
so you could game with the 3570k nearly equally well and pop the 3770k into the encoding rig.... I'd do that if I were you.....

 

[DarkSable]

Yep. An i5 will perform EXACTLY the same, if not better in a lot of cases, as an i7 when it comes to gaming. The only difference between the two is hyperthreading.