Operating System Configuration Suggestions

I

iborg

New Member
I've used OBS for several years to feed a worship service to Facebook as well as recording it to post to Youtube after the service. I've done this with a 2019 Macbook (Intel processor) that appears to be failing with age. I also know this computer is considered almost a legacy computer and therefore changing CPUs is advised. I'm an old time Mac user going back to System 7 but accept a Windows system is more economical. I can work in Windows but its not automatic like a Mac, I have to pause and think.

Here's our external equipment configuration:
Audio in- currently USB C from an audio mixer
Video In- four cameras controlled by an external switch box connected by USB C
One external monitor (we will need to add an additional monitor to replace the laptop screen)
wired ethernet

The minimum video I want to broadcast and record is 1080. I'd like to be able to upgrade to 4K.
As for graphics, our most advanced graphics are slide shows and quarter screen title movies that are MP4. I think our biggest graphic need will be encoding.

What I'm seeing on Google is:
Mid-Range "Sweet Spot" Setup (1080p/60fps Gaming + Streaming)
According to hardware guidance from
  • CPU: Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7 (8 cores or more)
  • RAM: 32 GB DDR5
  • GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4060 or AMD RX 7000 series (supports modern AV1 encoding and AI multitasking)
  • Storage: 1 TB+ NVMe SSD (3000+ MB/s speeds)

High-End / Professional Setup (1440p / 4K Production & Complex Overlays)
  • CPU: Intel Core i9 or AMD Ryzen 9
  • RAM: 32 GB to 64 GB fast DDR5
  • GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti or higher
  • Network: Wired Ethernet connection with a stable upload speed of 12+ Mbps
Do I need to consider a high end system with these aspirations? Any specific desktops to consider or avoid?

THANKS!
 
support for AV1 is evolving, so for future-proofing, latest GPUs makes sense. (unless you find driver and other AV1 support back-ported with similar performance on older GPU hardware)
Also, on the nVidia line, I'd look for a GPU with dual encoder/decoder.
- Is that required for your single video feed? no, definitely not. However, using an external video switcher limits OBS to seeing a single video source, and that can be limiting. It does take more hardware, but transitions, picture-in-picture, etc become feasible when all camera are available to OBS Studio all the time (and you switch using OBS Studio). So, I'd think thru your setup, and feeding all cameras to PC has significant hardware resource impact (doable)
 
Please understand I'm very Mac centric so I'me really lacking of knowledge. Should I look at Intel or AMD? In looking at CPUs should I look at and i7 or do I need to step up to an i9?

I know OBS can do many things that we don't approach. Due to operator skill levels, I don't see us every getting to that level. I'm just looking for a system that can reliably feed 1080P (1920 x 1080) and possibly move up to 4K.
 
There were a number of generations of recent Intel CPU's I'd avoid. the latest? ok
The bigger issue is discrete GPU, and as much as I appreciate AMD CPU design, their 'we make hardware, our software is junk, and oh well' means I'm NOT a fan of their GPUs, especially not for real-time video encoding offload. Mixing AMD CPUs with nVidia GPUs has become more common with OEMs, but is a relatively new thing. AMD passed on optimizing H.264 and it cost them. If you stream using AV1 and AMD's AV1 encoder is reliable, then sure... AV1 streaming is relatively new for common usage, so I'm not familiar with latest on AMD GPUs in that regard. beware fanboys
Oh, and beware lack of Thunderbolt on x86 (Intel/AMD) desktop PCs... grumble

Oh, I'm I've just read about AV2 which will require new hardware (likely in 2028). the joy of it all ;^)
With current GPU and RAM prices, I'd be inclined to buy enough hardware for now, and plan tech refresh in 2029 vs trying to get something that will last longer (the extra refresh cycle has decent chance of being cheaper in long run).

As for CPUs, I target the i7 (and AMD equivalent) for value... the top-end i9 is wonderful if you don't care about cost. rarely is such performance actually required... And real-time video encoding (with encoding offload to discrete GPU) tends to be encoding (GPU) limited, not CPU. You might be able to even get away with an i5 and enough RAM *if* you have someone who knows how to optimize Windows 11 Operating System... unfortunately, such optimizations are often beyond typical consumer/user, so a little extra hardware (ex i7 helps cover that up, to some extent... no amount of hardware can overcome a really bad setup)

Do NOT underestimate move to 4K video... that is a significant leap in processing.

Again, du to Ai driven price impact on RAM, GPUs and similar, I'd be inclined to save money now and get something that meets current needs. IF getting a desktop (vs laptop), which is strongly recommended due to power restrictions on most non-engineering laptops, swapping to a newer GPU in a few years is relatively easy, even for a novice. So spec for 1080p30 now and upgrade GPU if required when the time comes (will save you a LOT of money)

For reference - for 1080p30 streaming for a House of Worship, an Intel i7-10700K (5 generations old, circa 2020, a 6.5 yr old CPU at this point) 16GB RAM, and a nVidia 1060 Super still handles the HoW stream I set up, with multiple NDI camera feeds. But I am technical and know how to optimize a system, to some extent (more than most). That means, anything decent in recent years should be fine.
For Win11 and lack of optimization, 32GB RAM is better than 16GB, but ouch on current prices...
The setup I did had a SATA SSD for OS and to locally Record to... and was plenty (again, optimized OS setup)... NVMe will be plenty
I recommend a HDD for archiving videos as YouTube HEAVILY compresses video... if you wish to share a wedding, baptism, etc video, you will want to use a higher fidelity video than the re-encoded video on YouTube (or similar platform)... I simply moved Recordings to internal Archive HDD on a regular basis... I set up our 1080p30 stream at 7000kpbs & Recorded at about 3X that rate... a 75min service recording was around 11-12GB
- be sure to understand why MP4 is typically NOT a record safe format... I wouldn't risk my Recording with the new OBS 'record-safe' MP4 approach... much safer, imo, to Record to MKV and auto-re-encapsulate into MP4 (took 15-25 seconds on my SATA SSD) for now ... maybe change that approach in a few years ??

If not in place, having HoW data network person set up Quality of Service (QoS) controls so guest WiFi (or office PC background cloud file sync) doesn't impact livestream. So often, there is a single Internet connection, shared by office, livestream, and guest WiFi and no QoS (or similar rate controls) to ensure livestream traffic is ensured sufficient bandwidth [just waiting for an 'oops' not sure what happened livestream'?]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top