9700k to 9900k
9700k to 9900k
I thought the same thing—extra threads probably won’t make much of a difference. But as I mentioned, checking other streamers’ setups helps. For example, Wolcen uses over 90% CPU on a 9700k and drops to 30% on a 9900k, which is a big contrast. Battlefield 1 streams smoothly on the 9700k but become choppy on the 9900k. Those are the scenarios I’d like to steer clear of, which a 9900k could fix.
Horizon and Detroit both hit maximum CPU usage for me. These are ports that operate as emulators and differ from BFV and Wolcen (though I haven’t had issues with Wolcen before). I noticed 9700k could be an issue for streaming PoE/Wolcen. It’s a challenging decision you’ll need to consider, hf
NVENC on the 10 series GPU works fine. Expect a 10-15% CPU load when streaming with NVENC, which shouldn't be a problem for most games unless you're playing CPU-heavy titles and experience frame drops in OBS or if the game's frame rate isn't smooth. Upgrading to a 9900k might add extra threads, but it's not necessary unless you're willing to spend more. It's not a downgrade, but it doesn't seem like the best use of your budget.