No, a second streaming PC isn't required for streaming.
No, a second streaming PC isn't required for streaming.
I'm facing challenges with streaming on my current setup. My i7 6700k paired with GTX1070 drops to around 40-50fps when streaming, though I manage 60fps when not doing it. Switching to an i9 7900x would likely offer a noticeable boost—probably 10-15% or more. That should help ease the performance issues you're experiencing. Streaming and gaming are quite different, so benchmarks aren't always easy to find.
Having more CPU cores simplifies streaming and reduces lag. The gap between 6700 and 8700 is noticeable. You could also run a virtual machine with additional cores, acting like a second computer.
What games do you enjoy? I use specific settings for gameplay and streaming. Resolution details and streaming resolution combined with FPS are also available.
You're currently broadcasting at 6700k resolution on Twitch and 1080p at 60fps on YouTube. The tools I'm interacting with help you identify your streaming configuration and the software you're using.
I watched a bit of ff15, far cry, csgo, and fortnite a few days back. In ff15, I managed 60fps during streaming on ultra or very high settings with two extra features enabled. To achieve 50-60 fps while streaming, I need to lower the settings and disable most of the extra features. The biggest challenge is with fortnite; I have to turn off everything except view distance (high) to reach 144fps at 1080p.
The 8700k would significantly improve streaming performance. Before upgrading, consider trying NVENC encoding—it moves the encoding task to the GPU, which could be more efficient.
I mainly watch 30 minutes of that game and haven’t made many changes to the settings. It might help to restart my computer before going live, as I’ve noticed my PC tends to sleep rather than shut down properly, which could lead to lag.