Tim's old setup

[Mataza]

So, I've read somewhere he used an seperate computer for encoding then broadcast thru that. And only screen capture on gaming comp.

So, I got some cash now to spend, and I'd just love to know how to set this up properly..

I assume I need a capture card?

Oh, and for doing commentary, I'd like to know what good mic I should get.

I got a mixer already, 2ch, so should work fine I hope?

Appreciate answers regarding those questions

[Tim]

My old setup was pretty crappy, and my current setup is mega nice. Basically get a PC that is fast enough to play your game and capture/encode/stream and you will be set.

[Mataza]

Well, not really for me..

I mean, I do have like 100+ fps in most of the games, but its not that ACTUAL for me.
Its like.. uneven frames for me? but totally fine on stream, dont know how to explain it.

I'm on a i7 930 default, no clock, 2000mhz ddr3 6gb ram, SSD disk with 250+ rw and a highend gfx.

It shows 100 fps, but for me its like 25-30, sometimes it "lags" for me with 100fps.. its very difficult to explain

[Ualaa]

The FPS is more an indication of what you could get, if you weren't limited by what your monitor can actually display; 99% of monitors cannot get you more then 60 FPS, as they are 60 hertz refresh rates.

Still, if your system is reporting 100 FPS, it is running better than if it was showing 70 FPS. You could stress it further, before your actual frames per second (60) slowed down.

[Mataza]

I know my screen is limited to 60FPS but it isnt 60 fps either, its still 20-30 orso when broadcasting.. And my cpu usage is never above 20-30% either, which makes me wonder..

[Ualaa]

I remember reading somewhere... power saving settings can have your CPU underclocked at times. With both Vista and Win7 (not sure if its been fixed yet), unless you went into the registry and made the changes there, it ignored changing the settings from normal to performance.

[Mataza]

Hmmm.. I guess you dont have a link for it? Or what I should search for? Would really appreciate it!

[Ualaa]

Here's one link: Windows 7 & Core Parking .... a *better* way to Turn It OFF ....
That's for disabling Win7's: "core-parking".

And here's the one for setting high performance in the registry: When you configure power options for the active power plan in Windows Vista or in Windows 7, the changes are not reflected in the Power Options item in Control Panel

[Tim]

I wouldn't worry too much about the power settings, that didn't impact anything. Just make sure to set your minimum CPU to be 100% in your windows power settings.

But overall, windows uses the CPU just fine, I haven't seen any issue with it.

If you are looking to stream you should actually look at your bandwidth upload FIRST, and then look at your PC specs and what is needed to match your upload, since often you can't change your ISP as easy as you can your PC.

If you want to stream at an epic awesome bitrate of 3000kbps for example, an i7 920 will *not* be enough. You would need either an OC i7 950 or one of the extreme processors, pref the $1000 980xEE. A very high end stream on an i7 950 will take up >50% of your CPU just by itself, and a very high end game typically will as well.

[Mataza]

I'm only streaming at like 1200kbps in total, out of my 2-3000kbps upload speed..
So I dont see any problem with that, but I still get this annoying "uneven framerate" for me.. makes it kinda hard to play some games :/

And strange, Ualaa, I had "maximum power" or whatever to call it, in control panel but in regedit I only had balanced.. strange, but thanks!