build for livestreaming games

[mmoroz]

I'm building a comp for a friend. It will be used for gaming (SC2, etc.), and sometimes for streaming games live using xplit (for own3d.tv) or similar software. The resolution will be 1920x1200.

I'm thinking to use the following specs, but I don't know how to choose memory, motherboard and cooling systems. I don't even know whether I should get Z86 instead of P67. Any comments appreciated.

There's no specific budget limit, but I don't want to spend $100 for every tiny performance boost.

Stability and reliability is a concern because it will be very hard for me to fix things (whether software or hardware) after I finish building and testing the machine.

CPU i7-2600k (I plan to OC to ~4.5 GHz)

2 x GeForce GTX 560 Ti (should I buy OC version or just regular and OC myself?).

Alternatively, I could get a single HD 6950.

RipjawsX F3-17000CL9D-8GBXLD

NZXT Phantom full tower

Maybe this P67 motherboard?

Crucial M4 80 GB SSD

WD Caviar WD1002FAEX


I don't know what cooling system to get.

Thanks!

 

[Blue Shift]

OK... Right now, you definitely ARE "spending $100 for every tiny performance boost." Here are some recommendations:

-Most people here agree that the i5-2500k (which is faster than many of last year's i7s) is more than fast enough for modern games. It also overclocks quite well.

-Spending $150 for 8GB of RAM today is ridiculous. You won't see any appreciable difference between those and your run-of-the-mill DDR3 1333MHz RAM modules.

-I'm not an expert on Intel motherboards, but most people end up spending $100-$140 on them.

-You already have an SSD for fast access to a large amount of your data, so the 1TB drive is basically just a large file archive. Why pay a premium for 7200RPM?

-This 120 GB SSD is $169 AR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227590

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

OK... Right now, you definitely ARE "spending $100 for every tiny performance boost." Here are some recommendations:

-Most people here agree that the i5-2500k (which is faster than many of last year's i7s) is more than fast enough for modern games. It also overclocks quite well.

-Spending $150 for 8GB of RAM today is ridiculous. You won't see any appreciable difference between those and your run-of-the-mill DDR3 1333MHz RAM modules.

-I'm not an expert on Intel motherboards, but most people end up spending $100-$140 on them.

-You already have an SSD for fast access to a large amount of your data, so the 1TB drive is basically just a large file archive. Why pay a premium for 7200RPM?

-This 120 GB SSD is $169 AR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227590

+2

 

[mmoroz]

Thank you. But wouldn't hyperthreading help when recording and rebroadcasting the video from the game (I'm looking at this article for example)?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Forgot, Welcome to the Forums. For your personal game experience, the 2500K is enough, but maybe the 2600K is what you need.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I see, ive never done live broad casting while playing SC, ive recorded what ive played using camtasia. It usually slowed down my computer a bit.

 

[mfenn]

OK... Right now, you definitely ARE "spending $100 for every tiny performance boost." Here are some recommendations:

-Most people here agree that the i5-2500k (which is faster than many of last year's i7s) is more than fast enough for modern games. It also overclocks quite well.

-Spending $150 for 8GB of RAM today is ridiculous. You won't see any appreciable difference between those and your run-of-the-mill DDR3 1333MHz RAM modules.

-I'm not an expert on Intel motherboards, but most people end up spending $100-$140 on them.

-You already have an SSD for fast access to a large amount of your data, so the 1TB drive is basically just a large file archive. Why pay a premium for 7200RPM?

-This 120 GB SSD is $169 AR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227590

:thumbsup: To all this.

Additionally:
- SLI isn't going to help you record and stream faster, get the 6950 instead
- The i7 2600K can provide some decent speed boosts if you're encoding and gaming at the same time, so it's fine to leave that.
- A $190 P67 motherboard is kind of useless at this point, considering that you can get a good Z68 board for much less. For example, the ASRock Z68 Pro3 for $120.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

- A $190 P67 motherboard is kind of useless at this point, considering that you can get a good Z68 board for much less. For example, the ASRock Z68 Pro3 for $120.

YES ASRock is the way to go right now. :thumbsup: