Best PC build for gaming and live streaming?

Yeah, my bad—I should've clarified that the HD 7870 we're talking about is a desktop card, whereas mine is actually a mobile version built for laptops. I totally glossed over that detail since I mentioned earlier that I’m playing on a laptop right now, mostly because it's the most powerful machine I currently have on hand. I actually have two desktop setups at home, but both of them are about half as powerful as this laptop. It's not really surprising, though; there's a seven-year gap between them... 😁

Your GPU falls short of the minimum specs (Nvidia GeForce 9800 gt 1GB / AMD Radeon HD 4870 1GB).

How did Watch Dogs run on that rig? Specifically, what kind of resolution and FPS were you getting?

You won't really know until it actually drops...

Everything is set to low settings at 1366x768, but I'm still only getting about 18-29fps.

In my book, anything under 25-30fps isn't really gaming—it's just pure torture. That being said, there's always a chance Grand Theft Auto V could see some better optimization down the road.

I mean, Grand Theft Auto V is definitely going to run way smoother than Watch Dogs. Honestly, optimization was always such a foreign concept to the devs when they were making that game.

Anthony Hayes82 said:Yeah, everything is on low settings at 1366x768, and I'm still only getting 18-29fps.

I think he means 8 inches, not 7 (about 18cm).

Chris Robinson25 said:Those guys streaming on Twitch actually run two separate rigs—and we’re talking serious hardware here. Often, the streaming PC is even more of a beast than the actual gaming rig. My advice? Unless you've already built up a massive following, don't even bother jumping into it.

So, how exactly do they manage to stream the League of Legends Worlds when there are over 600,000 people watching?
What, do they just set up 100 computers at once? haha.

It’s probably running on a multi-processor server, maybe something with two Xeon 16-core/32-thread setups.

Yeah, those Xeon E7s are a total pain in the neck.

It’s priced like it’s made of solid gold... 😁

Makes sense. Only big corporations could actually afford those; they aren't really meant for personal use.

Jack Wood87 said:I'm just wondering how they're even going to stream League of Legends Worlds when there are over 600k people watching.
What, on 100 computers at once? lol

They're dropping massive amounts of cash on Twitch promotions to land right on the front page.

What do you guys think about this strategy: buying one high-end component every month (like a CPU, GPU, motherboard, PSU, or case) while picking up a few budget items along the way (like HDDs, SSDs, or RAM)? I’m trying to gauge how much computer tech actually moves the needle in just a six-month window.
For instance, if I start with the processor, I'd go for something top-tier since it won't feel outdated in half a year.
But honestly, I'd probably grab the case first just so I have a place to actually put everything. 😁

There’s a massive wave of new hardware hitting the market over the next six months. We're looking at several new Nvidia GPUs, a fresh series of AMD graphics cards coming in June, the AMD Carrizo APUs (which probably won't matter much for you), and Intel Broadwell processors.

If you want my honest opinion, grabbing an AMD FX 8320 E and giving it a little overclock would probably be your best bang for your buck if you're trying to handle streaming and gaming at the same time. An i7 would definitely be faster, but it's basically 2.5 times the price, which just doesn't make sense.

With a budget around $5,000 to $5,500, maybe you could just pick up a decent entry-level card like an R7 260 x 2 to get by for now. Then, you could wait until late summer to see how the prices settle on the new models before swapping it out for something truly beastly.

Also, the dollar has been climbing for about six months now and it doesn't look like it's slowing down, so I guess prices are just going to keep creeping up.

You can definitely go ahead and buy them all at once if you're ready to build right away. For example, you could grab the case first to serve as your foundation, get the power supply installed, and then move on to mounting the CPU, motherboard, and RAM as a single unit...
It just doesn't make much sense to sink money into a component only to have it sitting on a shelf for six months.

Timothy Kim60 said:You can definitely build it piece by piece as you go. For example, you could grab a case first to act as your foundation, then get the power supply and drop it in, then move on to the CPU, motherboard, and RAM combo...
It’s kind of a waste to buy a part if it’s just going to sit on a shelf for six months.

That’s exactly my plan—just chipping away at it month by month, buying parts and installing them immediately. Like, I'll pick up a case in month one, the motherboard in month two, the CPU in month three, and maybe the power supply plus some budget RAM in month four. Since I don't have any old DDR3 modules lying around, I'll just pull an old hard drive out of my previous rig to tide me over. From there, it's just a steady climb: upgrading to a better GPU, adding an SSD, getting higher-capacity HDDs, or picking up faster, prettier RAM. Maybe a nicer cooler or some RGB lighting later on to spruce things up...

Since I can't put together a full system right now using a mix of cheap old parts and new stuff, I figured I'd start from scratch. I want to do this the enthusiast way—investing more into it so the final build actually looks great and performs well.
Right now, I've settled on two specific pieces: a matte black and red NZXT H440 case and an Asus Maximus VII Hero. Everything else is still up in the air. 🙂

Look, if you’re passionate about it, go for it. If not—like I mentioned in that other thread—it’s probably smarter to get real and buy something that actually fits your budget. Does an Asus Maximus VII Hero make a PC look pretty? Sure. But honestly, obsessing over that is a bit childish. People building $10,000+ workstations aren't worried about aesthetics like that. Just be careful you don't blow your whole budget on two or three overpriced "swag" components only to end up stuck with a Celeron on that socket...

No way... 🙂 I’d probably just stick with an i5 in there.
What's wrong with the Hero? Sure, it's built specifically for overclocking, but it looks great and it's solid for gaming. Honestly, one of the things I really dig about newer Asus boards is the software—stuff like Fan Expert, 5-way optimization, and all that.
I'm not really the type who wants to be digging through BIOS settings just to tweak a fan curve, set up an XMP profile for my RAM (assuming the CPU can handle it), or try to find that sweet spot between power draw, performance, and heat...

It’s total overkill. In the US, you don't even see people pushing CPUs to their overclocking limits because there are high-end boards out there that are easily 50% cheaper. And then you go and pair it with a non-K CPU? That makes no sense.
Honestly, it feels like throwing money down the drain. Besides, what does being "good for gaming" even mean? It’s a myth—it’s just something companies use for marketing or branding purposes.

That’s why you’re the target audience for these kinds of motherboards. They look flashy, the price isn't astronomical, and they're basically just standard B85 boards—just with inflated prices because of the aesthetics and those fancy heatsinks (you can find basic B85 models starting at $400-$150 up to about $500-$200 if they're more feature-heavy)

At that price point, I honestly think I'm better off just picking up a pre-built rig.