Trying to spec a PC for streaming that will support 4 monitors

[slicendice73]

Hi

I'm trying to spec up a PC that will be used for streaming (not gaming) and there's one aspect I'm not sure about. It needs to be reasonably spec'd as it will be running multiple streams (2 x OBS) as well as various apps and utilities (PowerPoint, Media Player, etc), so we're going for i7-9700 along with 16GB RAM and SSD.

The part I'm not sure about is the graphics card. One of the requirements is to be able to connect 4 monitors and I'm not sure how best to achieve that (initially tried spec'ing up an HP ProDesk...was all going OK until I tried to config extra graphics card and upgraded PSU and then HP dropped the ball completely!). From what I understand (though please correct me if I'm wrong), the onboard graphics (Intel 630) can only support up to three monitors and it's not possible to have these ports active if an external graphics card is fitted...so it wouldn't be possible to use the onboard graphics for 3 monitors and then have an external card for the other - it would need to be all 4 connections handled by the graphics card. Is that correct?

I know there are cards available in the configurator that support 4+ monitors, but they're not cheap plus they seem to be aimed more at high-end gaming, which we just don't need.

The other thing is that this will be used to stream live events in a fairly quiet environment, so it would be greatly preferable to have something that didn't sound like a Chinook taking off if the fans kick in. I know this particular card isn't available here at PCS, but the ASUS GeForce GT710-4H-SL-2GD5 has 4 HDMI ports and passive cooling...anyone used this one? Would it be a reasonable option? If not, what would be a better option?

I've not dabbled in PC building for many years so I'm sure I've missed stuff, but I've had a stab at spec'ing something up (see below). At the moment I've just included integrated graphics as I'm not sure what to go for, but obviously this will change...though to what, I'm not quite sure just now! In terms of budget, it's for our church which is by no means loaded with cash, but I realise sometimes you have to stretch the budget a bit to get something that does what you need and last well. I'd initially been aiming for £800 but can probably stretch to £850...or maybe even £900 if there really is no other way to get what we need.

If anyone can give any advice, I'd really appreciate it. And apologies if I'm talking cobblers...it's getting late!

Many thanks

===================================

Case
PCS 3312B BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700 (3.0GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® H310M-A R2.0: Micro-ATX, DDR4, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st Storage Drive
256GB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (500MB/R, 400MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on DVD
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® K120 USB KEYBOARD
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® OPTICAL USB MOUSE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

 

[Scott]

Any basic GPU that supports 4 monitors will do. I'm not convinced on the choices though, I would definitely look to something AMD and I would personally want 8 cores on there.

The budget may be a bit tight to get CPU powerful, quiet and good.

 

[Scott]

It's a fair crack, and you can see the limitations with the budget unfortunately.

The 3600 may be enough to handle it. Especially if it's purely streaming video with no encoding requirements. But there needs to be a significant understanding of what is actually required, what is being streamed and the methods being used to do so.

 

[slicendice73]

Had a try with an 8 core CPU and this is the lowest I could come up with:

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler (AMD)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® K120 USB KEYBOARD
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® OPTICAL USB MOUSE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 16 to 18 working days
Price: £913.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/rVntbvwTBc/

Big thanks for this - really helpful. It is coming in a bit over budget, but I get why - I hadn't properly considered the noise aspect of the PSU or CPU cooler. And I hadn't even heard of M.2 SSDs before...!

On that subject, I know nothing about liquid coolers - where do they sit in terms of reliability compared to air coolers? I believe they perform better than air coolers (both in terms of temperature and noise), but do they last any better/worse or need any kind of maintenance? If it's going to be noticeably more expense/hassle over the lifetime of the PC for the benefit of a few less dB then I'd probably put up with the extra noise and go for air-cooled.

And re the PSU, I've been trying to find out the difference in noise levels between the CORSAIR 550W 80 PLUS GOLD and the BRONZE model - would it be noticeable? I realise the GOLD variant is semi-modular, but tbh once it's installed and running, the chances of anything changing under the bonnet are minimal.

Guess it sounds like I'm penny pinching a bit, but if it's possible to make the final total begin with an 8 rather than a 9, it would make my life a lot easier (it's all about the psychology! ;-) But if there's justifiable reason to go for specific options then I will try and battle the purse strings...

One other thing is that there will need to be a bunch of devices attached via USB so it will need at least 7 (I think) USB ports, plus it's always useful to have a spare available for USB pen drives, etc. The motherboard spec quotes: 6 x USB 3.1 ports (4 at back, 2 internal), 6 x USB 2.0 ports (2 at back, 4 internal). Sorry if this is a silly question, but how are the internal ones be accessed? Can they be wired up so that they are accessible on the case?

 

[slicendice73]

It's a fair crack, and you can see the limitations with the budget unfortunately.

The 3600 may be enough to handle it. Especially if it's purely streaming video with no encoding requirements. But there needs to be a significant understanding of what is actually required, what is being streamed and the methods being used to do so.

Thanks Scott. In terms of what it's going to be doing, the primary function will be streaming to YouTube via OBS. It's actually going to be streaming to two YouTube channels simultaneously (one in English, one translated) so OBS will be running twice. Video feed is coming in through an external BlackMagic capture card (sorry, can't think of the name of it off the top of my head). The streaming itself will pretty much exclusively be done at 720p, 30fps and a bitrate of ~1,500–4,000 Kbps. Not much compared to some of the high speed, high def content out there, but taxing enough when doubling it up.

Hope that helps give a slightly clearer picture...?

 

[slicendice73]

Sorry one other question...if I chose to supply my own graphics card, how would that work in terms of PCS building the PC? Would they install one temporarily in order to set it up and then remove it before shipping?