A
ccording to Twitch, over 15 million users
log on every day to watch live gaming,
and each clocks up an average of 106
minutes viewing time. This vast audience
has naturally turned the streaming
platform into a honey pot for those with ambitions to
make a living from playing games – but few have the
right gear. To stretch for the celestial apex of streaming
stardom you must ensure every broadcast is good
quality; that means a clear, high framerate with low lag.
Online audiences demand footage of the latest games, so a
streaming PC needs to cope with the rigours of
simultaneously playing and broadcasting the industry’s most
graphically demanding titles. The following setup will do just
that, but if you haven’t got a spare kidney to flog on eBay, I’m
also going to outline the most important things you should
consider when building a more affordable version.
Always begin with the processor. This is what will keep
your PC’s heartrate steady as it performs the varied
demanding tasks required of a streaming machine. As such,
you should punch for a CPU with the maximum amount of
cores and threads that your budget can allow. Those with the
deepest pockets could plump for the Intel i9 7980XE Extreme
Edition which boasts an incredible 18 cores, 36 threads and a
£1,650 price tag.
KEEPINGITCOOL
At the other end sits the Ryzen 5 1600X which will handle
most games with its six cores and 12 threads for a cool £175. I
plumped for the Intel i7-8700K, which for around £320 runs
smoother than a greased up cheetah and leaves plenty of
room for overclocking. To keep the processor frosty, I have
opted for the Corsair H115i. With a bold RGB LED pump head,
this cooler is the epitome of ‘seen and not heard’ – and it’s
vital, as you don’t want your stream interrupted by the loud
whirring of fans.
The i7-8700K only works with Intel 300 Series
motherboards (another reason to choose your CPU carefully),
and the ASUS ROG STRIX H370-F is a great option. It has
plenty of built-in protection against heat and electrostatic
discharge, supports two M.2 SSDs, and four LEDs whose
colours can help quickly diagnose CPU, memory, graphics
card and boot problems.
16GB of Corsair White Vengeance DDR4 2666MHz RAM
should be enough to keep pace with the demands of gaming
and livestreaming simultaneously for around £175. Those
willing to splash out for higher speeds could nab the 32GB
Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR4 3200MHz, which for around
£400 comes with LED lighting and heatspreaders to boot.
For storage, the Samsung NVMe SSD 960 Pro is one of the
fastest hard drives currently available, which will help load
times during streams. You’ll also need a plethora of hard driveStreaming is big
business, but
with well over
two million
streamers
jabbering away
on Twitch it can
be difficult to
make your voice
heard. A great
setup with a
powerful PC and
a decent mic
could give you
the edge.Paid to
playHEADING UPSTREAM
Everything you need to become a streamer
Streaming means you
don’t need to worry
about editing
software – your
content is
instantaneous.TECH
REPORT