For a long time I was streaming on a very mediocre setup. I had a Lenovo Y500 i7 laptop hooked up to two monitors and was streaming decent 720p 30 fps quality without much issue. I would still recommend that laptop to budget streamers under $1200 and those who prefer having a laptop for various reasons.
However, I was ready to make a solid upgrade to the streaming setup and investing a decent chunk of change into a desktop workhorse. I wanted a system that I could game and stream off of without any issues. I also wanted to keep it sub $2000.
The first question that came to my mind was the CPU. Even though Ryzen AMD chips are on the horizon and may have a large impact on the CPU market not everyone can afford to wait or gamble on the quality and provided benchmarks.
Intel i7-7700 3.6Ghz without a doubt was the way to go in my mind. If you are like me you don't really care about overclocking you care about ease of use and reliability. At this time the appropriate chip to suggest may be the 7700 because the 6700 is getting hard to find. They are very similar units.
The next item on the list was the GPU. After a few hours of research and thought, I settled on the nVIDIA GTX1070. 8GB works for me and will be good to go for many years to come.
I knew I wanted my OS on a SSD. Ever since I upgraded my Macbook Pro to SSD I was shocked by the speed increases. I also wanted a decent size HDD so I think 2-4TB is suitable as there may be some video storage necessary.
That doesn't leave much else of importance.
Two monitors for sure, eventually three. I wouldn't over spend here.
As for accessories, you'll need at least one C920 Logitech Webcam and can get a Blue-Yeti Microphone if you want a decent audio. The webcam is the best in class but the mic leaves some things to be desired but is solid for the price.
I'm using a TTEsports Keyword with brown switches. Razer Deathadder mouse.
I also have a pair of bose speakers and an Anker 10 USB hub.
Let's take a look at the budget and see how we did:
PC System
Intel i7-7700 3.6Ghz – $305
Asus B250M-C MB – $85
16GB DDR4-2133 (2x8GB) – $100
nVIDIA GTX1070 8GB PCI-E – $370
240GB SSD – $75
1TB HD – $70
IN-WIN 703 Gaming Case – $70
Thermaltake 650W 80+ PS – $100
Accessories
Samsung 24″ Monitors – 129
TTEsports Gaming Keyboard – $100
Razer Deathadder Mouse – $50
Blue Yeti Microphone – $110
Logitech C920 Webcam – $60
Anker 10 port 60w USB hub – $40
Bose Companion Speakers – $100
Total Costs – $1893
If I wanted to start streaming on Twitch and I had $2000 this is what I would buy. I left a little room incase you need help getting your system built or want to upgrade 1 or 2 of the pieces. I've been streaming on this exact setup and it is fantastic. The system is so fast day to day because of the SSD and it encodes nicely with this i7 CPU. Games look very nice with the GTX 1070 and I haven't had a single issue to date.
Stay live,
Lake
