Hardware Upgrade (Laptop Help)

[HarlowGolde]

Hello!

Now that I have a year of online SW under my belt, I'm taking a look at my gear to see where I want to make upgrades next. I'm satisfied with my video/audio stuff for the time being - so I'm taking a look at what I can do for my computer. I research what I can, but I'm not feeling very comfortable jumping into purchasing anything without asking around some more.

I currently use a Dell XPS 15 9560. Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-7100H CPU @ 3.00GHz, 3000 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)

This has been fine for editing images and has helped me during post-secondary, but even after I've optimized the system to the best of my ability, my fps leaves much to be desired.

When streaming to one site via OBS, my laptop can only seem to manage 30 fps, regardless of the resolution, even though I have cams that can support 4k and 60fps. 30 fps is fine for live streaming, but I'm aching for my video quality to be better - I can only seem to make 30fps work for recordings before things get choppy. I want to be able to splitcam, but even streaming to two or three sites puts a significant strain on my CPU.

I hope to eventually upgrade my camera to a mirrorless DSLR (Likely Nikon, as that's what I'm most comfortable with, but looking at Sony and Canon as well.) This means I'll need a capture card and what I'm assuming will be more intensive processes on my system, in addition to my interests in photography and graphic design, and possibly casual gaming in the future.

However I choose to upgrade my system, whether it's adding new memory or finding an entirely new unit, I would like for it to be able to accommodate all of these things.

I would prefer to stick with a laptop - as I currently stream/make content out of more than one location, but I would be open to purchasing a desktop if it was worth it.

I'm assuming that upgrading my memory would be my first step, but I'm honestly not sure, and I'm kinda scared to destroy my computer...haha. On that note, if I do upgrade memory, would an averagely tech-savvy gal like myself be okay to Youtube how to do that, or should I pay a professional to upgrade my gear?

Help, haha. Thanks in advance!

 

[dickwow99]

Rather than going 4k i would recommend that you go for 1080 60 fps for streaming. There are very view viewers who actually view content in 4k. When it comes to recording clips sure, 4k is a way to future proof yourself.

I would recommend that you get a laptop with a graphics card, that way all the encoding is done on the graphics card chip. Typically these are marketed as "gaming laptops".
I see this one has good spces ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 (2020),

Before you go buying stuff, i would recommend that you do a test stream and see the OBS stats that would make it clear if u need a upgrade in system or internet connector or both.

Regards

 

[Nigerian Prince]

Upgrading the ram wouldn't help much, I think the processor is the limiting factor, but for that laptop it is soldered onto the motherboard and can't be upgraded. Capture cads also don't put any significant stress on your CPU from what I can tell. If you want to splitcam I think it would be a better Idea to get a new laptop. I definitely couldn't comfortably splticam before with my old laptop which only had an i5-7200U, but I recently picked up the Zephyrus G14 with a Ryzan 4800H + 1660ti and it handles splitcamming with with ease.

 

[Notjustmetoo]

I'd strongly advise to go for desktop. Laptops as powerful as they are were never really intended for intense work. Your fans and battery will wear off a ton (battery cycles). It's convenient if a mobility way but that's about it.

Note i use a laptop myself only because for I already had it for work. If i could choose though it would go for a pc.

As for streaming cam i'd consider sony. They are very 'open source' in terms of functionality. I own both canon and sony

Unless you want the 4k tag i'd personally not go for it. The benefit isnt worth the extra hassle. Same for 60fps. If you can stream 1080p30 with a beautiful picture you're already doing better than most anyways. Remember 24fps is already what the brain processes normally. I personally hate to watch actual 60fps output. It's too smooth to watch. Give me a headache. Plus you'll need some good steady cable upload speed or it will be choppy as hell. Getting steady 7mbs is a whole lot easier than 10 or 15mbs.

Capture cards are meant to encode video and do the hard work themselves instead of the PC/laptop so yes they wont stress the pc any extra (dont quote me though) as far as my technical info goes.

Why not use something like restream instead? You'll only stream once and then they will stream it to the destinations

 

[mike_aussie]

As stated above, 1080 30fps is enough for streaming unless you also plan to record the streams to sell them and want the best quality content possible. AMD Ryzen 4000 series or Intel i7 series CPU would be ideal if you can afford them.

Desktop you can get faster hardware but when you add in extra costs like the Case and Monitor they can get pricey.

 

[cbhours]

I currently use a Dell XPS 15 9560. Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-7100H CPU @ 3.00GHz, 3000 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)

This has been fine for editing images and has helped me during post-secondary, but even after I've optimized the system to the best of my ability, my fps leaves much to be desired.

When streaming to one site via OBS, my laptop can only seem to manage 30 fps, regardless of the resolution, even though I have cams that can support 4k and 60fps.

Can you successfully pick the resolution you want and the 60FPS in the video source properties? If so did you also go into the obs settings > video section and set that to 60fps as well?

 

[Nigerian Prince]

I'd strongly advise to go for desktop. Laptops as powerful as they are were never really intended for intense work. Your fans and battery will wear off a ton (battery cycles). It's convenient if a mobility way but that's about it.

Unless you want the 4k tag i'd personally not go for it. The benefit isnt worth the extra hassle. Same for 60fps. If you can stream 1080p30 with a beautiful picture you're already doing better than most anyways. Remember 24fps is already what the brain processes normally. I personally hate to watch actual 60fps output. It's too smooth to watch. Give me a headache. Plus you'll need some good steady cable upload speed or it will be choppy as hell. Getting steady 7mbs is a whole lot easier than 10 or 15mbs.

I'll never understand the whole anti-laptop crowd. Not everyone wants a giant machine they have to keep stationary all the time, and it's not like the laptop would only be used for work, which they are perfectly capable of doing as well.

60fps is definitely worth it for streaming, the brain does not process in 24fps normally, 24fps is just the movie standard that was decided upon like 100 years ago based on the limitations of the technology at the time. The way human vison actually works, it's estimated that the limits of human FPS is somewhere in that 300-1000FPS range. Maybe you don't like it but most people do.

 

[Notjustmetoo]

It's not against laptop. If it serves other mobile purposes for sure! Pc isnt necessairly giant anymore either. There are way more benefits price and durability wise. But if you want to he portable and you consider it necessairy for sure! If not, consider the other pros and cons.

If you're not sure about fps, go to youtube and try to watch whatever clip at 60fps or 24fps. A lot of people find anything above 24 fps unpleasant especially when you're so used to 24 with every video you see. You dont want to have people leave cause they feel uncomfy either with the high fps. It wont go that far since you're not jumping and running around but still. Completely not necessairy to go above 30fps

To each their own

 

[cbhours]

I'll never understand the whole anti-laptop crowd. Not everyone wants a giant machine they have to keep stationary all the time, and it's not like the laptop would only be used for work, which they are perfectly capable of doing as well.

Models are far more likely to encounter issues with laptops than with desktops. Thermal and power throttling issues are very common these days. If they plan to actually take the laptop to different locations like school for example then sure it may be worth it to them to use a laptop but if they don't plan to do anything but keep it at home then a desktop is a better choice. I would put more faith in a 100 dollar used dell optiplex on ebay over a random 500 dollar laptop these days (.....well after replacing the thermal paste).

 

[Nigerian Prince]

Models are far more likely to encounter issues with laptops than with desktops. Thermal and power throttling issues are very common these days. If they plan to actually take the laptop to different locations like school for example then sure it may be worth it to them to use a laptop but if they don't plan to do anything but keep it at home then a desktop is a better choice. I would put more faith in a 100 dollar used dell optiplex on ebay over a random 500 dollar laptop these days (.....well after replacing the thermal paste).

If you do your research thermals and throttling won't be an issue. Also you won't run into thermal or throttling issues streaming with an external Nvidia GPU. And of course desktops are still more reliable, but even when people post saying they need a laptop specifically for their personal needs (which OP specifically stated they need to work in multiple locations), there is without a doubt always one or two people who will tell them to get a desktop instead.

 

[Notjustmetoo]

She's clearly open to desktop as she mentioned so she wants people to give her the other benefits too though but yeah if it's a deal maker go for laptop. I'm a laptop user myself cause i need to work and travel. Only reason though still

Good luck with your decision OP

 

[cbhours]

Well the way the OP worded it, I think its likely more of a settings issue, a i3-7100H using quicksync should be able to handle 60fps, at the very least 720p 60fps but she said she can only handle 30fps regardless of resolution which is unusual.

 

[HarlowGolde]

Hey all, thanks for the feedback!

A laptop is my preference for portability - but I would happily purchase a desktop, and stick to using my laptop when I'm working out spaces I'm at the least. I'm also definitely open to working with whatever settings my current laptop is using to try and make things faster - but I can't for the life of me figure out why there's as much lag as there is. I've decluttered my files, I've tweaked things on OBS, and minimized the processes running in the background.

As for the 4K worries - I don't intend on streaming full time in 4K for the reasons that have been acknowledged here. I mentioned 4K because some of my equipment is meant to handle 4K, but I can't currently do that with my PC because of it crashing all the time and things being really slow. I'm currently happy to stream at 30-60 fps but that even seems to cause some strain on my system; I prefer recording my streams to use in future content and want decent quality for that too. I would like the option to make content in 4K and 60fps, and also in the event that 4K streaming becomes more normalized - I feel like I see streamers using 4K more and more.

I had assumed that my PC's memory was the issue for the slowness, but didn't consider the processor - I thought that the i3 series was supposed to be able to take this on....but that was also a while ago. I'll look into that. My information is likely outdated, haha.

I really appreciate the responses, thank you.

 

[dickwow99]

Hey all, thanks for the feedback!

A laptop is my preference for portability - but I would happily purchase a desktop, and stick to using my laptop when I'm working out spaces I'm at the least. I'm also definitely open to working with whatever settings my current laptop is using to try and make things faster - but I can't for the life of me figure out why there's as much lag as there is. I've decluttered my files, I've tweaked things on OBS, and minimized the processes running in the background.

As for the 4K worries - I don't intend on streaming full time in 4K for the reasons that have been acknowledged here. I mentioned 4K because some of my equipment is meant to handle 4K, but I can't currently do that with my PC because of it crashing all the time and things being really slow. I'm currently happy to stream at 30-60 fps but that even seems to cause some strain on my system; I prefer recording my streams to use in future content and want decent quality for that too. I would like the option to make content in 4K and 60fps, and also in the event that 4K streaming becomes more normalized - I feel like I see streamers using 4K more and more.

I had assumed that my PC's memory was the issue for the slowness, but didn't consider the processor - I thought that the i3 series was supposed to be able to take this on....but that was also a while ago. I'll look into that. My information is likely outdated, haha.

I really appreciate the responses, thank you.

Go to obs > View> stats. This will enable the stats bar.
Now do a short test stream and then share the screenshot of the stats that you get in OBS this will help figure things out

 

[cbhours]

Hey all, thanks for the feedback!

A laptop is my preference for portability - but I would happily purchase a desktop, and stick to using my laptop when I'm working out spaces I'm at the least. I'm also definitely open to working with whatever settings my current laptop is using to try and make things faster - but I can't for the life of me figure out why there's as much lag as there is. I've decluttered my files, I've tweaked things on OBS, and minimized the processes running in the background.

As for the 4K worries - I don't intend on streaming full time in 4K for the reasons that have been acknowledged here. I mentioned 4K because some of my equipment is meant to handle 4K, but I can't currently do that with my PC because of it crashing all the time and things being really slow. I'm currently happy to stream at 30-60 fps but that even seems to cause some strain on my system; I prefer recording my streams to use in future content and want decent quality for that too. I would like the option to make content in 4K and 60fps, and also in the event that 4K streaming becomes more normalized - I feel like I see streamers using 4K more and more.

I had assumed that my PC's memory was the issue for the slowness, but didn't consider the processor - I thought that the i3 series was supposed to be able to take this on....but that was also a while ago. I'll look into that. My information is likely outdated, haha.

I really appreciate the responses, thank you.

Show us pictures of these obs sections:
1. Settings > Output

2. Settings > Video

3. Right Click your Video Capture Device, Click Properties

 

[LylacDoll]

I've done streaming on both laptops and desktops. For me the two lynchpins for picking a desktop over a laptop were 1. Not having to worry about overheating or parts wearing out and 2. Having room inside of the tower itself to do upgrades. Also, noise level--my desktop is virtually silent on cam. After spending 2 years camming with some loud ass fans from an older desktop, getting something with really quite fans but also not having to worry about it overheating has made work a lot less stressful (sensory overload from fan noise on cam is the worst). If I wanted to stream outside the house, I do have a laptop which is decent enough but would probably start showing signs of wear if I tried to use it full-time. Also, another point for desktops is that my shows can sometimes get messy. Having all the replaceable bits easily accessible (keyboard, mouse, monitor) while all the expensive computer parts are more protected under the desk is worth it to me. If I wanted to stream in areas around my house it would take some forethought but I'm sure there are wireless monitor and USB transmitter solutions I could put together--if not, USB extenders are decent. Obviously, way more cumbersome than a laptop, and something I could understand people wanting to avoid. I've heard of some people keeping all their components on a wheeled desk so they can just unplug their whole desktop and move it but that seems like it has potential for damage, but it is an option.

Basically, I think the two both have their pros and cons. I like having a beast of a machine that works really quietly, with more USB ports than I need at any given point in time, and renders videos really quickly, and with room for me to swap out parts if anything breaks so I won't have to buy a fully new machine at any point in the foreseeable future (unless the motherboard goes, but that should take a while). But at the same time, if someone dropped a really good laptop in my lap I wouldn't say no to it. I don't think either one has anything that you just can't get at all with the other, aside from portability outside the house which is definitely a major pro for some people.

 

[HarlowGolde]

Hello everyone! I apologize for the delayed response. I've been dealing with lots of family stuff unexpectedly and haven't been able to cam regularly...or much, for that matter for a few months now. I just want to thank everybody for your input and time you all put into responding to this. I've been consistently making content - which I would also prefer my computer to be in top shape for, so I took another look at my OBS settings and adjusted some things based on recommendations here - after reading that my system -SHOULD- be able to handle what I'm doing with it I wanted to see if I was hindering the speed and function somehow, and I think I solved some of my issues by checking that. I also ordered some supplies to safely (anti-ESD stuff, for anybody that may be reading and inspired to clean their computers also, please look into this and don't destroy your system!!) open my laptop and clean it out - literally. I feel silly admitting this to you tech-savvy folk, but I have owned this laptop for almost 4 years now and I have yet to clear out any dust or anything. I'm sure that's adding to my speed issues too. I have also cleaned out my files and moved whatever I could onto external drives and into cloud storage.

I know I started this topic by saying that I wanted a laptop, but honestly, if I can get this one performing even better than I would like to make my next upgrade something more solid, so, a desktop. I will update whenever I eventually do that.

Edited to add: Speaking specifically to my fps issue, I still haven't found a way to set my fps to 60 in any resolution without OBS crashing. My system definitely runs faster after everything I've done, but that still happens! If this topic is still open by the time I try again, I'll update with my settings. there may be something I'm still missing. For now, 30 fps works for me but I do want to eventually figure out what's going on there.