Since I have relocated to the Netherlands, I had to leave most of my tech stuff at home.
I thought it’s a fresh start in my life - leaving bad habits and all, but the most important thing I wanted to leave is deconcentration.
Broad interest comes at a cost - I piled up a lot of things at home and I couldn’t really pay attention to any of the things.
Books, movies, games, consoles and many other things.
What I knew I wanted to do after I moved here is appreciate even the smallest items I have in life. Use, respect and fully enjoy them. That’s why I currently stream Kingdom Hearts only though.
This system I found in a used store fulfills all my needs for streaming, everything I have been planning to get for a better stream quality to all my viewers on Twitch.
When I moved, all I brought with myself was a PS3, my Macbook Air and all the cables and adapters I need for streaming. Even though my Macbook has served me quite well in the last months when streaming to Twitch, OBS's high demand for the CPU, GPU power and slow upload speed through WiFi made me lower the quality of my broadcasted video. Huge amount of downscaling, messing with bandwitch etc.
Since I think of streaming as a hobby and get to know friendly and awesome people through it, I'm trying to stay on the low end regarding the money I invest into it. I don't ask for any donations, I don't produce pay-to-watch content, only free fun for everyone.
But a reliable streaming PC is a must, even on the lower budget. That's why I started looking online for a cheap, upgradeable system that is still using current-gen tech.
That's when I found the OZTalksHW videos, featuring all these office PC's with huge upgradability.
OF COURSE I GOT EXCITED!
I jumped on eBay and sadly found out that it's quite hard work to find parts on the EU market for such low prices.
Even if you can buy the base PC for about €100, you would still need to look out for a decent GPU and maybe even a pair of new/added RAMs. I didn't buy anything at that time.
After a few weeks living my daily life without thinking about buying a PC, I reserved an appointment at a local thrift store thinking: why not? We may find some good quality household items, some good movies or clothes. Shopping on appointment is the worst when it comes to visiting thrift stores, but even during these hard times one can manage to find a good bargain.
Around the end of my period for shopping, I wandered into the mecca of PC parts and complete setups. Diverse offer, similar prices. Even though I went there with a single backpack, I filled it full with a single item. This.
My good old reliable peripherals have arrived to me from my country this week, and I bought a WiFi dongle since there's no option for a LAN-connection where I currently live. This setup cost me about €70 altogether with enough strength to stream around 1080p 30fps, or 720p 60fps without issues.
Without modifying the internal hardware, the specs are as follows:
- RAM – 4GB (2x2GB DDR3 / 2 slots of 4 total)
- Processor – Intel Core i3-3220 3.3Ghz
- Motherboard – 01 / 0WR7PY (with 2 free slots of PCIe x16)
- Graphics – Intel HD Graphics 2500 (IVB GT1; Integrated)
- HDD – 1TB
- Windows 10 X64
Since this system has a Small Form Factor (SFF), it makes the upgrade of the graphics card difficult/limited, overall upgradability is really satisfying:
- GPU: I need to look out for a Low-Profile graphics card (if the integrated one wouldn't be enough... but it is!). This is limitation to Low-Profile GPU's is because of the form factor of the PC. TLDR; A normal-sized card wouldn't even fit there!
Since the GPU is one of the greediest component in a PC when it comes to power usage, if aiming for a strong/more expensive card, it might be useful to change the power supply unit to a bigger one. In this machine, the recommended maximum is 240W. - RAM: I can upgrade the total ram up until 32GB with the use of the 4 DDR3 sockets.
- CPU: Swapping the processor is possible to another LGA1155 socket compatible model. These models can be found here with benchmark.
- HDD/SSD: 1TB of hard drive should definitely be enough for tasks such as streaming, but it is also possible to change the HDD to a faster SSD with the help of a special mounting bracket.
Is there anyone who buys a used budget office PC and upgrade it right away? I personally won't. This PC has a lot of potential in it – with the base components as well, and fit for future upgrades for streaming, or even gaming. For people like me, who are 100% satisfied with 1080p 30fps gaming without the newest technologies like ray-tracing etc., this rig would serve well for several years.
I know it might seem dumb to compare a desktop PC to a Macbook Air, but since I started streaming with my Apple laptop, I feel like I must tell you some of the advantages that this Dell Optiplex, or any other desktop machine has: ports and no need for external adaptors.
Some streamers find rather important to put their face or voice on the broadcasted video, some of them are all right with the game/activity itself.
I'm pretty satisfied (sometimes quite nervous) with my voice only, so the microphone port is really a step ahead for me to get a standalone, good quaility microphone instead of using a headphone with built-in mic.
CPU usage when recording. The first and only time I passed 20% usage was because of not installing the integrated GPU's driver.
Video and output settings.
When it comes to gaming, I would never choose a PC over a console, simply because of costs, and I'm not blaming anyone who prefers playing on a PC.
I had too much compatibility issues and aging hardware back in the day, so I stopped playing (or even doing anything except backing up files) on my computer 10 years ago.
The fear caused by my previous experiences with Windows PC's has quickly faded away when I finally set up my first PC specially dedicated for online streaming. I'm quite impressed about the performance of this 13 year old machine with the original components in it, and it is comforting to know there's much more potential in it.
The next time you will see me streaming on Twitch will be using this PC and remain like that for a long time.
If you are interested, please follow me there!
twitch.tv/itslazerclash
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