17" for Twitch streaming?

Opinions on best value in a 17" laptop capable of twitch streaming? At this point leaning towards a Sager configured with a GTX 860M.

 

Alienware 17 with the GTX 980M when it comes out in October. Yes, I said 980M.

The last time I streamed on my PC it chomped up CPU performance. You'll need a good CPU as well.

 

Thanks for the suggestion but waiting isn't an option so that model is out (and I doubt I could afford it anyway).

 

Your video card matters some, but CPU is the main thing. 860M should do fine for you as a streamer, but I'd say you'd need a 4810MQ or better if you know what you're doing with streaming programs.

 

Thanks. Just configured the Sager NP8298 and it came to $1,459 with these specs.

Display 17.3" Full HD LED-Backlit Display with Matte Finished Surface (1920 x 1080)
Video & Graphics Card Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M GPU with 4GB GDDR5 Video Memory
CPU Processor 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4810MQ Processor ( 6MB L3 Cache, 2.80GHz)
16GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 2 X 8GB
1TB 7200rpm SATA2 Hard Drive
8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive
Win 7

 

Pretty much anything works nowadays. Intel, Nvidia, and AMD GPU's all have some sort of dedicated fixed-function hardware video encoder. Just get something that's powerful enough to run your games well in the first place and worry about your Internet connection (upload speed) instead.

 

Can you swap that CPU out for a 4710MQ and get an 870M instead?

 

Yes, but it increases the cost by $115. But up above it was said to get at least the 4810MQ. Are there major differences in one vs the other? Going with the 870M and 4810MQ is +$150.

 

Downgrade the CPU to a 4710MQ and get the 870M. The 4810MQ is a waste of money.

 

For livestreaming, the best CPU you can get is preferable. The extra 300MHz + extra OC potential of the 4810MQ will help him get the best out of his stream. Also, the built-in hardware encoders are very low compression, and you need to use low bitrates for streaming, so Quicksync, NVENC and AMD's feature (whose name I forget) are utterly worthless for 95% of streaming configurations.

His only real problem would be cooling the CPU, but since it's a single-GPU model it should be fine.

 

No the H.264 video is very highly compressed and you can adjust the bit rate and quality level. I've tried Twitch streaming using NVENC in ShadowPlay and OBS and it barely hit my CPU at all, just like normal recording. So a slightly faster CPU is a waste of money that would be better spent on a much better GPU. I had no problems streaming at 720p on my 5 Mbps up home cable connection.

 

No, the compression is very low. For local recordings it's fine. For 3000+ bitrate 720p 30fps streamings it's probably ok, depending on the kind of game. But if he's on twitch, they recommend bitrate be 2000-2500 at most, unless he's a partner. And if he was a partner he would be an accomplished streamer already, and probably not wondering about this. Partners have quality buttons no matter what, so those who cannot download and/or decode the stream can simply opt for a twitch-encoded lower bitrate option, so partners can use up to 4000 bitrate without any real issues.

If he's on hitbox or uStream or any of those others, it may be a different story, but it doesn't change the fact that if you want a lot of people to watch you cannot go overboard on bitrate to compete with a weaker compression codec. And by the time you hit "faster" or any slower x264 preset compression you've surpassed NVENC/Quicksync/etc. Also, NVENC/QuickSync use the unused parts of your GPUs. Quicksync uses your intel's iGPU to do the x264 encoding, so your dGPU and CPU are largely unaffected. NVENC uses the dormant cuda rendering block on your GPUs to encode, which also has very little performance impact when streaming/recording.

If he's just going to stream league of legends all day or something, he can go right ahead, but if he decides to do some FPS games, especially very fast-motion ones, the CPU will help. So much so in fact that I really would love a MX CPU (though I have lower upload speeds, so compression is more key to me. I would not suggest MX to him)

 

Honestly, your situation sounds like you would benefit more from a dedicated streaming PC (and perhaps a faster upload ). Who knows what the OP's situation is.

 

I might. But it still stands; unless he's using some lesser-known service that is fine with bandwidth-pushing, anything above 2000-2500 bitrate pushes away lots of viewers. Maybe in a few months after twitch upgrades their stuff with that 970 mil they got from amazon buying them? Who knows.

As for the OP's situation, yeah I don't know. But I know for sure quicksync and NVENC etc need a lot of bandwidth padding to look good in a lot of games. It's a lot better when using full compression.

Also, why do you think i wanna overclock this thing? I'm going to make this computer stream on slow one day without incident hehehehe. Of course I need to get it WORKING first. Bloody random shutdowns nobody can figure out.

 

Thanks for the excellent technical discussion! When playing for many hours is a cooling pad recommended?

 

Only if the notebook's cooling system isn't up to snuff and you have bottom intakes large enough to benefit from one.

 

What's the word on Sager's for cooling design?

Are there any other brands I should be looking at for getting the best value? Sager seems very good there. I also like the matte screens.

 

If you're on that tight of a budget, get only 8GB RAM, 4710MQ, and opt for the 870m. i7-4710MQ can be overclocked 200MHz with Intel XTU if needed, and sufficient for streaming. Like was noted by octiceps, mind your bandwidth more than anything. No point in having a super fast streaming system that's bottle-necked by the upstream bandwidth.

Also I hope you plan on streaming with Ethernet not Wi-Fi. In any case, consider at least the Intel Wi-Fi option and not the stock card if you plan on any amount of gaming on wi-fi.

Sager's have very good cooling. Not quite the best, but very good, and more than sufficient for the 870m in that chassis.

 

Cheapest but still acceptable laptop would be a clevo 860m and 4810mq for like 1200$, if you want more power then get 870m which is 1500$ but very worth it.

4710mq->4810mq is like 30 bucks for 300mhz theres no reason to skip it, it ups resale value or if you keep it for a long time the 10% performance boost is nice to have anyway.

 

Here get this... i7-4810MQ + 870M for 1376.. You need to get the Sager Np8278-S

XOTIC PC | Sager NP8278-S (Clevo P170SM-A) - 17.3" Gaming Laptop

 

Thanks for all the help!

 

Anyone have a thought on the realistic battery life when not gaming on these? I'm guessing 2.5 hours or so based on this article

http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/digital-storm-krypton

I didn't realize the Alienware ran so much longer on battery. I wonder how they manage that for a similar config?

 

My gt70 with a 780m lasts like 4-5 hours not gaming with the battery.