i5-4200M vs i7-4700mq (For Streaming)

So there's two options for laptops, one of them comes with an i5-4200M, and 6gb of RAM, while the other comes with an i7-4700MQ and 8gb of RAM. I'm wondering if the extra RAM, and better CPU will impact streaming at all, I already know that it won't really impact gaming, but I'm wondering if the 100$ difference is worth it for streaming performance. The main thing I'm wondering about is how each GPU will be able to handle streaming with OBS to Twitch.tv. Both laptops have GT755m's in SLI, I was just wondering about the affect of the CPU on streaming, as it is a 100$ price difference and I need to know. I will be streaming graphic unintensive games such as League of Legends, Minecraft and Runescape, and streaming is really important to me.

 

For a $100 price difference a quad core CPU and +2GB RAM is a no-brainer.
Non intensive games may run fine on a dual core CPU, but streaming them adds additional load on the CPU. Quad core is essential for streaming IMHO.

 

If you use Quick Sync/NVENC plugin in OBS, or ShadowPlay Twitch streaming, CPU will have no effect on streaming performance since it'll all be handled by the dedicated encoder hardware on your CPU/GPU. Your frame rates will see little to no impact.

Radeon GPU's now also have low-overhead DVR and Twitch streaming capabilities through the AMD Gaming Evolved App powered by Raptr, which leverages the VCE hardware H.264 encoder on GCN cards. So that's another option to explore if you change your mind and decide to get an AMD-based system instead. Might be a good idea to hold off on purchasing, unless it's urgent, since rumor is that AMD's next-gen Tonga GPU will be out very shortly.

The much faster Core i7 CPU will improve performance, especially minimum frame rates, in CPU-bound games. Plus there is some additional CPU overhead with multi-GPU technologies such as SLI.

 

Agreed. Hold off a month if needed. Never hurts to have more cores. Doesn't sound like you'll be too mobile.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yeah +1 more for the quad i7... After have a quad core i7 740qm, I'm never ever going back to a dual core..

 

Just for reference I could play Dota 2 + stream OBS to Twitch.tv with an old 720QM, 6 GB RAM, Nvidia 280M with no hassles.

 

Funny, 'cause the much higher-clocked dual-cores of that generation were better for gaming for the most part. Games weren't as multithreaded back then and a 3 GHz i5 almost always beat a 2 GHz i7.