Do I need to upgrade?

I am trying to get peoples opinions on if I need to upgrade or use a second pc to stream from(dual pc setup). I want to start multistreaming. I want to stream to as many sites as possible; as of now it will be 4-6 sites possibly more at 1080p. I also am starting to create content and need to edit 4k videos. I did edit my first video recently and it was lagging somewhat when trying to play the video and edit it.

Current PC Specs:

Case: Cooler Master Stryker

CPU: Intel i7-8700k (3.7Ghz Stock)

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15

GPU: EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16GB(8GBx2) DDR4 3600

Motherboard: Asrock z390 Taichi

Power Supply: SeaSonic Focus Plus Gold 850w 80+ Gold Fully Modular

Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 250GB M.2 NVME SSD, Seagate 3TB 7200rpm, WD 3TB 7200rpm, PNY 2TB M.2 NVME SSD

My stream pc would be a i7-3770k with 16gb ram and a gtx 970 worst case.

I would upgrade to this: Part List - Intel Core i9-14900K, GeForce RTX 4090, NZXT H9 Flow ATX Mid Tower - PCPartPicker . I would prefer a cpu air cooler, but these new cpus get so hot I do not think they can handle them as well. I might double the ram if needed. I current game at 3440x1440p 175hz. I want the best possible performance when gaming and streaming.

I am open to any suggestions. Thanks!

i used a raspery pi and nginx to stream to a radio station and youtube at the same time. In my network i streamed to the rdmp server on the pi. And it pased it trough.

Everything you have must do that with ease

Your rocking a decent machine

1 Like

mostly it’s a better gfx card

I will look into this more. Thanks!

This might be cutting it a bit close for editing. Rest looks fine.

1 Like

How much do you think I need 32gb or 64gb? Do I buy a new dual channel kit or a quad channel kit with faster speeds and latency? Or do I just buy another matching kit to make it 32gb and call it a day?

1 Like

Would target 2 dimms as it will generally clock faster if you want the fastest speeds. If you need the capacity then you have to do 4.

That’s very specific to you and no one can answer that really. I have a lot of stuff open all the time…and I like having stuff cached in RAM so I’d never get something <64GB. Memory got fairly cheap and DDR5 pricing crashed down quite a bit in the last year. And you even can do 96GB with two DIMMs now, which is great for clock speeds.

16gb 3600 has been fine other than when editing. So I think if I get 64gb(2x32gb) 4400 that would be a nice upgrade and should definitely help when editing. I do not leave things open often and I do not have a ton of tabs open either.

1 Like

My only concern with getting the kit mentioned above is my motherboard says it Supports DDR4 4200+(OC). So I am curious is 4400 is too fast. Should I only get ram from the qvl?

Planning on getting this kit.
https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-64gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820374174?Item=N82E16820374174

Specs are pretty good overall. Upgrading would only make sense if you’re looking for bleeding edge performance or you’re missing some feature that you don’t currently have and can justify the price.

If I were in your shoes id spend the money on a high end GPU and start saving to upgrade everything else in a year or two.

Unrelated to your question: Is that the CM storm stryker your building in? I had the white one about 12 years ago and moved to a smaller case after I moved all my drives into a server case and racked it and my network equipment.

My current rig is in the white CM Storm Stryker.

TBH I feel like the gpu is the last thing I would need to upgrade. It is only 1 generation old. If I were to upgrade my gpu I would upgrade everything. I would like to upgrade in a year from now if possible. I think upgrading my ram might hold over until then. I would like to get the next generation of gpus and cpus. Rumors of the 50 series and 15 gen intel’s are pretty good.

If it’s enough to make editing difficult, it’s probably time for an upgrade. If it’s not… Well, I think starting with more RAM is a good idea, like has been suggested, and 64GB seems like a good idea for editing 4k video. DDR4 is so cheap now anyway.
After that, it would be CPU and motherboard next, but your options on DDR4 are pretty limited now, so investing a bunch in DDR4 just to upgrade your CPU anyway is probably a bitter pill to swallow. Might be worth it to get something like a 7900x and some DDR5.
5900x or 5800x3D are solid still, and can be pretty cheap, but decidedly not new. They can be a great option on a budget, though, especially if you want to keep using your DDR4. Lose about 30% performance over 7000 series.

If you want to use an air cooler, you’re better off with AMD right now.

All of it.

1 Like

Thanks I will keep all of this in mind. As of now it is looking like upgrading the ram should help when editing. I do not mind upgrading the entire rig now, but would like to wait for next gen intel cpu and next gen nvidia gpu.

For a daily driver, yes you should update, although got a few things to say about that build:

  • RTX 4090 is almost wasting your money unless you are aiming for 4k@144Hz Ultra. The 3080 is good enough still for most games, keep it and get a 5080/5090 once those come out instead.
  • RAM speed is overkill on that build, I’d go with a 64GB 6000MHz@30CL for roughly the same price and no performance degradation (for a 14900k anyways).
  • 1TB drives in your price bracket is simply ridiculous. Take some of the money you saved on a 4090 and buy an 8TB Teamgroup MP44 for $800 instead of 3TB of storage.
  • If $800 is overkill for storage, get a $170 4TB Teamgroup MP34 instead.

As for the old PC, keep it as a streaming PC, add 16 GB more RAM for $30 and buy a $200 GPU like the RX 6600 or a 3060. Good enough to call it a day there.

Thanks I did end up changing the ram on new build to 64gb 6800 CL 34 if I choose to upgrade. I am aiming for ultra settings on 3440x1440p at 175hz. Would like to wait for the 50 series and the 15th gen intel if possible to upgrade the whole rig. My current rig will go to wife if I upgrade. I have some old hardware laying around that I will use as a streaming rig if needed. My options for the streaming rig would be a i7-3770, i7-4770, or i7-4770k and gtx 970, 980ti, or 1080. I think upgrading the ram is all I need to do right now to help with editing because it performs fine everywhere else. I think if I upgrade the ram during the sales this month it will hold me over until the next gens come out to justify a whole new rig. I like getting best best available so it lasts a long time and after reading up on the next generations the rumors claim them to be pretty good upgrades.

motherboard, cpu and ram is all you need.
as your already intel… stick with the brand if you can afford to.
something with 8 or more cores.
64 gig of ram
a basics motherboard and for about 450 all in you should have a decent editing/gaming build.

add in a couple of nvme if your motherboard supports it and timeline scrubbing will become useable rather than a chore.

I am torn what to do now. Some say more ram and I will be good. Others say time to upgrade. I would like to see if I can make this rig last a bit longer to hold off until 15th gen and 50 series.