Time To Upgrade?

[PBid412]

Hey all,

Its been almost three years since I been running my current desktop that I built back in 2009 of October. I was just wondering if anyone had suggestions for upgrades. I plan to get into streaming and right now it seems as though my rig can't handle streaming League of Legends. I also want to upgrade for future games coming out.

Anyways, here is my current rig:

Video Card: Radeon 5850
Case: Antec 900
Power Supply: Antec Tru Power 750w
Memory: G.Skill Memory DDR3 1600 (4gb)
CPU: Intel Core I5 750 @ 2.67GHz
MOBO: ASUS P7P55D PRO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard

I'm also considering possibly just over clocking it and getting a good heat sink or liquid cooling system. I just never have done this.

Looking for recommendations. I don't even know whats good right now anymore. Its suprising how fast the technology has developed since I built my rig.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Puppies04]

Can you explain exactly what "streaming League of Legends" is? From the sound of it that would put more of a stress on your interwebz connection than any of your current hardware.

 

[General Kenobi]

Hey all,

Its been almost three years since I been running my current desktop that I built back in 2009 of October. I was just wondering if anyone had suggestions for upgrades. I plan to get into streaming and right now it seems as though my rig can't handle streaming League of Legends. I also want to upgrade for future games coming out.

Anyways, here is my current rig:

Video Card: Radeon 5850
Case: Antec 900
Power Supply: Antec Tru Power 750w
Memory: G.Skill Memory DDR3 1600 (4gb)
CPU: Intel Core I5 750 @ 2.67GHz
MOBO: ASUS P7P55D PRO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard

I'm also considering possibly just over clocking it and getting a good heat sink or liquid cooling system. I just never have done this.

Looking for recommendations. I don't even know whats good right now anymore. Its suprising how fast the technology has developed since I built my rig.

Thanks in advance!

Take a moment to fill out the answers to these questions.

 

[PBid412]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Streaming game play such as through own3d.tv, gaming, and usual internet browsing and so forth.

Speedtest.net results: http://www.speedtest.net/result/1764773793.png
Putting this there because it will come up in reference to streaming. In my current state, I get a clean stream, but if I'm streaming League of Legends, the game itself lags. Its why I think I need a better video card or cpu because streaming is hell on the computer as mentioned.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread.

If I had to build a new rig, around $2000.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

United States

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

Not a fan boy. Use whatever works!

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

These are listed in the original post. It all has not been OC'ed at all. Not on air or anything. This is a route I was considering as well if its enough to give me that boost.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

I have searched, but to me each build is unique in some sense. Some need a new rig while others can overclock.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

If overclocking is cheaper with my current rig, I will. I just never done it so Im not to comfortable with it.

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.

1920X1080

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

Once I know which route I'm going to take.

10. Don't ask for a build configuration critique or rating if you are thin skinned.

I am thick skinned. Bash me all day. I might cry a little though but you'll never know!

 

[Zap]

Video Card: Radeon 5850
Case: Antec 900
Power Supply: Antec Tru Power 750w
Memory: G.Skill Memory DDR3 1600 (4gb)
CPU: Intel Core I5 750 @ 2.67GHz
MOBO: ASUS P7P55D PRO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard

Your upload speed looks fine (the linked screenshot).

Your graphics card is fine for League of Legends. What new/upcoming games are you looking to play? Depending on those, you may want to consider a graphics card upgrade, but for LoL it is fine.

PSU is fine - even overkill even with upgrades.

Upgrade the RAM if you have 64-bit Windows Vista/7. If not, upgrade to 64-bit operating system and then upgrade the RAM. The reason is that supposedly (in my one minute research) the streaming host software will use a decent chunk of RAM on its own. Get a 1.5v 8GB kit (2x4GB) since those are cheap, and add it to your existing RAM for 12MB. If your existing RAM needs more voltage (typically 1.65v) I would recommend either running at a lower 1333MHz data rate, or even not using it at all and just using the 8GB.

Upgrade the CPU. I guess the streaming software does computations or compression in real time using the CPU, because the recommended was a quad core over 3GHz. Now you can just try overclocking yours, but c'mon don't you want a shiny new Sandy Bridge CPU? They're easier to overclock too, as long as you get a "K" CPU and an overclockable motherboard. How soon would you upgrade if you do? If it isn't for another couple months, then wait for April because that's when the new Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs come out.

 

[PBid412]

Your upload speed looks fine (the linked screenshot).

Your graphics card is fine for League of Legends. What new/upcoming games are you looking to play? Depending on those, you may want to consider a graphics card upgrade, but for LoL it is fine.

PSU is fine - even overkill even with upgrades.

Upgrade the RAM if you have 64-bit Windows Vista/7. If not, upgrade to 64-bit operating system and then upgrade the RAM. The reason is that supposedly (in my one minute research) the streaming host software will use a decent chunk of RAM on its own. Get a 1.5v 8GB kit (2x4GB) since those are cheap, and add it to your existing RAM for 12MB. If your existing RAM needs more voltage (typically 1.65v) I would recommend either running at a lower 1333MHz data rate, or even not using it at all and just using the 8GB.

Upgrade the CPU. I guess the streaming software does computations or compression in real time using the CPU, because the recommended was a quad core over 3GHz. Now you can just try overclocking yours, but c'mon don't you want a shiny new Sandy Bridge CPU? They're easier to overclock too, as long as you get a "K" CPU and an overclockable motherboard. How soon would you upgrade if you do? If it isn't for another couple months, then wait for April because that's when the new Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs come out.

Should of mentioned I'm running windows 7 64bit! I was considering upgrading the ram. When I actually got the ram I have now I was told to get something different but I already order this. So this is something I will probably do.

I'd hope I can upgrade the CPU without upgrading the motherboard but if I have to, I will.

Thanks for the response. More suggestions welcomed!

Also sent you PM Zap!

 

[General Kenobi]

Get a 1.5v 8GB kit (2x4GB) since those are cheap, and add it to your existing RAM for 12MB.

Ahem... :whiste:

 

[PBid412]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

How do those look? Might consider getting 4 for 16MB of memory!

 

[Zap]

Also sent you PM Zap!

I will quote your PM here (hope you don't mind) because it is totally within the realm of this discussion, and perhaps others can chime in with their thoughts.

I'm actually concerned with this because I think its my graphics card causing the streaming problems with League of Legends. I can't really pinpoint it. However, with my current mobo, could I actually use the ivy or sandy cpu? Just curious or will I need a nice new shiny mobo!?

Your motherboard is socket 1156, which is incompatible with socket 1155 (AKA the 2500K). The fastest socket 1156 CPU isn't much faster than what you already have, and to take it to the next step you'd either have to overclock it (very possible, but not guaranteed) or just bite the bullet and upgrade to socket 1155 where even the stock CPU performance will be terrific.

AFAIK streaming does not use any extra GPU oomph, so upgrading your graphics card will not help one bit. HOWEVER, AFAIK to stream you will probably have to run the game in some kind of windowed or borderless windowed mode, which can drop performance. Thus, you want to play the game withOUT streaming it, but in that mode to make sure it works fine.

After that, it should be either your CPU isn't fast enough to encode in real time, or your streaming quality settings are too high for your upload bandwidth. Yes, no matter how high your upload is (and it is indeed pretty nice) you can always set quality so high that it overwhelms the bandwidth.

Perhaps you can try a few tests to help narrow down the culprit before you spend money?

Overclock your CPU a tiny bit. To do so with minimal impact, go into BIOS and set your memory to a LOWER speed (1333 instead of 1600) and then increase the BCLK from 133 to 150. Your 2.67GHz CPU should now magically be 3GHz. Try your streaming again and see if there is less lag. If so, then you need to upgrade to a faster CPU. If not, then the CPU is not holding you back.

Lower the quality settings of your stream to reduce bandwidth. Also, you always want to stream at a LOWER resolution than your monitor, unless your monitor is super low resolution to begin with. Note that you want to try the CPU test first, because lowering the quality may also lessens impact on the CPU as well as bandwidth.

Ahem... :whiste:

Eh WTF time warp. Party like it's 1995.

 

[PBid412]

Well Zap, I had to update bios and then I put my BLCK at 150 from 133. That pumped up the DRAM to 1500 as well. Not sure how that works.

Anyways, thats what its running at right now. I tried to stream again with lag still present in game. I'm told my stream is great though.

I'm using XSPLIT to stream in League of Legends and I'm using a screen region.

The settings I'm using for it are as follows:

Resolution 1088X612 (16:9)
FPS: 25
Quality: 5
VBV Max Bitrate: 900
VBV Buffer: 200

I tested the bandwith for those settings and it passed with flying colors.

Just to further let you know, my screen is 1920X1080.

I don't know whats causing the in game lag.

I further did another speed test. I used the furthest server from me for this and these were the results:

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1766103515.png

Which those I think are still excellent.

P.S. Should I reset the cpu back to normal? I know its running at 3.01 GHz because under computer->properties it says Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 750 @ 2.67GHz with 3.01GHz right after that.

Edit Update: I ran XSPLIT without actually streaming and this resulted in game lag as well. I was running at 60fps with borderless windows and then as soon as I brought up XSPLIT, game lag was present reducing it down to 30fps. This was with OC Cpu. As per task manager, cpu usage hasn't really gone above 25%. Physical memory is at 45%.

 

[mfenn]

Take a look at the Task Manager's CPU graphs and see if any individual core is pegged. Also, I could be mistaken about this, but my understanding is that xsplit forces your framerate to the stream capture rate. Try changing your FPS in xplit and see if this makes a difference.

 

[Zap]

Well Zap, I had to update bios and then I put my BLCK at 150 from 133. That pumped up the DRAM to 1500 as well. Not sure how that works.
...
P.S. Should I reset the cpu back to normal? I know its running at 3.01 GHz because under computer->properties it says Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 750 @ 2.67GHz with 3.01GHz right after that.

If it is stable and otherwise problem-free, leave it at those settings.

The RAM speed follows the BCLK speed, which is why I asked you to drop it down a notch. This way you aren't overclocking your RAM. It will be underclocked slightly, but in most cases the higher CPU speeds more than makes up for lower RAM speeds.

I could be mistaken about this, but my understanding is that xsplit forces your framerate to the stream capture rate. Try changing your FPS in xplit and see if this makes a difference.

Ahhh! This is very plausible. Pbid412, try it out and let us know.

 

[PBid412]

I did this without much difference. I don't know how to explain it, but the game scroll stutters but the character animation doesn't. If that makes sense.

I bumped it up to 60fps and lowered it to 25fps with the same reactions. Actually, as we speak, XSplit is no longer sending the stream to Own3d.tv anymore as its just a black screen! Getting so frustrated!

I can't figure it out. Quite puzzling to me. Going to OC again. I reset it to default just to be safe but it was running stable previously.

 

[currahee440]

Are you watching your stream at the same time? When you play the game?

Also, have you looked at your CPU usage when you play and don't steam as well as when you play and stream? Streaming does use a lot of CPU power for me.

What's wrong exactly? Your frames stuttering in game?

 

[PBid412]

In league of legends, the only thing I'm trying to stream, when the game scrolls, as I move across the map, its blocky I guess you could say? Its not smooth. I don't know how to put it into words. I did it with FMLE 2.5 and VHScrCap and it does the same thing too but my FPS in game are higher than it is with XSplit. I was at 126 with FMLE and it was 50 with XSplit yet they both weilded the same results as I tried to describe just above in this post.

I also don't have anything open when I'm streaming other than whats required to stream and the game and whatever windows needs to function. I have aero mode off as well and the games vertical sync is turned off as well as being put into windowed borderless mode.

 

[mfenn]

Try streaming/capturing some random other game and see if you have the same behavior. That'll help determine whether it is a LoL-specific issue or not.

 

[PBid412]

Try streaming/capturing some random other game and see if you have the same behavior. That'll help determine whether it is a LoL-specific issue or not.

Good news, I left the cpu overclocked and League of Legends was playable now. Slight screen stutter but button and character animation were smooth.

I was around 60fps. I reinstalled Xsplit and it seemed like it help too.

I also streamed star wars and it was running flawless but I was told my stream was flickering like a white light at a haunted house. I don't care about that, but I thuoght it was weird!

I also read that the slight stutter in game might be due to my video card. People actually switched to nvidia from radeon and it fixed it. Just a thought.

 

[mfenn]

Glad you got it worked out!

 

[PBid412]

Glad you got it worked out!

Yeah, but it makes no sense to me on why it started working. I didn't change much. Just a reinstall. Maybe the windows updates helped, I do not know. Wish I could figure out the source.

As for the memory, I still think I should upgrade. The memory I linked earlier, is it good memory. Seems like the reviews on their website is good and it would go with my motherboard!

 

[mfenn]

As for the memory, I still think I should upgrade. The memory I linked earlier, is it good memory. Seems like the reviews on their website is good and it would go with my motherboard!

The G.Skill you linked is fine, but you can do better for the money. Here's 8GB of Crucial for $38.