What PC Specs are Important for Twitch Streaming?

If you want to get started with streaming games on a PC, the minimum specs are going to depend on the streaming video resolution that you require. You can choose from several different resolutions from 720p to 4K, however, Twitch recommends a minimum of 1080p for the best experience for you and your viewers. In general, the higher the resolution and frame rate, the better components you are going to need in your PC to make sure that your streaming is smooth. With low-end components, you might suffer from various issues like poor picture quality, pixelation, ghosting, low frame rates, and stuttering. So, what should you look out for to get the best experience from your streaming PC?

CPU

 

The CPU is at the heart of any gaming PC, and one of the most important things to consider if you are buying a Lenovo Streaming PC. If your CPU is not fast enough, then you might suffer from dropped frames, low frame rates, and other issues.

 

Why is it so important when it comes to streaming? The CPU works in real time to encode the stream into the video that your viewers see. This refers to all the movement and sound on your screen being captured and turned into a digital video file, which is then compressed and sent over the internet. This is quite a resource-intensive process, so you need to make sure that your CPU is powerful enough to run your favorite games while streaming at the same time.

 

RAM

 

For your gaming PC to run smoothly when streaming, it’s important to have plenty of RAM. RAM refers to the working area for your computer, and everything that your PC is currently using including games and streaming software is held in the RAM ready to use instantly. Because of this, you need to make sure that you have enough RAM to provide the room you need for the programs you are going to be running at the same time. Ideally, for gaming and streaming, you should have a minimum of 16GB RAM.

Graphics Card

 

The graphics card isn’t all that important for streaming alone, however, it is crucial for being able to play your games at a good frame rate and resolution. When it comes to gaming performance, your graphics card is one of, if not the most important components of your gaming PC. However, graphics cards can easily get very expensive, but the good news is that there are lots of mid-tier graphics cards that you may want to consider if you are looking for a good streaming PC on a budget. Remember that you can always update this component later.

 

If you want a PC to stream games from, there are lots of other specs and components to consider, including the hard drive, motherboard, power supply unit, and peripherals. No matter what kind of games you want to stream, making sure that your PC has the required power and specs to stream smoothly and offer viewers a good experience will help you get your Twitch channel off to a good start.