Gamers logo

Beginner Streaming Hardware Setup Guide

My streaming hardware and recommendations.

By Vormov GamesPublished 4 years ago 4 min read
Like
Good hardware on a budget.

Hi everyone,

I have been streaming for several years now and wanted to share my hardware setup after having purchased (and returned) quite a bit of hardware to find the exact right combination. Twitch offers beginner guides but they don’t delve deep into hardware choices on any of those. So, I’m assuming you know a bit about this already. I’m guessing you already signed up for a Twitch account.

I’m sure you also already chose your streaming software. Whether it’s OBS, Stream Elements, or if you want to shell out a little cash up front Xsplit. Yes, I know there’s a free version of Xsplit, but you can’t use any of the footage commercially, so that rules all of us streamers out. I personally started with OBS and now use Stream Elements with Vcam which is an Xsplit product that costs $39.95 for a lifetime license or $6 for a month. Try it out and see if you like it. I can delve deeper into all the software tweaks and mods in a separate article, today we’re here for the hardware.

My gaming setup in my basement/man cave.

I stream and game from one PC. My tower specs humbly boast a 7th gen I7, a 1660 Ti, and 16GB of RAM. I know there’s more to the guts of a PC but these are the ones that are impacted by streaming and gaming so they’re my focal point. If you’re like me and your graphics card is better than your CPU you’ll want to have it do the lion’s share of your encoding when you’re streaming. To do this follow this guide to get setup with NVENC. It’s one of the most important distinctions you’ll make because if it’s set to encode with your CPU you can easily throttle your gameplay with a lot of leftover graphics card being unused for the heavy lifting.

For most games I use a mouse and keyboard. My go to mouse is the Lexip Pu 94 (not pictured). My wife bought these for us both a couple of years ago when they were on Kickstarter and I absolutely love it. My keyboard is a simple Corsair K68 with red switches. I use a Blue Yeti mic that is the perfect microphone for a multitude of reasons. You can also see a Blue Snowball. It's an ok starter microphone, but I have discontinued it in favor of the Yeti and audio is so important on streams that I would say it's well worth the investment. It has better range and pickup than the Snowball. My webcam is a Logitech C-920 and it is all the webcam you’ll ever need honestly. I know the 922 exists and I’ve considered upgrading but there’s really no point. I can stream and record at 60fps 1080p with no additional lag and I’m happy with that. My headphones are also Corsair HS60s that sound perfect and are great on a budget.

There’s an argument to be made for multiple monitor setups. When I started I was using one monitor and I’d have to tab out of my game to check my stream quality or look up info in a browser. I expanded to a dual monitor setup and just half screened OBS and Brave, but now I’m happy to say I have a dedicated browser monitor, Streaming monitor, and gaming monitor. My gaming monitor was a gift for my birthday this year. I was excited to upgrade to 144hz and 1440p. The two outer monitors are just standard 1080 Dells. If you haven’t gamed at 144hz I highly recommend it. This isn’t imperative to streaming, and if you have an older graphics card it might be difficult to achieve while streaming anyway, but it was quite frankly an entirely new experience. When I play FFXIV I use a wired Xbox controller instead of mouse and keyboard and that’s simply because I also play it on my PS4 and that keeps all my hotbars in line. My wife considers me a pleb for using a controller on PC and it just makes me love her more. She plays Dark Souls though so you know… she’s hardcore.

If the clothes make the man then the hardware makes the streamer. You can be the most talented gamer and if you have spotty or crackling audio or laggy video no one will care how many pentakills you can achieve. So, I hope this helps get you started as recommended streaming hardware. You don’t need the most expensive stuff. Prioritize your internal hardware, your microphone, and webcam and the rest will fall into place. If you want to see all this hardware in action come on over to twitch.tv/vormovgames and check it out for yourself or feel free to ask me any followup questions you may have about streaming, gaming, or just technology in general.

gear
Like

About the Creator

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.