Source
r/buildapc•
SoundAndFound

Is a dedicated GPU even necessary if I want to live stream non-gaming, yet CPU intensive music production things?

Build Help

I want to stream my music production process. From what I have read, streaming does not rely heavily on a GPU. My music software does not either.

Would I be correct in thinking that I could just get away with having a i7-7700k and work with the integrated graphics? I don't need a GPU?

I don't do any gaming. But I do do some basic video editing and I think I'm used to dealing with long render times on my laptop.

Posted Feb 7, 2017, 10:43 AM UTC

2357
golli123•

The only thing you should look out for is the DP/hdmi outputs of your motherboard, if you plan to use the integrated graphics card. This could be relevant if you plan to use 4k displays, since most of the time they only support 24hz for 4k displays.

Besides that if you don't use anything that benefits from a GPU, the integrated GPU will do the job.

If you have time though you might want to wait out AMDs Ryzen release, that should come in like a month? Hopefully the first time in a while that AMD can compete with the higher Intel chips.

15
Dogon11•

Ryzen won't have an iGPU. On the AMD side, either get 4 Bulldozer cores and a Polaris GPU with Bristol Ridge or wait for Raven Ridge with 4 Zen cores.

3
golli123•

Ah right, totally forgot that. It would still drive Intel prices down, but it's probably only worth then, if you have to turn over every dollar. Thanks for the correction.

3
Du6e•

Any word if the motherboards will have an igpu though (like some am3+ boards)?

2
jamvanderloeff•

Other than server boards, unlikely. There are AM4 chips with integrated graphics coming called Bristol Ridge, although they're still using the old Bulldozer based CPU core. The Zen based ones are coming later this year codenamed Raven Ridge.

1
ContemplativeOctopus•

Wait, does that mean that a gpu is required with any ryzen cpu if you want to have a monitor? It must have some sort of integrated graphics right?

1
JtheNinja•

Intel's X99 systems are the same way. It's not at all uncommon in this market.

2
ContemplativeOctopus•

What kind of cpus do people buy just for number crunching? Do they just toss in a low end gpu?

1
alienpirate5•

It does

1
ContemplativeOctopus•

Wow, so these chips will be useless for most non-gaming applications?

1
quizical_llama•

Nah only their apu's come with integrated graphics.

1
SoundAndFoundOP•

Thank you. What GPUs would you recommend looking at if I do plan on using 4k or dual displays? Or a price range to look in.

1
golli123•

Well, dual displays wouldn't be a problem per se if the board has 2 ports (like a hdmi and display port). Only if you use 4k it becomes a problem since they often can't drive more than 4k@24hz (although there are some that can i think, you just have to check first).

If you get a dedicated GPU and just want to use it to drive your displays get a cheap one that has all the ports you need. The problem of only having something like for example hdmi 1.4, which can't run 4k@60hz, is mostly for motherboards and shouldn't be one for GPUs which have a more recent display port or hdmi 2.0.

In the current gereration for the cheapest ones you would look at something like a amd r460 or nvidia gtx1050, although you could also go for older ones. whatever you can get a good deal for.

2
kernelmustard2•

Best way to find out is to try it. It's easy enough to add a GPU later if the integrated graphics aren't powerful enough

7
SoundAndFoundOP•

Good point.

1
GamingBread•

You are not wrong.

5
AskADude•

You could get away with it. However if you're gonna be doing some live stuff with some CPU heavy plugins, the cheapest gpu you can get that includes shadow play or amd's equivalent MIGHT help.

I'm not sure if shadowplay lessens the CPU load of streaming at all.

4
SoundAndFoundOP•

Cool. So I'm not too savvy on the current market. Any suggestions on a mid grade GPU?

1
AskADude•

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.reddit.com/r/Twitch/comments/3708cv/obs_or_shadowplay/?client=safari

On second thought, if you have an external DAC shadowplay might not work well depending on audio settings and what it lets you chose. Since it MIGHT only let you stream games.

OBS with a strong CPU should be good. If in doubt you can always add a gpu later.

2
quizical_llama•

You could use obs and then the nvidia codec for recording. Same process as shadow play but more control I believe.

1
SquaggleWaggle•

get a cheap gpu like a 1050ti

4
klondike_barz•

agreed. for <$140 you can get a 1050ti or rx460 that will help speed up your system for various tasks, and ensure smooth HD/UHD output for videos

2
[deleted]•

[removed]

1
dotbykorsk•

Getting an RX 460 or even something older can take some pressure of the CPU and isn't a bad idea.

3
ASexyLonelyAlien•

You're producing music and want to stream; you're gonna be really happy with a higher core count CPU (6-8 cores) the 7700k would be good, but I heard that there's some newer intel chips coming soon (7740k iirc). Source: I also produce music and streamed using just an fx 8320 and my gtx 980 with hardware decoding.

3
olivias_bulge•

Test and see.

Gpu encoding can help alleviate work on your cpu if necessary and are easy to buy if you need it.

No harm in waiting.

3
-transcendent-•

If I'm not mistaken the x264 from OBS uses cpu to record and stream.

2
Callu23•

It's hard to say really, I'd say just get the CPU and if you'll run into problems with it not being able to handle the stream get an RX460 for a 100$. Nothing is really lost this way and if you'll end up needing the GPU it'll benefit the video editing as well by a bit.

2
SnickSound•

You will have to assign some RAM to the iGPU, so make sure you have plenty of it.

1
Dogon11•

People are missing the important discussion when talking about overclocking. Do you plan to overclock your cpu? If so, get the i7-7700k or wait for the i7-7740k.

0
CommandoSnake•

You should get a gtx 480 for the tdp bragging rights what

-7
Evilbred•

I'd argue buying the 7700k is a waste too. Get a 7700. The K models are always going to be optimized with the assumption that a good gpu will be present, while the 7700 is often used in office pc setups.

-10
KrustyKrab223•

They're the exact same thing, one is just overclockable, the other is not.

Office PC's rarely would be overclocked, so that's why you see locked, non-K CPU's in many prebuilts and workstations.

14
decaboniized•

No they aren't lmao. The 7700k is faster then the 7700 both at stock settings.

As an example here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-kaby-lake-core-i7-7700k-i7-7700-i5-7600k-i5-7600,4870-4.html

The 7700k shows improvement in all applications.

So next time you say something like this actually do research because no they aren't the exact same thing besides one is overclock-able and the other isn't.

-12
smartphone-redditor•

You do realize that is because the unlocked version is clocked higher out of the box?

They are

identical

Stock clocks are irrelevant for the unlocked version so comparing them is only fair if you did it at the same frequency.

8
stump1001•

This is why I love this place. The facts always come out because of people like you, so thank you! Many will read this and learn from it instead of being misinformed.

3
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
4675636B596F75•

It's faster because it's clocked higher...

2
AskADude•

Please learn the physics behind transistors and the process of "binning" before you make yourself look stupid.

-1†
Vincent_van_Gogurt•

On account of your username I have to ask, can you point me to a good resource to understand binning?

1
kernelmustard2•

lol at these idiots downvoting you. 7700k is significantly faster whether or not it's overclocked just because of the stock frequency difference.

-1
beigemore•

"optimized"?

8
pcb4•

The K models are not "optimized with the assumption that a good GPU will be present".

5
Liquidretro•

I would agree, the i7 in general is most likely overkill for light video editing and unspecified music editing. He could bump down generations with little to no impact too.

-6
Evilbred•

Actually things like video editing use the hyperthreading to a greater degree than games do (or did, very recently games started to be optimized to support hyperthreading)

3
Liquidretro•

Totally depends on the software he is using. Lower end video editing software wont' support it. Something like Avid or Adobe premier definitely do. Either way I would argue most people who do occasional editing can probably wait a few minutes longer on an output render. Not sure what laptop OP had but a desktop should be significantly faster.

1
AskADude•

I do music production. My over clocked i5-2500k (4.5ghz) has some serious issues near the end of my projects due to running many cpu intensive plugins. i7 is not overkill.

3
Liquidretro•

The an i7 makes sense bit you certainly don't need the 7700k. Good luck

0
DrobUWP•

you're not spending a bunch of money on a GPU. you can afford to spend an extra $100 (+$30 Mobo +$35 Cryorig H7 +$35 k chip) for 15-17% improvement (4 GHz quad core turbo boost speed of 7700 vs a typical air OC of 4.6-4.7 GHz on a 7700K)

edit: looks like $750 vs $650 for a cheap as possible build, so 15-17% improvement for 15% higher price, which is fair. that doesn't really matter though because there's nowhere to go for more improvement without overclocking (or spending a ton more for a 6 core build that trades clock speed for cores and ends up being not that much better in many cases)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

TypeItemPrice
CPUIntel Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor$343.45 @ OutletPC
CPU CoolerCRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler$34.88 @ OutletPC
MotherboardGigabyte GA-Z270P-D3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard$110.98 @ Newegg
MemoryGeIL EVO POTENZA 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory$82.99 @ Newegg
StorageSandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive$43.74 @ B&H
StorageWestern Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive$40.00
CaseDeepcool TESSERACT BF ATX Mid Tower Case$38.99 @ SuperBiiz
Power SupplyEVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply$33.88 @ OutletPC
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total (before mail-in rebates)$738.91
Mail-in rebates-$10.00
Total$728.91
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-07 11:30 EST-0500
3
4675636B596F75•

I'd argue that getting a 7700 is a waste of money. If you're buying a high-end CPU, don't you want to get the most out of it? An extra 1GHz or more is a significant increase in performance.

3