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Upgrading a Current Build To Handle Streaming Better

Vyraal1

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Current Build was pretty budget, so much so that upgrading it just seems to be a way better cost/benefit proposition than starting over again.

Current
Mobo - MSI H81-E33, micro ATX
Processor - i5-4430 @ 3.00ghz with stock cooler, constantly seems to hit full load these days and easily over 90 Celsius (via Speccy)
RAM - 16MB, 1600mhz Crucial Technology PC3-12800H
Graphics - ATI AMD Radeon R9 200 Series
Storage - SATA-III 6.0Gb/s, WDC WD10EZEX-00BN5A0 ATA Device

Mostly looking to play heavily modded minecraft (which is CPU dependent, single threaded), and not interested in any other games. I got a decent price on a used i7-4790k for $200.

Questions
1) Not entirely sure the exact demands for modded minecraft, but after talking to some others who play with 4690k, they said they had a hard time getting above 40 fps. My 4430 was around 70 fps upon playing a new world and as it progressed it would get down to 10-15fps, or became a slideshow when I was streaming. The awkward part is that I could alt+tab out of the game pretty quickly, or still browse casually, I'm assuming it was due to the poor single thread performance. Are there other CPU's that offer a better performance for value in the LGA 1150 slot? Remember that the main game I'm looking to play only really cares about single thread performance, but I do also want to stream.

2) Is there anything else I should consider looking into upgrading? I think my Mobo's BIOS is appropriate (ver 6.6), the RAM should be compatible, and unforunately it is also the highest frequency my mobo can take, I'm not even sure if upgrading the ram frequency will add much to performance improvement.

3) I mostly use the GPU to encode the stream to remove the stress off the CPU, and I'm happy with the video quality it produces (even though it is 720p at 30fps, I wanted to upgrade the CPU first before trying out 1080p at 60fps). I'm not really sure how this video card handles encoding at all, I just choose the AMD encoding over x264 in OBS settings, is this worth upgrading?

4) Bonus question, just recently got an MXL v88 Condenser Mic for about $50 and Scarlett Focusrite Solo for $70, are there any other pieces of hardware I should look into upgrading or can my current computer just handle these peripherals as they are?

5) Right now current cost is $200, I can move to an entirely new build but I don't really care about upgrade paths in the future or opportunity costs, I just want to stream modded minecraft without it turning into a slideshow, and having good audio, is it still worth it to move to a new build?
 
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I would upgrade storage in multiple drives, like ssd boot first off, then I would get a better cooler since 4790ks run hot. What streaming program are you using?

Some games I can't stream and play like TC:Wildlands just due to the demand that game has. I should point out that's the only game I've had issues with.
 

Vyraal1

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I would upgrade storage in multiple drives, like ssd boot first off, then I would get a better cooler since 4790ks run hot. What streaming program are you using?

Some games I can't stream and play like TC:Wildlands just due to the demand that game has. I should point out that's the only game I've had issues with.

Didn't think about the SSD, that's probably a good point, although that's mostly for convenience sake right? That shouldn't directly affect my ingame performance with games like Minecraft?

As for the cooler, my case is an micro-ATX, so I don't have a lot of room, will try to get a picture but I can only rely on something that is about similar width/depth as the current stock CPU cooler, but it can be much taller, are there any coolers that fit the bill? Honestly I was going to run the stock cooler.

OBS to stream, and maybe Chrome to keep StreamLabs/Twitch Chat open (Haven't migrated to StreamLabs OBS yet), and the game itsself are the only programs I plan to really keep open. I do have an old copy of iZotope Ozone as VSTFilters for OBS.
 
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Depending on the case, an AIO might be the way to go for a 4790K.
 
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I have some experience in streaming gameplay. I also have a little bit of experience with graphically modded Minecraft. As far is streaming goes, if no recording is occurring ,the strain is very minimal. I used OBS to stream to twitch ,and I used to do it on a 2500K while gaming and getting 60 frames of stream band & it was no problem. I'll offer a few suggestions that some don't consider immediately ,but helped out me.

If you do any recording of gameplay footage, be certain you are recording on a storage device that you are not playing off of, aka, recording to a drive your game is not installed on.

Bitrate is something people overdo often (setting 3000+ for no reason). Of course you will need to figure out what's right for you ,but your Internet speed is what's going to play a bigger part over anything else ,when it comes to streamed gameplay. If you live in a house with others who share your Internet, be conscious of when usage is @ it's highest ,and when it's at its lowest, you don't want someone downloading 12 GB of steam library while you're uploading the stream. Streaming depends on your up speed , ethernet is your friend wireless can often be your enemy ;)

Cut down on clutter programs, or any other performance hogs, as well any program that is recognized as a 3-D application. Malwarebytes often interferes with recording ,as well as detection by some capture software. If your pc HP is limited, You don't need to run any unnecessary programs if you're trying to optimize performance ,shut down what you don't need.

Make sure to take the time to optimize your streaming software. you want to make sure that you pick the proper upload server, and set your bitrate (as I mentioned earlier) properly .

Any CPU with 4 cores should suffice as long as you're not playing a particularly intense or CPU hungry title ,as the streaming portion won't take up too much horsepower.

When it comes to Minecraft, any aesthetic mods ,or shader packs can be extremely hard on your video card. It can also get pretty tricky because some mods don't play well and have pretty limited or abandoned support. The Minecraft mod scene is all but abandoned ,at least in terms of support ,this part of your request is going to require a good deal of set up and testing in my opinion.

Personally I enjoy having multiple monitors, at least two. One main display for the game or whatever content it is you're streaming. Secondary displays are great for stream chat so you can interact with your audience, as well as access to Google etc., for obvious reasons music etc. if a second monitor is not an option, a tablet or a Phone will suffice ,but can be a pain in the ass. If all else fails don't run in full screen, it'll make alt tabbing a lot easier if you're stuck with a single display.

Finally don't commit to any schedules of uploading if you decide to do this regularly until your Well established, and into a groove. Don't make some stranger a moderator in your channel, don't play games you don't like and don't act how you don't always act, anything less will be a job ,and not fun, & you'll find yourself loathing the streaming process. Try to include viewers, as long as you're able to do it safely ,invite them to play with you (without sharing personal information). This reminds me ,if you have a WebCam be sure to do a once over of your room to be certain no personal or sensitive information is visible from the WebCam
 
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Vyraal1

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Thanks for the tips. Just to clarify, this isn't actually graphically modded minecraft, but modded minecraft itself, as in playing with external mods that introduce a whole load of issues onto a CPU, not really focusing on shaders or resource packs.

Does separate read/write apply to streaming as well? I'm not really recording gameplay, mostly just looking to stream it, but I'm not sure if the internals behind encoding/uploading gameplay versus recording it are the same. Does streaming even use the harddrive with OBS?

Are there any guides you recommend for setting Bitrate?

Completely disagree about the minecraft mod scene being abandoned, but that's off-topic, thanks again for your help.


Depending on the case, an AIO might be the way to go for a 4790K.

Really? Even if I don't plan to overclock? I just wanted it because it had the best single thread performance for my given mobo. I'll seriously consider water cooling but I also have a mATX, and I'm not even sure how to fit it into my case (also never used any form of water cooling before). I was settled on the Cryorig H7 as it seems width/length wise it is similar to the stock Intel Fan and makes use of height (height is the only real space I have left in my case).
 

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I'm leaning to yes on the AIO, I would though try downvolting the CPU to see if you can drop temps a bit.

Ssd is yes, just a quality of life thing but it's also really nice to keep OS and storage separate for performance. Win10 does use a lot of hdd usage at times which can cause stuttering.

Is it only Minecraft you're going to stream out? I have the same CPU and we can do some testing and comparisons when I get off work.
 

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With that chip running at "easily over 90c", it wouldn't surprise me if your problem wasn't mostly heat related. I don't know what case you have, other than it's micro-atx. If you can't fit a reasonable air cooler in it, such as the Hyper 212, then I suggest at least a Corsair h50, or whatever you can fit. It'll handle a stock Haswell chip, or even a mildly overclocked one no problem. You can then use the IGP for streaming. You can select the integrated graphics chip to handle the streaming in your application (might say quicksync) and that means next to zero impact on your system from streaming. That means your CPU isn't doing the transcoding, nor is your video card. I noticed you mentioned you're currently using your graphics card to do the encoding, using quicksync instead takes the load off that.

Bitrate is a hard question to answer. A lot goes into that, mostly the resolution you're streaming at, and also the type of content. For example, a cartoony show like Family Guy wouldn't need as much bitrate to look good as a movie with realistic looks, lots of effects and scenes with a lot of motion, like the transformers or something. Twitch has their own guide for streaming, including suggested bitrates per common resolutions and framerates:

https://stream.twitch.tv/encoding/

Having said all that, if you still want to upgrade your CPU, the only way it's gonna be worth bothering with is if you also upgrade your board and RAM. You could drop a 4790k in there, but doing that alone is still going to be quite costly (maybe $250 if you're lucky), when you could upgrade to an 8600k which has 6 cores and will likely hit 4.7GHz easily. Such an upgrade will cost you around $540 though, and you'd still need a cooler.

TL;DR get a better cooler and try quicksync

-ed Getting an SSD, at least to boot Windows off of isn't a bad move. I'm not entirely convinced it does wonders for gaming, but putting your operating system on one at least will.
 
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Really? Even if I don't plan to overclock? I just wanted it because it had the best single thread performance for my given mobo. I'll seriously consider water cooling but I also have a mATX, and I'm not even sure how to fit it into my case (also never used any form of water cooling before). I was settled on the Cryorig H7 as it seems width/length wise it is similar to the stock Intel Fan and makes use of height (height is the only real space I have left in my case).

Depending on the case (and the CPU sample) an AIO might be the best option or delidding + air cooler. I build a 4790K system once where I had to undervolt the stock CPU just to keep the CPU from overheating and crashing with a good air cooler.

Btw I just took a look at your motherboard ... weak VRM without cooling. Without knowing your case, I 'd ditch the AIO and the H7 and go for something like the Scythe Kabuto ... . Furthermore I 'd delid the that CPU and undervolt it - -0.1V at least should be possible.
 
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Does separate read/write apply to streaming as well? I'm not really recording gameplay, mostly just looking to stream it, but I'm not sure if the internals behind encoding/uploading gameplay versus recording it are the same. Does streaming even use the harddrive with OBS?

Don't worry about separate drives if you're only streaming.

Bit rate will depend on your band with ,mainly you're upload speed. You can find this out pretty easily by running a combined test on testmy.net , it will give you a rough idea what your upload speed is. Unless massive changes have occurred, I would start around 1500 bit rate ,and move up from there ,if needed . For a game like Minecraft I don't see it being super important to go too high. Whether you're capturing at 30 frames per second, or 60 frames per second will matter. It's best to test it ,and then view the stream ,and then tweak it. Set up is a huge part of streaming, 90% set up, 10% the rest . Once you get everything set up, it's just a matter of pushing a button or two ,and then playing a game like you normally would ,the rest happens on its own.
 

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This is somebody who doesn't even have a k series CPU or z series board. I don't think delid is something to be taken lightly here. It's also unnecessary, the problem is the cooler isn't doing enough for the chip. If he was somebody with at least a 240mm aio and a 7820x or something, then say delid. Undervolt is maybe possible but I'm not sure his board would have that option. The root of the problem is still the cooler, though.

You make one point I fully agree with though, we don't know what case exactly he has. It's also possible it's a stuffy box with little ventilation and his stuff is just building and tapping heat that isn't being removed by good airflow. Still, the stock cooler isn't going to be good even in the best chassis.
 
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This is somebody who doesn't even have a k series CPU or z series board. I don't think delid is something to be taken lightly here. It's also unnecessary, the problem is the cooler isn't doing enough for the chip. If he was somebody with at least a 240mm aio and a 7820x or something, then say delid. Undervolt is maybe possible but I'm not sure his board would have that option. The root of the problem is still the cooler, though.

The days of razor blade and vice for delidding are long over. Either buy a tool (a little expensive for 1time use) or 3d-print that tool yourself (or let print) for 10$. Sure his stock cooler is shit, but even with decent aftermarket cooler for 30$ he might run into problems, especially if his board doesn't allow undervolting.

As I wrote above, I had that problem with a 4790K system myself - many 4790K run hot and agressive stock voltage curves from motherboard manufacturers can make that even worse. In my case the stock load voltage under windows was ~1.27V (Z97-UD5 - "optimized" default).
 

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Do you use AMD ReLive for streaming? If you don't, you should *really* try it because it drops the streaming load on the CPU to <1% (moves it to the GPU but your particular GPU can only handle MP4/AVC/AAC). Once you get the burden of transcoding off the CPU, then you'll have to see if Minecraft is satisfied with what remains.
relive_streaming.png


In regards to Minecraft, make sure it is running 64-bit version if it isn't already. You can check by opening up Task Manager while it is running and see if it says (32-bit) behind Minecraft.
 

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Before I get started on all my responses, in regards to downvolting, isn't it a bit too early to already start talking about downvolting? I don't even have the i7-4790k installed yet, my current CPU is the i5-4430, or is everyone talking about downvolting my i5-4430? My friend has the 4790k and will sell it to me the price I mentioned before, but I'm posting here to see if this is the best option for me given all of the details of the situation as listed in the OP.

I'm leaning to yes on the AIO, I would though try downvolting the CPU to see if you can drop temps a bit.

Ssd is yes, just a quality of life thing but it's also really nice to keep OS and storage separate for performance. Win10 does use a lot of hdd usage at times which can cause stuttering.

Is it only Minecraft you're going to stream out? I have the same CPU and we can do some testing and comparisons when I get off work.

Yes, it's primarily minecraft I plan on streaming. Relevant modpacks for the game are going to be:
SevTech - https://minecraft.curseforge.com/projects/sevtech-ages
Enigmatica 2 Expert - https://minecraft.curseforge.com/projects/enigmatica2expert

I'm also developing my own modpack with another pack team, that will be of roughly similar specifications. Load times don't really matter much for me as I usually load the packs before starting my stream (10-12 min game load time), although if the game does crash (as is bound to happen when playing with modded games), re-loading it on stream does make for some awkward downtime.

With that chip running at "easily over 90c", it wouldn't surprise me if your problem wasn't mostly heat related. I don't know what case you have, other than it's micro-atx. If you can't fit a reasonable air cooler in it, such as the Hyper 212, then I suggest at least a Corsair h50, or whatever you can fit. It'll handle a stock Haswell chip, or even a mildly overclocked one no problem. You can then use the IGP for streaming. You can select the integrated graphics chip to handle the streaming in your application (might say quicksync) and that means next to zero impact on your system from streaming. That means your CPU isn't doing the transcoding, nor is your video card. I noticed you mentioned you're currently using your graphics card to do the encoding, using quicksync instead takes the load off that.

Bitrate is a hard question to answer. A lot goes into that, mostly the resolution you're streaming at, and also the type of content. For example, a cartoony show like Family Guy wouldn't need as much bitrate to look good as a movie with realistic looks, lots of effects and scenes with a lot of motion, like the transformers or something. Twitch has their own guide for streaming, including suggested bitrates per common resolutions and framerates:

https://stream.twitch.tv/encoding/

Having said all that, if you still want to upgrade your CPU, the only way it's gonna be worth bothering with is if you also upgrade your board and RAM. You could drop a 4790k in there, but doing that alone is still going to be quite costly (maybe $250 if you're lucky), when you could upgrade to an 8600k which has 6 cores and will likely hit 4.7GHz easily. Such an upgrade will cost you around $540 though, and you'd still need a cooler.

TL;DR get a better cooler and try quicksync

-ed Getting an SSD, at least to boot Windows off of isn't a bad move. I'm not entirely convinced it does wonders for gaming, but putting your operating system on one at least will.
Maybe I wasn't clear enough in the OP, but what prompted this was that I got a deal on a used i7-4790k from a friend for $200, I'm not really one to care much about future opportunity costs, or lost value, also my biggest concern is directly fps improvement in modded minecraft, which is single thread heavy. It's all a bit of a weird situation (not caring about future value, not a large focus on GPU, hugely discounted processor).

I'll try to re-edit the OP to be a bit more clear, but currently I stream at 720p@30fps according to my OBS settings, but the minecraft ingame fps itself is a sad case at hovering between 20 - 25 fps, I'd be very happy if it could let me stream at 1080p@30fps/60fps would be the dream.

Thanks for mentioning QuickSync, I'll look into it right now with my i5-4430 (light googling says it came out with Sandy Bridge, so Haswell CPU's should have them right?).

Depending on the case (and the CPU sample) an AIO might be the best option or delidding + air cooler. I build a 4790K system once where I had to undervolt the stock CPU just to keep the CPU from overheating and crashing with a good air cooler.

Btw I just took a look at your motherboard ... weak VRM without cooling. Without knowing your case, I 'd ditch the AIO and the H7 and go for something like the Scythe Kabuto ... . Furthermore I 'd delid the that CPU and undervolt it - -0.1V at least should be possible.

The case is a Silverstone PS07 https://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Micro-ATX-Mini-DTX-Mini-ITX-Computer/dp/B005DDCDH2.

Sorry I'm not too familiar with how VRM plays a role here - is there something I can do to improve it aside from tossing out the board entirely? I'm pretty uncomfortable with de-lidding though, never tried it, and my first time will be on a CPU I just bought from a friend. As for undervolting, don't have that much experience with that, but I can look into it as well, although I think my motherboard won't allow me to overclock at all, but not sure if undervolting follows the same mechanics.

As for the i7-4790k system that you built, this might be a naive question, but if the CPU doesn't perform well with the stock cooler, won't Intel be up in it's neck with RMA's? Even if it is a K series designed for aftermarket cooler use, that just seems a bit off-putting to me.

Don't worry about separate drives if you're only streaming.

Bit rate will depend on your band with ,mainly you're upload speed. You can find this out pretty easily by running a combined test on testmy.net , it will give you a rough idea what your upload speed is. Unless massive changes have occurred, I would start around 1500 bit rate ,and move up from there ,if needed . For a game like Minecraft I don't see it being super important to go too high. Whether you're capturing at 30 frames per second, or 60 frames per second will matter. It's best to test it ,and then view the stream ,and then tweak it. Set up is a huge part of streaming, 90% set up, 10% the rest . Once you get everything set up, it's just a matter of pushing a button or two ,and then playing a game like you normally would ,the rest happens on its own.

My internet is 28mbps / 3mbps for down/up. I have streamed at at 8 hours with a 3300 bitrate, and looking back at on the VoD's I was happy with the video quality, so an amateurish conclusion for me is that 3300 is fine, I don't see too much of a reason to go lower unless this will decrease the load on my CPU/card.

This is somebody who doesn't even have a k series CPU or z series board. I don't think delid is something to be taken lightly here. It's also unnecessary, the problem is the cooler isn't doing enough for the chip. If he was somebody with at least a 240mm aio and a 7820x or something, then say delid. Undervolt is maybe possible but I'm not sure his board would have that option. The root of the problem is still the cooler, though.

You make one point I fully agree with though, we don't know what case exactly he has. It's also possible it's a stuffy box with little ventilation and his stuff is just building and tapping heat that isn't being removed by good airflow. Still, the stock cooler isn't going to be good even in the best chassis.

Yeah, I am a bit uncomfortable with de-lidding. I think for full disclosure I should've mentioned that I haven't cleaned my case in a while (~owned this build for 23 months), especially the area with the heat sink/fan. Although I do have both side panels off because I thought that would increase the air flow. I also keep the build itself on my desk, if you think it'll help i can also take some pictures.

Do you use AMD ReLive for streaming? If you don't, you should *really* try it because it drops the streaming load on the CPU to <1% (moves it to the GPU but your particular GPU can only handle MP4/AVC/AAC). Once you get the burden of transcoding off the CPU, then you'll have to see if Minecraft is satisfied with what remains.

In regards to Minecraft, make sure it is running 64-bit version if it isn't already. You can check by opening up Task Manager while it is running and see if it says (32-bit) behind Minecraft.

So there might be some unfamiliarity with this - but yes I am running the 64-bit version of Forge, which is basically a modding API that allows for other mods to alter minecraft. Long story short yes, I also have Java 8 -161 (later versions have incompats with Forge). Regarding software issues for the game itself, I'm very confident I know what I'm doing, I am a bit clueless on comaptabilities in the hardware section, and on the streaming section. Also when I open up taskmanager, it actually only says Java, maybe it is the bedrock edition you might be thinking of?

I also use OBS for streaming instead of ReLive because I'm not sure if ReLive actually works with VST 2.0 plugins as I have digital compressor filters and equalizer plugsins from iZotope Ozone that weren't detected by Relive. In my OBS settings though I did set the encoder to work with "AMD" rather than x264, not sure if this moves ALL of the encoding to the GPU (although I don't see why it wouldn't), as I have nothing else AMD related in my build.

With that, the game is still very, very, very unsatisfied with what remains.
 
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FordGT90Concept

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When you're streaming on Windows 10, if you go to Task Manager, Performance tab, then click on your GPU, the encode queue will show a lot of activity if it is doing it on the GPU:
encoding.png
 

Vyraal1

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When you're streaming on Windows 10, if you go to Task Manager, Performance tab, then click on your GPU, the encode queue will show a lot of activity if it is doing it on the GPU:
View attachment 101416
Sorry, I keep leaving out details, the system is still on Windows 7, regardless I am using Speccy to check GPU loads while streaming, and I do confirm that it does get a spike in activity there (unless Windows 10 Task's Managers is more accurate than Speccy, which I hope it isn't).
 

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Speccy is horrid for checking, use MSI Afterburner or bump to Win10. To be honest 10 uses resources so much better than 7. (Speccy still says my 1080ti is a 3gb card)


Go for the 4790k, be prepared to downvolt it with a decent aio such as the H80 or similar. I still suggest getting the SSD for quality of life.
 

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Speccy is horrid for checking, use MSI Afterburner or bump to Win10. To be honest 10 uses resources so much better than 7. (Speccy still says my 1080ti is a 3gb card)


Go for the 4790k, be prepared to downvolt it with a decent aio such as the H80 or similar. I still suggest getting the SSD for quality of life.
Thanks for the reply again, after doing some more research, it seems like AIO's are good because I don't have that much room to work with in the small case/board? Also, any idea where I can check or how to see if my board can be downvolted?
 

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Sorry, I keep leaving out details, the system is still on Windows 7, regardless I am using Speccy to check GPU loads while streaming, and I do confirm that it does get a spike in activity there (unless Windows 10 Task's Managers is more accurate than Speccy, which I hope it isn't).
I just tried running Speccy and it has next to no information on GPU load other than temp and clockspeed (neither accurately reflect the encode queue).


You could try GPU-Z. It won't definitively answer the question but when I was recording with ReLive, GPU-Z detected mostly 0% GPU load:
relive_gpuload.png


GPU-Z is looking at 3D queue from my previous picture, not the encode queue.
 
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Thanks for the reply again, after doing some more research, it seems like AIO's are good because I don't have that much room to work with in the small case/board? Also, any idea where I can check or how to see if my board can be downvolted?
Just check the bios when you get a chance. If bios won't let you XTU might. (Intel extreme tuning)
 

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You still need to start with a better cooler. I see the hyper 212 listed at the Amazon page you linked to along with your case where it says "frequently bought together" so it should fit. That much alone may improve your performance if you are throttling, which you may well be with those high temps. The 4790k can only run hotter.

Good news is your case looks like it has descent airflow for a small case like that, but it does still need cleaned of dust once in a while if you haven't been doing that. Shop vac works nice.
 
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You can put a large HSF in there. If you don't have tall RAM sticks, may I suggest the Scythe FUMA Rev. B , or to put more air on those VRM's, the Scythe Kabuto 3 .


OHHHHHH, BECAUSE IT FLOWS AIR DOWNWARDS. Sorry, I'm just really new to this, I'm getting a bunch of recommendations and I'm having a hard time understanding half the justifications provided, and it took me a while to piece together why you were recommending the Scythe Kabuto over something like an Cryorig H7 (which seems to have better reviews in the same price). It also seems like the Scythe Kabuto is a little bit offset as well, which is good as I'm afraid of my GPU getting in the way. It doesn't use a backplate though, have you had any experience with its stability?

Also looking at the manual at: https://msi.com/Motherboard/support/H81M-E33#down-manual, it does seem like I can adjust the multipliers and voltages.

I guess going forward here's what I'll probably do -
1) Enable iGPU in BIOS (if I can find it) and see if I can get Intel QSV to work with OBS
2) Buy the 4790k from my friend, buy either the Cryorig H7 or the Scythe Kabuto 3 (maybe I'm overvaluing the idea of getting airflow to the VRM/mobo)
3) Clean the case, see how hot the i7-4790k runs with the aforementioned coolers, probably looking for 50c idle? 80 on load? Testing it either by playing modded minecraft/streaming and looking over the profile via HWInfo64
4) If it goes way past those numbers, probably looking into undervolting it, no idea how to do this yet.
5) Maybe consider de-lidding, no idea how to do this yet, or what benefits it even provides. I'll cross that bridge when i get there, I'm not an enthusiast.

Did I miss anything?
 
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You can check out the review here: https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Scythe/Kabuto_3/
I have the Fuma, and It's doing a great job. I'm considering getting the Kabuto as well. I actually own the Kabuto 2, but it's not all that good.


Oh, wait. Your motherboard has the PCI-e slot that's used for the GPU in the "1st slot". Basically, it's more of an iTX layout. Many, if not most motherboards have a PCI-e X1 slot first. I don't think the Scythe coolers will work for you. I'll change my recommendation to:

Edit: The M9 would be a safe bet, but I think the H7 will work as well.
 
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Toothless

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Don't delid, not worth the chance of killing it.

You're looking at 30-40c idle, 70's full load if you drop the voltage correctly.

Yeah, see if the iGPU works.
 
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