The distribution of content on the Internet in real time has become a phenomenon. Advances in recent years, both in computing and in telecommunications, have allowed what was previously reserved for television channels to be accessible to everyone. However, not all PCs are prepared to perform this task with the necessary performance. That’s why we are going to teach you how to choose best processor for streaming.
What is video encoding and decoding?
When it comes to encoding and decoding video, what any processor does is take blocks of the image and apply an algorithm to them that compresses the information. This is crucial because otherwise the amount of data that would be needed to store a movie would be enormous. As well as the necessary bandwidth. The counterpart of using different video formats, such as H.264, AV1, HEVC, etc. Of course, in exchange for reducing the data size, we end up needing a lot of computing power to be able to encode and decode the thousands of blocks per second fast enough for the video to be seen before our eyes or those of others. a remote user.
We must therefore start from the fact that it is parallel work, which is why the SIMD units present in both the CPU and the GPU, although more common in the latter, are the key to it. Since they can apply the same instruction to multiple data to the same in parallel. However, with the appearance of hardware video codecs inside graphics cards, this problem has disappeared, since in theory the processor is relieved of this task. His limits ? They are often limited in capacity and do not support all codecs, so there are conditions where we have no choice but the system processor.
What makes a good streaming processor?
If you want a direct and simple answer: the one with the most nuclei. And it is that we must take into account that a computer to broadcast on the Internet is going to need more power than is necessary to play.
Few games currently recommend 8 cores to run so this is an ideal number, however in the future you may need a CPU with a higher number and this is where we come into a dilemma when choosing Intel and AMD, especially since the appearance of the Intel Core 12, where some models have a series of additional cores called E-Cores.
E-Cores do not have the same performance as P-Cores, but are ideal for background or minor tasks. What if we gave them the task of encoding the video? Obviously, they won’t do as well as a high-end core or a symmetrical 12-core setup. However, it will free up work for the parts of the CPU responsible for running the main game threads.
Our advice? It intelligently uses the allocation of tasks to different cores in order to achieve an efficient division of labor.
What about integrated graphics?
The iGPU inside your CPU, if it supports it, usually has a built-in hardware video codec that will allow you to handle at least two streams at the same time. These drives are the same ones found in NVIDIA and AMD gaming graphics cards.
So as long as you don’t exceed certain requirements, you should theoretically be able to use it for encoding. Certain? Well no, and here is the jug of cold water. Games are not intended to combine two graphics chips at the same time, even if one is used to encode the video. So unless the manufacturers allow it in the future. As is the case at Intel with its Deep Link between its processors and its graphics. We cannot use the CPU video codec for streaming.
What is the best processor for streaming?
Well, it depends on your pocket and your needs, if you are someone with limited budget, but want good performance, our advice is i5-12600K from Intel. However, if raw power is what you want, then AMD’s latest 12-core beast, the Ryzen 9 7900X.
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