Is it useful to have 2 computers for camming?

[LenaSexton]

As some of you may know my old PC has been causing me all kinds of stress. I ordered a new computer (32GB DDR4, 512 GB SSD/1TB HD, AMD Ryzen...the works) last week that is coming in tomorrow. I also got a Logitech Brio that I'm looking forward to using soon with the computer. I still have my good ole Logitech C920 that I will probably be using for Streamate, since I don't think I can use a virtual cam there (correct me if I'm wrong). Depending on the streaming requirements for OF I will probably streaming there too.
My old computer isn't completely useless I just can't have multiple streams going with it. If I'm only streaming to one platform, I can still use it w/o having any issues... I'm going to buy a cooling fan for it too.

My question is it helpful or more productive to have 2 computers when camming or for post-production of content even? I'm always seeking ways to make use of what I have and just want to make sure there's something that I could be doing with the other computer that I'm not thinking of.

 

[JessicaXOXOXO]

Absolutely! I have two computers for 2 stations. Both are set up to cam with studio lighting. However one is a desk and computer chair set up. One is a bed set up. With the amount of sites I am on, I find both very helpful.

 

[SaffronBurke]

It can be helpful, yes. I have two laptops, both are basically ancient in computer years but still work fine so why replace them. The first is a 2013 Toshiba Satellite that's basically a desktop because it shuts off if the power cord is so much as loose, but it's still powerful enough to handle streaming and editing. The second is a 2012 MacBook pro, which isn't as powerful as the Toshiba, but it has far superior battery life, so I use it on bad pain days to queue uploads from bed. I upload my finished content to Dropbox so I can easily do this. I also use it for editing preview images and adding text to them, because I like how the screenshot functions like a snipping tool and saves the image to a folder automatically. I could just use Snipping Tool on the Toshiba and save it myself, but I'm lazy.

 

[ForumPoster]

I think you will enjoy your update. I found moving to a PC with a better video card helped extremely well with encoding. I knew it would speed it up but wow, I am able to keep a stable connection on OBS near my ISP upload limit.

Though I been having reboot issues lately...

 

[AudriTwo]

i have a gaming laptop in case something in my pc busts. too many times i had to put off camming because of pc troubles. i specifically bought it for that reason. i'm thinking about setting it up in my bedroom for a second masturbation station when i feel a change of scenery.

 

[LittleLei]

My question is it helpful or more productive to have 2 computers when camming or for post-production of content even?

Personally yes.

I put off grabbing a laptop for a long time, but recently snagged one, mainly to have as a backup. My desktop computer is my main work station. A couple of months ago it wouldn't turn on properly after transportation from a move. That was a nice long troubleshooting week and I lost a whole week of camming to fixing it.

Having a laptop allows me to be mobile now with my camming locations. Laptop is for camming and desktop is for mainly everything else, camming, editing etc.

I'm not very good at multitasking when it comes to camming, but if you can get other admin or editing work while camming, that is very productive.

 

[James_and_Aiden]

We have 2 computers, gaming desktop and gaming laptop for streaming.

This allows us to separate private based sites from token based, allowing easier management of all chats.

 

[EvaRomania]

I use one computer ,I have big screen so I can go live to 5 sites if I want to...

 

[yummybrownfox]

My question is it helpful or more productive to have 2 computers when camming or for post-production of content even? I'm always seeking ways to make use of what I have and just want to make sure there's something that I could be doing with the other computer that I'm not thinking of.

Yes, for me it is. I have one laptop and Logitech C920 webcam that I use for MyFreeCams, and a different laptop and Logitech C920 webcam that I use for ManyVids Live. I have them both side-by-side for when I'm broadcasting on both at the same time. I just have to remember to NOT be signed into Google Chrome on both laptops, because I think that's why I was having that issue of getting disconnected from my MFC chat.

 

[corky888]

Having two computers is a great ideal, having a backup will give you piece of mind. A lot of problems can be solved by a simple reboot, if your stream starts acting up during your broadcast, I would tell tell chat you are rebooting and will BRB. Most people do not realize that when you reboot (NOT REFRESH) it gives you all your RAM (Memory) back, this is a huge factor in streaming, In fact I would recommend that before you start your broadcast, you reboot your computer so you start out with all the RAM you can.
Now this I am sure will rile some up, But is just my opinion. I would prefer to have a desktop computer for my main broadcasting machine rather than a laptop, oh I can hear all the screams HO{(&T#$%R_^& , OK don't bite, yes laptop's are neat cause their small and mobile. Why, one reason for me, graphics card or video card.
Take a Desktop Nvidia 2080ti and compare it to the same graphics card built in to a laptop. Look at a add on Nvidia Desktop 2080Ti graphics card, my GOD it is just a little smaller than the a laptop computer. I believe that a full sized graphic's card will give you a better streaming image, Again this is just my opinion and I am not going to get into pissing contest about it. Check out Spec's of each.

 

[LenaSexton]

I've read and personally prefer a desktop myself. I've never been able to get more than 3 years out of a laptop due to overheating. I have had my old desktop since 2016 and it is just now starting to really not work as well, but it is still functional. It just doesn't perform well for streaming.

 

[AnimeGurl]

I use one computer ,I have big screen so I can go live to 5 sites if I want to...

Do you mind telling me how you live with one webcam using obs please?

 

[Nigerian Prince]

Take a Desktop Nvidia 2080ti and compare it to the same graphics card built in to a laptop. Look at a add on Nvidia Desktop 2080Ti graphics card, my GOD it is just a little smaller than the a laptop computer. I believe that a full sized graphic's card will give you a better streaming image, Again this is just my opinion and I am not going to get into pissing contest about it. Check out Spec's of each.

This is not really true, you won't see any meaningful difference in comparable graphics cards... Not to mention that GPU encoding has some tradeoffs in comparison to CPU encoding

 

[corky888]

I am not going to argue with you, better cards, better graphic's, It appears all you do is follow people around and dispute what they say. There is a huge difference between a full sized graphics card and a onboard one :

 

[Nigerian Prince]

I am not going to argue with you, better cards, better graphic's, It appears all you do is follow people around and dispute what they say. There is a huge difference between a full sized graphics card and a onboard one :

You just keep replying to threads that I'm auto-following with information that is wrong or misleading. I also wouldn't want anyone who read your post here to think that you need a desktop 2080ti to get the best streaming quality. If we were talking about streaming games on twitch or something then yes it would make a difference, because there is a large perceptible difference using NVENC compared to say x264 on veryfast, but you will get the same quality with a 1660 that you would a 2080, especially with the low bitrates that Twitch streamers use. That is not the case when it comes to actual camera footage.

Here is an interesting comparison video between different encoders for anyone interested. It's kinda long but you can skip different sections to see the data.

 

[EvaRomania]

Do you mind telling me how you live with one webcam using obs please?

Obs virtual cam . But I recommend Shine Browser if you are on freemium sites

 

[anabeauty37]

Im planing to add a new pc also .. becouse this is the future of camming, With all this sites changes when u cant be sure about nothing anymore, the future is all cam models will end up with 5. 6 sites on same time.