do you need streaming software for twitch

If that sounds too complicated, you can check out desktops such as CyberPower's Pro Streamer, which houses two complete PCs in a single body.įortunately, thanks to strides made by Nvidia (opens in new tab), creating a high-quality stream from a single PC is becoming entirely feasible. Some of the most popular streamers remedy this by using two PCs at once - one for gaming and another for broadcasting. While Twitch's core system requirements are fairly forgiving, streaming and playing graphically intense games at the same time can put quite the strain on your computer. If you want to stream yourself cooking, playing music or simply hanging out (Twitch has a popular 'IRL' (In Real Life) category full of people doing just that), you don't need any fancy gear - your phone will do just fine! The Twitch app for iOS (opens in new tab) and Android (opens in new tab) allow you to stream directly to the platform, which is a good way to do non-gaming streams or to test the waters before diving in. To minimize your temperatures peaking, we recommend closing any background apps while you're streaming. If you opt for a laptop, keep in mind that you may experience some issues with overheating since components are positioned much close to each other than they would be on a desktop PC. While we recommend streaming from a desktop if possible, going live from a laptop is absolutely doable, provided you have the specs necessary.

If you're looking to stream PC games, you'll need a graphics card that's strong enough to support the streaming software and whatever game you're planning on playing. More important than your computer specs is your Internet connection, as you'll definitely want to stay connected via Ethernet for the best possible bitrate. The faster your Internet connection, the better, so you should probably aim to have an upload speed of at least 3Mbits per second, which should be quite achievable on most home Internet connections. As far as technical specs go, Twitch recommends having at least an Intel Core i5-4670 processor (or its AMD equivalent), 8GB of RAM and Windows 7 or newer - don't worry, you can stream from a Mac, too. Although there are a few exceptions we'll outline below, you'll likely be doing most of your streaming from a gaming laptop (check out our guide on the best gaming laptops out there) or a gaming desktop PC (if you're unsure, have a look at our best gaming PCs coverage).

Do you need streaming software for twitch