PC gaming is a lot of fun, but what's even more fun is being able to broadcast your gameplay for the world to check out live. Twitch streaming is a huge thing, and if you're thinking about launching your own Twitch channel, you'll need a great setup to go with it.
A lot of Twitch streamers might advocate for a dual-stream setup, where you have one PC that's only dedicated to playing your games on, and another one that broadcasts that game feed to Twitch. The advantage of this is that it ensures no resources are used up that can affect your game in any way, allowing you to smoothly stream with high framerates in 1080p.
However this dual-stream setup is expensive, as you're essentially building two totally different PCs. So an easier solution is to build a PC that's strong enough to play your latest games as well as stream them. You can also add in a second PC at a later stage if you like, but for most Twitch beginners, a single PC will do just enough, as long as you manage your stream settings and game settings correctly.
When building a streaming PC, you'll want to have a decent budget in mind that can accommodate expensive components such as the GPU and CPU. You'll also want to make up your mind if you're willing to spend the extra cash on exactly the component you're looking for or if you're willing to compromise a bit and get say a slightly less powerful GPU or a small hard drive. Remember - you're building a PC that's going to be two tasks simultaneously - playing a game as well as broadcasting it. Whatever components you choose, make sure you check out our guide on how to build your own PC for all kinds of helpful tips and tricks.
Ready to start building your own streaming PC? We've listed some of our favorite components on this page to build a really strong streaming PC that will last you for a while before needing to upgrade.
