Streaming Guide: World of Warcraft

[Sparkuggz]

Introduction

Hello guys and girls, more and more people are starting to stream playing video games and i would like to give you a few tips setting up your new badass stream.

I’m personally one of those people with a low upload (1,7 MB/s), so I have played around for hours trying to optimize my stream quality. You have to use some time to find the perfect match, and sometimes you need to realize your PC and connection won’t allow you better quality. I hope this guide will help some people tune their settings for a better stream experience.

… This guide is mainly for using the streaming program XSplit and Justin/Twitch TV

There are two really important things determining your streaming quality capabilities, as it requires a lot of resources:

• Internet Connection (Upload)
• CPU

CPU and upload are two major factors that set the standard of what kind of quality you can expect. The more upload and CPU power you have, the better result.

Recommended upload: +2 Mb/s
Recommended CPU power: + i5 / i7

There are a lot of different settings in XSplit that you can adjust to improve your stream quality, but it all depends on your connection and PC capabilities. Two really important settings that you will need to “tune” to find the perfect stream quality are Bitrate and Preset. The rest is more or less standard if you don’t have a PC from the stone age.

Thumb rules according to your internet connection

• Low upload: Play with the Preset XSplit setting to improve your stream. It requires a powerful CPU.
• High upload: Don’t go bananas on your bitrate, it can course lag for the viewer

• You should check your internet connection on www.speedtest.net to determine what kind of settings you should use for XSplit.

XSplit settings


Preset

Recommended setting: CPU depended

This is one of the options that can put less strain on your internet connection and move it to your CPU. It’s important that you adjust it accordingly to what CPU you have and you will need to monitor CPU usage. Adjust this setting until you hit a good 50-70% CPU Usage while streaming.

The “slower” preset you choose the better quality and the more CPU usage you will experience.

A rough guideline for preset settings would be:
• CPU @ i5 – faster
• CPU @ i7 – fast

Don’t go above 80% CPU usage while streaming, as it can result in various issues.


VBV Max Bitrate / VBV Buffer

Recommended setting: Internet Connection depended

This setting is all about what upload you have, as you need to tell XSplit how much of your upload it can eat. Don’t ever go above 3.000 even if you have a god tier connection, you may cause lag for the viewer if their connection can’t handle it.

A rough guideline is that you should set this 500-600 below your upload
Example: 2 Mb/s upload (– 600) = 1400 bitrate

Remember that the upload your provider sold you and the upload you actually have available are often different. A normal 2 Mb/s upload, might actually be 1.8 Mb/s meaning you would need to lower it to around 1300. Use the speedtest to determine what kind of upload you have available.

As soon as you start setting the bitrate higher than the “limit”, you might see an increase in your in game latency. It’s always a good thing to check “Test bandwidth” in XSplit to make sure you won’t experience issues. The higher your bitrate allows you to go, the higher quality you will experience. Push this one to the limit, and even a tiny bit can improve stream quality magnificently.

People with worse internet connections can always improve their streams by putting a slower preset, if they have the CPU power to do so…


FPS

Recommended setting: 30

You don’t want to go under 25 FPS as it can give a worse viewing experience, so aim for 30 FPS


Resolution

Recommended setting: 1280x720 @ 720p

Today’s streams mainly consist of 720p or 1080p. As most people don’t have the PC or the Internet available to run 1080p, aim to optimize your 720p stream and make it the smoothest possible.
If you do have the means available to run a 1080p stream it’s highly recommended to do so. Viewers love it, and it is just way better to look at. You will need a powerful CPU and a good upload.

Below you can see the settings from some of our 1080p streamers!


Location

Recommended setting: Closest location to you

Change this to the closest location of where you’re currently located.


Quality

Recommended setting: 8-10

Avoid going under 8, but with a lesser PC and internet connection you might be forced to. The higher quality you set, the sharper your stand-still image will be.
 

Method streamers setup

Maybe you have watched one of the method players streaming, and you liked their quality. I sampled a list of our streamers and you can check out how they tuned their settings considering their PC and internet connection.

Sparkuggz (720p)



PC Specs

CPU: i5-2500 CPU @ 3.30Ghz
RAM: 8 GB DDR3
GFX: GTX 560Ti TOP

XSplit Settings

FPS: 30
Resolution: 1280x720
Location: Frankfurt
Preset: Faster
Quality: 8
VBV Bitrates: 1400

Audio Encoding
Format: 44.100 KHz 16 bit stereo
Bitrate: 90000

Twitch account: Sparkuggz


Phlaryu (1080p)



PC Specs

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU K875 @2.93GHz 2.93 GHz
RAM: 8GB DDR-3
GFX: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470

XSplit Settings

FPS: 20
Resolution: 1920x1080
Location: Frankfurt
Preset: Xsplit Default
Quality: 6
VBV Bitrates: 2500/2500

Audio Encoding
Format: 44.100KHz 16 bit Stereo
Bitrate: 80000

Twitch account: Phlaryu


Xerofour (1080p)



PC Specs

CPU: Intel core i5 2500k @ 4.4Ghz
RAM: 8GB G.Skill Ripjawsx
GFX: NVidia GTX 560ti 448 cores

XSplit Settings

FPS: 24
Resolution: 1920x1080
Location: London Secondary (I've had some issues with London Primary in the past)
Preset: Xsplit Default (Which I believe is superfast)
Quality: 6
VBV Bitrates: 3000/3000

Audio Encoding
Format:44,100 Khz 16 bit mono
Bitrate: 96000

Twitch account: XerofourMethod


Dabears (1080p)



PC Specs

CPU: i7 2600k @ 4.0GHz
RAM: 8Gb Corsair RipjawsX DDR3 (2x 4Gb)
GFX: MSI R6950 TwinFrozr II/OC 2GB GDDR5

XSplit Settings

FPS: 20
Resolution: 1920x1080
Location: Default
Preset: XSplit Default
Quality: 6
VBV Bitrates: 2900/3000

Audio Encoding
Format: 44. 100 KHz 16 bit stereo
Bitrate: 112000

Twitch account: Dbsny


Imsupersdw (1080p)



PC Specs

CPU: Intel Core i7 2700K @ 4.8 GHz
RAM: 16gb Gskill Ripjaws X DDR3 @ 2133 Mhz (4x4gb)
GFX: Nvidia GTX 590

XSplit Settings

FPS: 30
Resolution: 1920x1080
Location: London Primary
Preset: Fast
Quality: 8
VBV Bitrates: 3000/3000

Audio Encoding
Format: 44.100Khz 16bit stereo
Bitrate: 128000

Twitch account: Supersdw


Pacteh (720p)



PC Specs

CPU: i7 870@2.93GHz(8CPUs)
RAM: 4096mb
GFX: nVidia GTX460

XSplit Settings

FPS: 30
Resolution: 1280x720
Location: London
Preset: fast
Quality: 8
VBV Bitrates: 1500

Audio Encoding
Format: 44.100Hz 16bit Stereo
Bitrate: 96000

Twitch account: pactstah


Blatty (720p)



PC Specs

CPU: i7 860 @ 2.8Ghz
RAM: G.Skill PI Series 6 Go DDR3-SDRAM PC3-12800 @ 800 Mhz
GFX: MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC 1Go GDDR5 880Mhz

XSplit Settings

FPS: 25
Resolution: 1280x720
Location: Default
Preset: Default
Quality: 6
VBV Bitrates: 500/750

Audio Encoding
Format: 44.100Khz 16 bits mono
Bitrate: 56000

Twitch account: blattyz


Deac00r(720p)



PC Specs

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 @ 3,64 GHz
RAM: 4GB DDR2
GFX: Nvidia GeForce GTX 260

XSplit Settings

FPS: 25
Resolution: 1280x720
Location: dunno mine's set to Default
Preset: xsplit default
Quality: 10
VBV Bitrates: 1600

Audio Encoding
Format: 44.100 KHz 16 bit stereo
Bitrate: 128000

Twitch account: deac00r


Padmay (720p)



PC Specs

CPU: i5 2400
RAM: 4Gb DDR3 Corsair Ripjaws
GFX: nvidia Gefore 560GTX Ti TOP

XSplit Settings

FPS: 30.00
Resolution: 1280x720
Location: Default
Preset: Xsplit Default
Quality: 10
VBV Bitrates: 2500

Audio Encoding
Format: 44.100khz 16bit mono
Bitrate: 32000

Twitch account: padmay



This guide is just a rough walk through of how to stream World of Warcraft, i will eventually add more in-depth information that will help you configure your stream.

Thanks for reading!

[tntmax]

Good guidelines Spark! Pity that my ADSL connection has 1 Mbit upstream which is enough for nothing in regard of streaming. :(

[Faíthz]

Hello Sparkuggz.
I'm trying to stream and i seem to be having some lag :/
This are my specs:
CPU: i7 860 @ 2.80 GHz
RAM: 4GB DDR3
GFX: ATi Radeon HD 5850

and my internet connection is:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1901992921.png

Now, my Xsplit settings are:

FPS: 24.00
Resolution: 1280x720
Location: Default
Preset: Xsplit Default
Quality: 6
VBV Bitrates: 2500

Audio Encoding
Format: 44.100khz 16bit mono
Bitrate: 80000

Oh well... i don't think that my computer is bad, but maybe i'm wrong :o the thing is that when i start broadcasting my CPU usage shoots to 90% and even 100% :/ and my fps on wow drop to 15 from a usage of 20% and wow fps of 60.
Could you tell me a possible problem? Thx for you time and good luck with future work =)

[Sparkuggz]

Hello Sparkuggz.
I'm trying to stream and i seem to be having some lag :/
This are my specs:
CPU: i7 860 @ 2.80 GHz
RAM: 4GB DDR3
GFX: ATi Radeon HD 5850

and my internet connection is:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1901992921.png

Now, my Xsplit settings are:

FPS: 24.00
Resolution: 1280x720
Location: Default
Preset: Xsplit Default
Quality: 6
VBV Bitrates: 2500

Audio Encoding
Format: 44.100khz 16bit mono
Bitrate: 80000

Oh well... i don't think that my computer is bad, but maybe i'm wrong :o the thing is that when i start broadcasting my CPU usage shoots to 90% and even 100% :/ and my fps on wow drop to 15 from a usage of 20% and wow fps of 60.
Could you tell me a possible problem? Thx for you time and good luck with future work =)

Try

FPS: 30
Location: Closest to you
Preset: Faster (if the CPU usage isn't going above 50-60% try fast for better quality)
Quality: 8-10

Rates should be 2300ish

Also, if you get 100% cpu usage, are you using the "game source" to stream, or are you using the Screen Region? Game source uses a lot more CPU power then Screen Region, but i have no idea why.

[jeffvdl]

heey i got a question aswell in 25man raids i get like 12 fps during raids but in 10m raids i stay at 30-50 fps while streaming

Computer Spec: Computer Spec: processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz (8 CPUs), ~3.4GHz
Memory 12288MB RAM,
Hard drive 1 TB,
Video card AMD Radeon HD 6950


Location Amsterdam
Preset: fast
Quallity 10
VBV Max Bitrate ( kbps) 1400
VBV Buffer (kbit) 1400
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1903703339.png

is it cause my pc sucks ? or my network sucks ?
i dont lag at all during raids its just my fps drops so low that my healing spells wont go when i cast them ( only on 25m )


Thanks,

jeff

[Sparkuggz]

heey i got a question aswell in 25man raids i get like 12 fps during raids but in 10m raids i stay at 30-50 fps while streaming

Computer Spec: Computer Spec: processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz (8 CPUs), ~3.4GHz
Memory 12288MB RAM,
Hard drive 1 TB,
Video card AMD Radeon HD 6950


Location Amsterdam
Preset: fast
Quallity 10
VBV Max Bitrate ( kbps) 1400
VBV Buffer (kbit) 1400
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1903703339.png

is it cause my pc sucks ? or my network sucks ?
i dont lag at all during raids its just my fps drops so low that my healing spells wont go when i cast them ( only on 25m )


Thanks,

jeff

Whats your CPU usage during the raid?

You can easily use 3000 bitrate, your connection and PC is plenty.

It might just simply be addon related, recount or some outdated addon that goes nuts in 25 man. Shouldn't really be related to the stream unless you are having overheating / too high CPU usage.

[jeffvdl]

hehe i prolly gonna sound retarded now but how can i find out how much cpu i use ?

1280 x 720 hdtv ( video ) 16:9
and frame raite is 25 fps

transition speed is 1800ms


-edit-

i think ive found it:

High performance GPU clock settings are 800MHz

High Performance Memory clock settings are 1250MHz

Temperature is 53 celcius
acitvity is 0%
fan speed is 37%


Gpu can go from 500 to 840 MHZ
Memory can go from 1250 to 1325MHz

[Notfur]

At what fps and resolution jeffvdl?
Network has little to do with your fps, but looking at the sample setting in Sparku's first post, I don't see anyone going with for example 30 fps, 1920x1080 and quality 10, so if you have crazy settings it can surely lag :/

[Hentrenson]

I am normally not a grammar nazi, but in this case, the word you are looking for is "found" and not "founded". Founded means something completely different.

[Sparkuggz]

Right click on your icon bar below here (or CTRL + ALT + DEL - Task Manager) - Start Task Manager and then click on the Performance (check the CPU usage while streaming)