- Jan 22, 2017
- 50
- 1
- 4,535
Hey guys, I'm having a tough time selecting a Mini PC for myself that's going to be replacing my old Mac Mini. I'm super indecisive right now and could use some suggestions. Let me start off by saying I will not be gaming on the machine at all. The most intensive applications on the machine will be two instances of OBS at the same time while listening to music, browsing the web, etc.
The Mac Mini was a quad core i7 3720QM with 16gb of ram with an Intel integrated HD 4000. The machine ran one OBS stream just fine. If I doubled up and ran two streams at the same time, it was OK, but eventually started to lag, etc. The Mini also stuttered a little if I tried to do any long term web browsing during the streaming also. I posted the live performance stats on another forum and was told that the bottleneck appeared to be the CPU, not the GPU.
So, I went out and bought a laptop. It came with an i7-8850H Overclockable Processor (2.6~4.3Ghz) and a GTX 1070. The thing was FAST. Anyway, it handled two OBS streams just fine and never once had a hiccup or stutter. Due to some unforeseen reasons (and some buyers remorse for spending so much on it), I am returning this laptop and now I'm PC shopping again.
My main questions to you are, how new of a CPU do I NEED in order to fit what I'm looking to do with a PC? I highly doubt the 8850H was necessary when the 3720QM from 2012 was mostly still doing its job (but barely). I basically don't wanna overspend on a new/used PC and get something that is overkill. I plan on running two monitors, one at 1080p and the other at either 1440p or 4k (future).
I was looking at several machines on Newegg, but I have no idea where to start. I'll just paste them below. I would highly prefer a Mini PC, and not anything else. I like the form factor.
(UPDATE)
It was indicated to me via B&H that these two options would be a good fit for me. What do you all think?
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1327194-REG/intel_boxnuc7i7bnh_nuc_bnh_7th_gen.html
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1426846-REG/hp_4yn54ut_aba_z2_g4_mini_i7_8700_8gb_256ssd_gfx_coffeelake_windows.html
Thanks in advance!
The Mac Mini was a quad core i7 3720QM with 16gb of ram with an Intel integrated HD 4000. The machine ran one OBS stream just fine. If I doubled up and ran two streams at the same time, it was OK, but eventually started to lag, etc. The Mini also stuttered a little if I tried to do any long term web browsing during the streaming also. I posted the live performance stats on another forum and was told that the bottleneck appeared to be the CPU, not the GPU.
So, I went out and bought a laptop. It came with an i7-8850H Overclockable Processor (2.6~4.3Ghz) and a GTX 1070. The thing was FAST. Anyway, it handled two OBS streams just fine and never once had a hiccup or stutter. Due to some unforeseen reasons (and some buyers remorse for spending so much on it), I am returning this laptop and now I'm PC shopping again.
My main questions to you are, how new of a CPU do I NEED in order to fit what I'm looking to do with a PC? I highly doubt the 8850H was necessary when the 3720QM from 2012 was mostly still doing its job (but barely). I basically don't wanna overspend on a new/used PC and get something that is overkill. I plan on running two monitors, one at 1080p and the other at either 1440p or 4k (future).
I was looking at several machines on Newegg, but I have no idea where to start. I'll just paste them below. I would highly prefer a Mini PC, and not anything else. I like the form factor.
(UPDATE)
It was indicated to me via B&H that these two options would be a good fit for me. What do you all think?
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1327194-REG/intel_boxnuc7i7bnh_nuc_bnh_7th_gen.html
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1426846-REG/hp_4yn54ut_aba_z2_g4_mini_i7_8700_8gb_256ssd_gfx_coffeelake_windows.html
Thanks in advance!
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