Affiliate Plus
The AFFILIATE PLUS models are the best bang-for-your-buck PCs for both gaming and streaming. They're designed to be able to game at 1440p with high framerates while streaming at 1080p 60fps. If you want the best performance per dollar in a dual purpose system, this is it.
Benchmarking
We don't just estimate the performance, we thoroughly test it
Every single STRM.PC line is benchmarked, which takes over 30 hours to perform per system. Most PC manufacturers use a library of PC parts with similar performance to estimate the performance of the systems they sell. We actually test every model so you will get the most accurate performance numbers available. Although every game is different, we do our best to keep our testing and results consistent.
Game Settings
Games are benchmarked at the highest presets available. If there are no predefined presets, all options are set to the highest settings. This is so you can get an idea of the worst case scenario; The numbers should only go up from there. Presets and settings are noted on each individual game benchmark card.
FPS Recording
If the game has a built-in benchmarking tool, that is used. If not, gameplay framerates are recorded using MSI Afterburner and RivaTuner over a set duration. The average of 3 runs are taken, with the exception of Valorant, which is a single run recorded over the duration of a whole match.
Gaming VS Streaming VS Recording
The STRM.PC line of PCs are designed for content creators, so we provide benchmarks for standalone gaming, gaming while streaming, and gaming while streaming and recording. These tests are performed using OBS Studio as the broadcasting software. The settings in OBS Studio are as follows:
- Output
- Streaming
- Video Bitrate: 6000kbps
- Encoder: Hardware (NVENC)
- Audio Bitrate: 160kbps
- Recording
- Recording Path: Secondary Internal Drive
- Recording Quality: High Quality, Medium File Size
- Encoder: Hardware (NVENC)
- Video
- Base (Canvas) Resolution: 1920x1080
- Output (Scaled) Resolution: 1920x1080
- Downscale Filter: Lanczos
- FPS: 60
- Advanced
- Process Priority: High
A generic style overlay was also created for benchmarking which includes:
- A static PNG overlay file
- 1920x1080 webcam (Video Capture Device) scaled to 480x270
- An active and intensive browser source to replicate ongoing alerts sized at 400x1080 (see the browser source used here)
Also, all results have less than 0.1% Skipped/Missed frames in OBS Studio, with a majority of games having NO skipped or missed frames, so your stream and recordings will be smooth. OBS Studio is also run in Administrator Mode and Game Mode is enabled in Windows settings to ensure optimal streaming and recording performance.
System Status
Benchmarks are all performed on a fresh install of Windows and games/tools are also installed fresh on the system. Some settings have been enabled to ensure the best performance
- XMP/DOCP profiles enabled (this is generally done prior to shipping out the system)
- Resize BAR enabled to increase GPU performance
- In the Nvidia Control Panel, Power Management Mode under 3D Settings > Manage 3D Settings is set to Prefer Maximum Performance so the GPU is able to optimize performance automatically
- In Windows, power plan set to High Performance
- Fresh Windows install with only the software for benchmarking installed and no default Windows programs removed or disabled
Result Reporting
The average of 3 runs per mode (gaming, gaming while streaming, gaming while streaming and recording) and resolution is taken, rounded to the nearest whole number, then rounded down to the nearest multiple of 5. Although this will almost always give a lower number than was actually recorded, it is a great baseline for the buyer to know worst case scenario. Don't you wish everyone did this so you could have realistic expectations?