Recommended Hardware Specifications for Livestream Studio – Livestream

Below are hardware recommendations for running Livestream Studio, including where to purchase, remote guest-specific information, and sample workflows that certain systems can handle.

What computer should I buy?

Our partners at NextComputing offer hardware solutions built specifically for Livestream Studio. You can either purchase a system from them or review the tech specs of the offered systems to guide you with finding a comparable system, especially if your events require a more advanced and resource-heavy setup (e.g. five connected cameras, all graphics overlay tracks in use, multiple remote inputs).

They also offer some additional tips for optimizing your PC’s performance in their help center.

Generally speaking, we strongly recommend a system that supports hardware encoding and decoding to reduce stress on your CPU. When considering a processor, at minimum we'd recommend an Intel Core i5 for simpler projects, whereas more complex setups (e.g. more than five remote guests) would require Intel Core i7, Intel Core i9, or Apple M1.

Livestream Studio requires either a PC running Windows 64-bit version 7 or later or macOS High Sierra or later.

Recommendations for using Remote Guests

Studio’s remote guest feature allows you to bring in guests via their browser and webcams from anywhere with an internet connection. Learn more about our bandwidth and hardware recommendations for using remote guests and how to use the remote guests feature.

Sample hardware setups for basic workflows

Below is a non-exhaustive list of some basic workflows we’ve tested with Livestream Studio in the past. Be mindful of the listed supported workflow for each and consider a system with higher benchmarks if your events require more equipment, bandwidth, or internal resources such as multiple running media bins or complex graphics (picture-in-picture, animations).

Please note that many of these scenarios involve using Livestream Studio's hardware encoding and decoding features. This is when the encoding and decoding are done either by a supported graphics card or in a processor that has integrated graphics, thus reducing stress on the CPU.

Desktop Computer with Hardware Encoding Enabled

Hardware Component	Recommended Minimum Desktop (with Hardware Encoding)
Processor with Integrated Graphics	Quad Core Intel® i5 (6th Generation) or i7 (4th Generation) Processor or better
Graphics	Quick Sync-enabled CPU or NVIDIA NVENC-enabled GPU
Memory	8 GB or better
Storage	128GB SSD + 512GB HDD or better
Motherboard	Intel compatible motherboard
Example of a supported workflow	Camera sources: Multiple HD inputs & outputs (Note: Select a single bitrate quality for Vimeo to save bandwidth; Vimeo will transcode your stream to multiple bitrates automatically) Streaming: Up to 1080p multi-bitrate streaming profiles Graphics: Intermediate graphics templates and layering with picture-in-picture, chroma key, and image overlays

Desktop Computer without Hardware Encoding

Hardware Component	Recommended Specifications (no hardware encoding)
Processor	6 (Hexa) Core Intel® i7 5th Generation Extreme Edition or better
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce 600 Series or better
Memory	16GB or better
Storage	2TB SSD
Motherboard	Intel compatible motherboard
Example of a supported workflow	Sources: Multiple HD Inputs/Outputs Streaming: Up to 720p multi-bitrate streaming or single-bitrate 1080p streaming Graphics: Intermediate graphics templates and layering with picture-in-picture, chroma key, and image overlays

Advanced Desktop Computer with Hardware Encoding

Hardware Component	Recommended Desktop Specification
Processor	6 (Hexa) Core Intel i7 6th Generation Extreme Edition or better
Graphics	NVENC enabled NVIDIA GPU (Such as Nvidia Geforce GT 730)
Memory	32-64GB DDR4 Memory
Storage	2TB SSD
Motherboard	Intel compatible motherboard
Example of a supported workflow	Sources: Multiple 4K / HD Inputs and Outputs Streaming: 4K / 1080p multi-bitrate streaming Graphics: Advanced graphics templates and layering with picture-in-picture, chroma key, and animated graphic overlays

Minimal Laptop with Hardware Encoding

Hardware Component	Minimal Laptop Specification (with Hardware Encoding)
Processor with integrated graphics	4 (Quad) Core Intel i5 - 6th Generation or better
Memory	8GB or better
Graphics	Quick Sync enabled CPU or NVIDIA NVENC enabled GPU
Storage	500GB HDD (SSD preferred) or better
Example of a supported workflow	Sources: USB Webcams, USB 3.0 Capture devices and Remote Cameras over LAN/WLAN Streaming: Up to 720p multi-bitrate streaming Graphics: Simple graphics templates with picture-in-picture and static overlays (no chroma key, no animated graphics)

Laptop with Hardware Encoding

Hardware Component	Laptop specification (with hardware encoding)
Processor with integrated graphics	4 (Quad) Core Intel i7 - 6th Generation or better
Graphics	Quick Sync enabled CPU or NVIDIA NVENC enabled GPU
Memory	16 GB DDR4 Memory or better
Storage	500 GB SSD or better
Example of a supported workflow	Sources: USB Webcams and USB 3.0 Capture devices Streaming: Up to 1080p Multi-bitrate streaming profiles. Graphics: Intermediate Graphics templates and layering w/ PiP, Chroma Key, and image overlays.

Additional Notes

Livestream Studio is not compatible with Windows 32-bit systems.
macOS must be on High Sierra or later in order to run Studio.
If you intend to use USB 3.0 capture devices for any video input or output, we recommend your motherboard have an Intel X99 chipset, as X79 chipsets do not support these USB 3.0 devices. Please see Blackmagic's notice regarding USB 3.0 device support.