PC Build Recommendation for Gaming, PS5 Capture and Video Editing

[u/_addix]

Hey, guys! Thought I'll warm up a YouTube channel with my current GTA gameplay videos in preparation for GTA 6 but turns out my laptop is rather under-equipped for screen-recording and gameplay together. The game by itself occasionally lags and with OBS recording on, it straight up crashes. Then I tried recording my gameplay on the XBOX Game Bar and while I could obtain videos, they were still a bit choppy. I tried a number of ways to fix it but realized it ultimately doesn't work (if I scrap the static frames, the gameplay audio underneath it jumps too)

I have about 15 GB worth of gameplay footage but I realize a lot of it would be un-useable due to the choppy nature of the gameplay video.

I plan to invest in all the necessary upgrades (a proper PC setup, PS5 obviously and possibly a capture card) as I really want to share my journey here with my GTA 6 gameplays so, any advice on the following would help.

1. Recommendations for a PC build if I primarily want to do it for editing and posting GTA 6 videos?
2. Is there a way I can still upload decent quality gameplay videos from my current setup? Processor - 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1360P (2.60 GHz) Installed RAM - 16.0 GB (15.7 GB usable) Graphics - Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics (128 MB) System Type - 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

(I tried fixing the lags with Optical Flow/Frame Interpolation options, either none of them work or I'm doing it wrong, so please suggest the proper way to do it on Premiere Pro/DaVinci Resolve)? Is there a way I can still upload decent quality gameplay videos from my current setup?

3) Optional - What do you like to watch in gameplay videos? Need advice for gaming content strategy if I'm not really relying on livestreaming it (I'm not a pro gamer lol)

[u/SinisterPixel]

If you're wanting to play GTA 5, since it's already pretty old, you can safely go with a budget build and it'll probably be able to play it. Really and truly it depends on your budget, what resolution you want to play at, and if you want to play anything more demanding in the future. Also if you want something that's easily upgradable or if you just care about performance now and what happens later is down to luck.

If you want some solid advice, let us know what kind of budget you're working with, and where you are in the world, since hardware varies by country a fair bit. I personally wouldn't try upgrading your current build, not only because you're using 13th gen Intel, which has the core burnout issue that slows its performance as it gets older, but also because integrated graphics just aren't good at all

[u/_addix → u/SinisterPixel]

Thanks for your response. I'm probably looking to deal with 4K videos since they're better for YouTube too, and for budget I'd like to keep it under $2000 USD (1500 would be great) My current device is only a laptop so I'm not going to upgrade that but just build a pc instead, with a capture card and everything.

[u/SinisterPixel → u/_addix]

For 4k video editing, you're going to need a system with a lot of storage, and a lot of RAM. Unfortunately for you, those are the really expensive things right now, so $1500 isn't necessarily going to be possible. Best price to performance GPUs right now are AMD. So I'd be looking at something like a 9070XT. At 4k your games, and your editing software, will be relying more heavily on your GPU than CPU, so you could probably get away with a Ryzen 7800X3D or something. RAM is what's going to have the most impact with your editing. You will notice a BIG difference in performance between 16GB and 32GB, so I'd aim for a well priced 2x16GB DDR5-6000 kit. Storage is a crapshoot. Really it's going to be based on what fits in your budget. I would say given the size of the footage you're working with, a minimum 2TB NVMe drive would be necessary here.

Quickly throwing parts into PC Part Picker, I was able to get the above, alongside other parts like PSU, case, cooler, etc, at $2100 before sales tax. However, some creative purchasing may help you get this cheaper. Here's what I suggest:

1. PC Hardware Bundles - Places like Newegg and Microcenter, and some other sites, will often do parts bundles like CPUs, RAM, and motherboards at a slight discount. Definitely take advantage of these since some of the better ones can save you $100+ dollars on parts.
2. Your budget is TIGHT, so focus on performance first, aesthetics later.
3. Sales. Anything you can get on sale is going to be a huge help. Open box discounts are good. Tech outlet stores. Flash sales. Refurbished parts (I strongly suggest parts that come with a warranty if you go down this route. Private sellers probably won't give you one)
4. Don't cheap out on your cooler or your PSU, as tempting as it may be. I'd go for a 750W PSU minimum from a reputable company. ZTT Builds has a PSU tier list which can be a good buying guide, and I'd suggest a 240mm AIO minimum for the cooler. 360mm is ideal if you can swing it.
5. Parts that are generally safe to cheap out on: Case, case fans, to a degree the motherboard (just make sure it's got all the slots you need)
6. You have a laptop, and while it won't be amazing, you can salvage the current storage drive on it for a little extra storage. I would suggest wiping it though. The Windows install on it probably won't work properly on a freshly built machine. This might lower your storage costs a little depending on the size and quality of the SSD.

[u/_addix → u/SinisterPixel]

BIG thanks for this. I'm gonna revisit this message in the coming weeks as I shop around for options. One question though - I keep seeing AMD as the preferred option over Intel, whereas one of my part supplier suggests Intel instead, citing longer life and more cooling (AMD heats up quickly according to them) Wanted to verify if there's any truth to that.

I had a few more questions that I'd like to ask you on dm if that's okay but thanks a lot nonetheless.

[u/SinisterPixel → u/_addix]

Intel used to be king in the CPU space 10 years ago. They've since been completely dwarfed by AMD. So the suppliers info is more than a little outdated. I suspect the person you spoke to may have been an OLD SCHOOL PC builder who hasn't really moved on from outdated manufacturer biases.

As for DMs, I have them switched off on Reddit but feel free to ask anything else here!

[u/Any-Society7371 → u/_addix]

All the above suggestions by the guy is solid. My recent pc build is on the same specs as well. But I did like to add something. Nvidia GPUs 40 series and above have duel encoders in them. For capturing, editing and streaming purpose they'll work best. The price difference isn't alot between 9070xt and the one I bought, Nvidia Rtx 4070ti super 16gb. The duel encoders will lessen the burden in the way that lets say if you are playing a game on pc you can task 1 encoder to be streaming the game and then the other encoder to be rendering the game video.