Dual PC Streaming Setup

As your content creation grows, so do your technical needs. A dual PC streaming setup separates your gaming and streaming workloads across two machines—providing smoother gameplay, better stream performance, and increased flexibility. If you're looking to elevate your stream quality, this is a powerful upgrade.

What You'll Need

Hardware

• Gaming PC – Handles game processing, graphics, and input.
• Streaming PC – Handles encoding, overlays, and output to Twitch/YouTube.
• Capture Card – Like the Elgato HD60 X, AVerMedia Live Gamer 4K, etc., to transmit video from gaming to streaming PC.
• Audio Interface or Mixer – (Optional but recommended) for routing and balancing audio from both systems.
• Headset/Mic Splitters or USB Mixers – To route audio between both PCs cleanly.
• Ethernet Network Connection – For low latency and high bandwidth across both systems.

Setup Steps

• Connect Capture Card
  • Plug HDMI out from your Gaming PC's GPU to the HDMI in on the Capture Card.
  • Then connect the Capture Card to the Streaming PC via USB.
  • Install required drivers/software on the Streaming PC.
• Configure OBS on Streaming PC
  • Set up OBS Studio or Streamlabs Desktop on your Streaming PC.
  • Add a Video Capture Device source using the connected Capture Card.
  • Adjust resolution, bitrate, and framerate settings for your desired stream quality.
• Manage Audio Properly

  You have two main audio routing options:

  • Option A: Using an Audio Mixer (Best)
    • Mix mic/game/chat audio into one source and feed it into OBS on the Streaming PC.
    • Popular mixers: GoXLR, Behringer Xenyx, or virtual ones like Voicemeeter Banana.
  • Option B: Using a Virtual Audio Cable or USB Splitter
    • Split mic audio to both PCs.
    • Use software like Voicemeeter or VB-Audio Cable to route audio signals digitally.
    • Be sure to disable audio monitoring in OBS to avoid echo loops.

Tips for a Smooth Setup

• Sync audio: Use OBS's sync offset if needed to align voice/gameplay.
• Use Replay Buffer on the streaming PC to save stream highlights easily.
• Keep both PCs grounded to avoid static and electrical interference.
• Optimize Bitrate and Encoding on the Streaming PC for the best quality (NVENC or x264 depending on GPU/CPU).

Why Go Dual PC?