Originally Published: 7th January 2022 on eGG Network
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Streaming games can be one of the most demanding tasks you put your computer through and when you’re running the latest triple-A titles, it can take a toll on your machine’s performance. Well, Intel aims to put that issue in the past with the latest generation of their Core processors. For the first time, the 12th Gen Intel® Core™ Processors feature a hybrid performance architecture that splits the workload between P-cores and E-cores.
Heavy-duty tasks such as running resource-intensive games will be offloaded to the P-cores, while background tasks (i.e. encoding and recording your stream) will only be done on the E-cores. This means that your processor won’t be bogged down by multiple tasks, giving you and your viewers the best streaming experience possible. With games getting more demanding each year, the 12th Gen Intel® Core™ Processor ensures that you can stay on top of your game worry-free.
No tweaking is required – the processor does all this right out of the box thanks to Intel® Thread Director and Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0. The former predicts and distributes workloads to the different cores dynamically, while the latter recognizes when your computer needs a boost and directs the most critical workloads to your fastest P-cores.
In addition to aiding with live streaming, you’ll notice speed improvements when it comes to rendering video footage as well. You’ll be able to notice a significant increase in speed when it comes to cutting up your footage for VODs or highlight videos. Spend less time compiling videos and more time gaming!
With support for next-generation technology like PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 RAM, your computer will remain competitive even when the time comes to replace parts of your setup in the future.
If you’re looking to take your streaming machine to the next level, the 12th Gen Intel® Core™ Processor might be the one for you. Find out more on Intel’s official website.
Originally Published: 28th April 2021 on eGG Network
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Picture this: an AAA title you’ve been waiting years for has finally been released. You’ve already pre-ordered it, and today is the day it launched. Since you’ve scheduled the download, the game is ready to play after a long day of work or school. You rub your hands in glee as the intro video fades into the main menu. You’ve been wowed by its graphics and everything you’ve seen in pre-release trailers and articles, so you immediately jump into the first level.
The game loads but when you try to walk around and explore the beautifully rendered world, your computer chugs along, trying to churn out frames at a decent rate. You think to yourself: Maybe it’s just the introduction. Things will get better. Spoiler: things don’t get better.
Begrudgingly, you open the options menu and carefully tweak the settings, moving effects sliders to the left, and turning off features, going back into the game to see if it runs better.
The gameplay is now smoother, but it doesn’t look like what you thought you would be playing.
If there’s one thing PC gamers hate, it’s having to compromise. We want the best graphics and the best performance at the same time, no exceptions – it’s why we game on a computer in the first place! But over time, as your current hardware ages, game technology is constantly innovating. With each passing year, the latest titles become increasingly demanding, and the beast of a machine you built five years ago is now long in the tooth.
This is why we have the 11th Gen Intel® Core™ Processor – a series of new powerful CPUs designed to elevate your gaming experience: whether you’re looking to game at high frame rates and the highest resolutions, at home or on the go. Available in the market now, a period where having a powerful computer is more important than ever, you can’t go wrong with an 11th Gen Intel® Core™-equipped machine if you need the tools to play the latest games, stream, work, video conference, or perhaps all at the same time!
Here’s what the 11th Gen Intel® Core™ Processors enable for laptops:
Up to 5GHz Turbo speeds – single-threaded laptop performance doesn’t get any better than this (for now)
Slimmer laptop designs that don’t sacrifice looks for performance or graphics
An optimized performance platform that enables it to play well with next-gen discrete graphics as well as offering high-speed connectivity
4K resolution support and at least 70FPS in most popular games
For the desktop machines, you can expect:
Up to 19% IPC (instructions per cycle) improvement and graphics performance that is up to 50% better than the previous generation – you get the power you need to run the latest games and broadcast your stream at the same time!
Enhanced Intel UHD Graphics featuring Intel Xe graphics architecture which allows you to hook up three simultaneous 4K HDR displays at 60Hz – talk about immersion
Excited yet? What are you waiting for? The 11th Gen Intel® Core™ Processor is available now from your favourite tech retailers and stores – on its own or part of prebuilt desktops and laptops!
Giveaway
And what’s a launch without a giveaway? Yes, that’s right. To celebrate the arrival of the 11th Gen Intel® Core™ Processor, Intel will be working together with Siupakchoi, Bexed, and MelRomeo to give away a brand new 11th Gen Intel®️ Core™️-powered Acer Nitro 5 laptop. All you have to do is tune into their livestreams and answer a simple question in the coming weeks – dates will be announced on the eGG Network Facebook Page, so make sure you follow us to not miss out!
Originally Published: 20th October 2020 on eGG Network
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As a bunch of gaming/tech nerds, we find it rather exciting to come across innovation these days, which is why the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel is an exciting prospect for us. The gaming phone segment has been heating up, and with the launch of this beast of a device, mobile gamers from the casuals (like us) to the esports pros (and even streamers!) may now have a potentially game-changing proposition. Let’s unpack some of the features on the spec sheet.
Dual Technology Architecture
Lenovo says this phone has a “revolutionary dual architecture” which covers dual batteries, dual Type-C 65W Turbo Charging and dual-liquid, mid-thermal floating cooling system. Here’s what this actually means.
Firstly, it addresses one of the most annoying pain points in mobile gaming – charging. Splitting the massive 5,000 mAh battery into two separate 2,500mAh units and slapping two charging ports onto the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel is a clever bit of engineering. The horizontal port offers unobtrusive charging, and if you ever need to get a quick charge in between games, you can charge the phone via both the side and bottom ports simultaneously to get a 60% charge in 15 minutes, or 100% in 34 minutes! Obviously, the power brick comes with two outputs, both of which are Type-C 65W Turbo Charging 🤯.
The second pain point that Lenovo addresses is heat. The Lenovo Legion Phone Duel has a dual-liquid, mid-thermal floating cooling system to dissipate heat, while the phone’s strategic positioning of both batteries under the horizontal grip area further helps to prevent heat discomfort. This will make those night-long rank-climbing sessions much more enjoyable.
High-Precision Immersive Sensory Experience
The Legion Phone Duel’s 6.59” FHD AMOLED display comes with a 240Hz touch sampling rate and 144Hz refresh rate, which is going to really sweeten the experience especially in shooting games like PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile. Talk about a refresh rate that’s similar to what you get on a gaming monitor! Additionally, the phone’s dual ultrasonic shoulder keys, dual x-axis linear motors and 3D motion sensors are going to add more precision to your gyro game.
Livestream-ready Horizontal Pop-up Camera
Now, this is another game-changing feature for streamers to help clock in those stream hours. The 20-megapixel selfie camera on the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel pops up horizontally while gaming (which comes with a bunch of fun filters too). At this point, we can’t help to pause and wonder, could this be the future of streaming?
To be enabled via a future update of the Lenovo Realm software, we think streamers would appreciate the streaming mode feature which will allow you to go live whenever, wherever. So the question is, would streamers continue to rely on multiple devices in the future when you can stream with just one?
In any case, this phone’s streaming capabilities are pretty future-proof, with quad-mic noise cancellation, background-removal and beautification software built in. Oh, and did we mention 5G and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity?
Seamless Desktop-Style Gameplay
If touchscreen controls are your biggest gripe with mobile gaming, the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel lets you enjoy desktop-style gameplay with native keyboard and mouse remapping support. Not a fan of the mouse and keyboard? Turn it into a console instead with its gamepad support via cable or Bluetooth. The phone’s specially designed horizontal user interface, dual USB Type-C ports, and the Lenovo Realm software turns this device into a highly versatile gaming machine.
And lastly, powering all these savage features is the top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor 865 Plus 5G, a Qualcomm Adreno 650 GPU, and 12/16GB of RAM.
The Lenovo Legion Phone Duel will be available in two eye-catching colours: Vengeance Red or Blazing Blue, and will retail for
12GB/256GB model – RM3,399
16GB/512GB model – RM3,999
The Lenovo Legion Phone Duel is also launching with a special promo on Lenovo Malaysia’s official website and at selected participating partners from 26 October till 30 November. During this period, buyers will get a free gift worth up to RM329 which includes the Legion H500 Pro 7.1 headphones (while stocks last). Head on over to the official Lenovo Malaysia website for more details!
This article was brought to you by Lenovo Malaysia
For over a week, I’ve been using a newly purchased MacBook Air (2020) as my daily driver for work. I bought a new laptop after giving my previous one, an ASUS Zenbook, to my sister since her current/old one was dying.
When I was shopping for a new laptop, I had a few requirements in mind. It had to be powerful enough for my work (because laggy computers are bad), lightweight (I intended to bring it everywhere), have good battery life (nobody likes lugging around chargers or being limited when deciding where to sit), and be something I could, of course, afford.
The MacBook Air ticked all the boxes. And this was before I had any first-hand experience using the machine. Reading up the specs and watching tonsofvideos about the laptop gave me all the information I needed to make my decision – it wasn’t something I took lightly. I spent a long time ruminating about the purchase because I had the time to do so (I had no opportunity to work outside due to the lockdown).
So what were my qualms about the MacBook Air? Initially, it was the new Apple Silicon. I had been exclusively using Intel processors when it came to laptops and desktops (minus the one time I had a prebuilt desktop with an AMD processor), so I was skeptical about how well an ARM-based processor could run a fully-featured desktop operating system.
Speaking of the operating system, how would I handle the transition? I had been using Windows for the better part of my life and the idea of having to switch to something else seemed daunting. Would I have access to all apps and programs that I needed?
Battery life for laptops is one of my biggest gripes. I’ve been let down way too many times by how poorly Windows laptops perform in this area. Many high-end devices I’ve tried out in the past have let me down. Even when I was still using the Zenbook, which had great battery life in the beginning, I didn’t feel safe leaving home without bringing my charger along.
Google and YouTube were my best friends during this period, and I looked up everything I wanted to know. Nothing swayed my opinion when it came to the laptop’s hardware – all the reviews said that the machine was a beast with killer battery life. As for the software, I wasn’t too concerned – if I could do my work on Linux/Android, I could survive on Mac OS.
With all that in mind, I chose the base model MacBook Air and upgraded the RAM and storage (16GB/512GB). I could have gotten by without the extra storage since I don’t plan to store large files on my laptop and always have thumb drives with me but I felt I could afford the additional peace of mind. As for the RAM upgrade, I’m glad I got it since Activity Monitor tells me I’m constantly using over 12GB (Photoshop, Chrome, and MS Teams are real resource hogs). If you use similar apps often, you’ll probably want the RAM upgrade if you don’t want your SSD being used constantly for memory swaps.
My Thoughts
I’m still getting used to Mac shortcuts. It’s annoying when programs like Chrome have different hotkeys for Windows/Mac, so I spent a lot of time learning new ones to get back up to speed. I’m still clicking a bunch of stuff, but I’ll memorize it all eventually. Also, I’ve been absentmindedly using Mac shortcuts on my Windows desktop.
Mac OS felt familiar to me – it reminded me a lot of Ubuntu which I’ve used in the past. The main difference is me not having to use the terminal (at all, except when trying to get some apps running).
Transitioning to working on Mac OS wasn’t difficult since most of my work is done within Chrome (what can’t be done through your browser these days?). I did download a few additional apps, and even though they weren’t working natively on Apple Silicon, they ran without a hitch (besides the fact they consumed a lot of memory). Hopefully, those issues will be addressed in the future.
There were some things I had to get used to on MacOS – I couldn’t use hotkeys to quickly arrange/tile my windows nor could I launch pinned programs on my dock like you can on Windows. Fortunately, this was rectified by downloading Rectangle and Snap but I was surprised that the operating system didn’t have this built-in, in my opinion, they’re pretty rudimentary features.
Despite my MacBook Air having a 2560 x 1600 display, I couldn’t make full use of that resolution without the use of a third-party app (EasyRes). That felt odd to me. A lot of programs aren’t on the App Store (even popular ones like Discord/Spotify), I had to download them from their websites instead. Not a big deal since I don’t use the Windows App Store either but I had the impression the Mac App Store would be the main way to get popular apps.
Gestures are awesome, I enjoy using Mission Control for working on multiple desktops and switching between apps. The trackpad is intuitive, and I’ll never understand the complaints about Macs not having touchscreens. Having used touchscreen laptops and tablets in the past, I have never yearned for their inclusion in any laptop. External pointing devices get the job done better (and you don’t have to worry about finger stains).
Battery life is amazing – I can get a full day’s use and still have plenty left at the end of the day, so there’s no need for me to carry a charger around. One thing to note, this selling point goes away when you increase the laptop’s brightness. I experienced it the other day – 77% of battery life gone in 4 hours because I set it to the maximum. Since learning that, I’ve kept my MacBook Air at 50% brightness and lasts as long as advertised. At the time of writing, my MacBook Air has a screen on time of 11 hours and I still have 32% of juice left. If you’ve been waiting for tablet-like battery life on a laptop, the wait is over.
Performance is great. I know my workflow doesn’t push the machine to its limits, but you can check out the tests done byotherfolks to see what it’s capable of. The M1 processor is no slouch when it comes to running heavy-duty applications and multitasking. The fact that the MacBook Air can do everything it does without slowing down or heating up (it doesn’t even have fans!) is a bold statement by Apple. It no longer has to rely on Intel for its high-performance machines, and I’m happy to come along for the ride.
Touch ID is very useful. I like how fast and responsive it is, no complaints there. I wish it was on the iPhone too.
Conclusion
I’m very happy with my MacBook Air purchase. Would I have been satisfied with yet another Windows laptop? Perhaps, since I wouldn’t know what I missed out on. But I’m glad I made the purchase. It would suck having to lug around a power brick in my bag again. The quirks I’ve experienced with Mac OS have been solvable with some extra apps and everything else not mentioned is something I can live with. Will I switch to Mac desktops in the future? Probably not, since gaming on Windows is still king but I’m definitely open to staying on the Mac train when it comes to laptops for productivity.
MacBook Air – the best laptop I’ve ever spent my money on, would totally recommend 10/10.
One Month Update (24 December 2021)
I discovered some additional limitations of the default app switcher (CMD + Tab). You can’t tab through multiple instances of the same app (i.e. multiple Chrome windows). This led me to discover a new shortcut for doing that – CMD + Shift + ` – not great but it gets the job done. Today, I realized you couldn’t tab to minimized windows. The app will switch, but the app you tab to will stay minimized. Looking on the internet, I stumbled upon an app that solves both of those issues, essentially making CMD + Tab function like how Alt + Tab does in Windows. It’s called AltTab and if you’re like me, coming from Windows to MacOS for the first time, I highly recommend it. In addition to making your app switcher function like it does in Windows, it has many other customizable features too, and it does it all for free. This app has changed my life.
Originally Published: 9th June 2021 on eGG Network
This guide is the second in our series of guides on how to become a Facebook Gaming creator. Check out the first guide on hardware if you haven’t yet!
Introduction
There are a few routes to take when it comes to setting up the software for your stream. Since we want this route to be as easy as possible to execute, we’ll go with what the author is familiar with – Streamlabs OBS. If you’re unfamiliar with Streamlabs OBS, it’s a modified version of OBS that implements a bunch of features to make setting up a Facebook stream easier. Based on my experience, it turns into a very straightforward experience – there’s no need to deal with setting up stream keys.
To start off, head over to the official Streamlabs website to download the program. Once you’ve installed it, login to your Facebook account (the one which you use to manage your Facebook Gaming page) and you’re set. You won’t have to worry about any other streaming settings. Streamlabs will automatically configure the video, audio and bitrate settings for you (you can still customize it manually if you wish) once you’re logged in.
Now comes the creative part – setting up your stream’s look. A stream can be as basic (i.e. only-gameplay footage) or as complex as you want it to be. This will be up to your imagination and creativity, but here are some examples of how to set up some basic scenes.
Scenes
Scenes are the bread and butter of OBS – they determine what is shown to your audience when your stream is live. From your gameplay, to camera, to text, messages etc – imagine them as different parts of a movie, and you as the streamer, are the director who decides what the audience sees.
There are plenty of free templates available online if you don’t want to spend so much time designing the look of your stream, but in this guide, I’ll give you some basic tips and ideas on how you can set it up.
First, let’s get to know the Streamlabs user interface.
Like I mentioned earlier, a scene determines what the audience sees on your stream. What you see is what you get (there are some things such as widgets and chatboxes that don’t preview if you’re not live but you don’t have to deal with that at the moment).
To create your first scene, click on the “+” icon and put in a name for the scene. You can call it anything you want or rename it later if you like. If you’re going to have many scenes set up, it’s best you have names that allow you to identify what you want to show on screen. Here’s an example of my naming scheme, which is very straightforward: Starting Soon, Mobile Gaming, BRB, Dota 2, Gaming No webcam – when I’m streaming, I know exactly which scene to choose depending on what I’m doing.
For this example, let’s call it your “mobile gaming” scene. This will be the scene where you’ll spend most of the time if you’re playing a mobile game. Next, look at the Sources box, where you will add all the different elements that make up your scene. If you click the “+” icon, a list of things you can add will appear. Select Video Capture Device and click Add Source. You can leave the default name for now since you won’t have multiple video inputs for your smartphone.
In the Device dropdown menu, locate your video capture device (for me, it’s the AverMedia Live Gamer HD 2). This will enable you to use the video feed from your phone on your stream. For Resolution/FPS Type, set it to 1920 x 1080 (or whatever resolution you are planning to stream at).
Here’s the first tricky part. By default, if you have your smartphone is outputting HDMI video, the audio won’t play from your phone. While it will be on your stream, it’s not going to play through your computer’s speakers, which means you’ll be playing without sound. Here’s how we fix that: scroll to Audio Output Mode, click the dropdown menu and select “Output desktop audio (DirectSound)”.
Now, connect your phone to your video capture device to test it out – if you’ve set it up correctly, your phone’s display will appear on your scene. If you don’t hear any audio from your phone, we’ll address that later in the Mixer Settings.
Next, let’s add your webcam to the scene – after all, everybody wants to see the streamer! Click “+” in the Sources box again. Again, select Video Capture Device and click Add Source. In the following window, make sure you select “Add a new source instead”. You can name this one “Webcam”. In the Device dropdown menu, locate your webcam (for me, it’s the Logitech C920). For Resolution/FPS Type, set it to 1920 x 1080 or whatever resolution your webcam supports. It’ll be too big at first, but we can resize it after. Click Done.
You should now see the webcam completely covering your scene. Click on it in the Editor Display (the scene preview window), and there should be 6 boxes that appear around the webcam footage. Click and drag the boxes to resize the webcam until it’s a size you’re happy with. If the webcam is showing too much, you can also press alt and drag the boxes to crop the video. If you mess up, it’s easy to reset it – right-click the box, Transform > Reset Transform. You can also drag the whole video around to change its position. Adjust it until it is a size and position you’re happy with.
Let’s spice up the scene with some images. Click on “+” in Sources again, and this time, select Image and click Add Source. Use any name you want, I call mine Border. Next, browse your computer for an image you want to use – take note that you can use transparent images in Streamlabs OBS, so this will allow you to get creative with how you want pictures to be shown on your stream. Personally, I don’t have a lot of fancy visuals on my stream – just a simple border that frames my mobile game footage that is made from a transparent PNG. Once you’ve selected the image, click Done. On the scene preview, you can adjust the image the same way that you adjusted the webcam video. If you have a low-end computer, minimize the number of moving images on screen, they do take up additional processing power.
Next, we can add some text. In my scene, I use text to display some URLs for my viewers – you can use text for whatever you like. Click the “+” in Sources, and select Text (GDI+), Add Source, and give it a name (I call it “Stream info”). Here, choose what font you want to use, the size for the text, and the color. If the text has trouble showing up against the video of your stream, there are options for background or outlines to help the text stand out. In the Text box, you can type out what you want to show. Click Done once it’s complete.
And there you have it – your very first scene! By following these steps you should get a feel of how to create your own scenes in Streamlabs OBS.
One thing to take note of: the order of your sources matter – the higher the source, the closer it is to the foreground. This means that if your webcam source is below your video capture device source, it will be blocked – you have to drag it to the top. If you have borders for your video, the border should be above the video source to block out parts of the video. Play around with the source order by dragging them up and down the list and you’ll get the hang of it.
There are two icons to the right of the source names – clicking the lock locks the scene, so you can’t make changes to it (no accidental resizing etc.), while the eye icon will hide the source from the scene. If you want to quickly hide or show a source, you can use this function.
If you need to make some changes to any of the sources, double click them to quickly bring up the settings window, or right-click them and select Properties.
Here’s some of my other scenes, and how I set up my sources:
As you can tell, they are very simple scenes – just an image for the background and some text on top. I use these scenes to let my viewers know when my stream is starting soon, or when I need to be away for a bit. Not everybody needs to have these scenes, but they can be more useful than not informing your audience or latecomers about your current status.
Adjusting the Mixer
The Mixer is where all your audio sources are listed. If you have a source that plays sound, you’ll be able to monitor and adjust the sounds accordingly here. Immediately, you’ll be able to adjust the volume, and mute/unmute your audio sources. Once you become more familiar with Streamlabs OBS, there are plenty of options you can tweak.
Firstly, let’s address the issue of your phone audio not playing through your speakers. When your phone is transmitting video output through HDMI, the speakers on your phone won’t play audio anymore, it will be going through your computer instead. However, by default, your computer is not set up to monitor the audio from your phone. To fix this, click the gear icon in the Mixer box. The following window will appear:
By default, your video capture card will be set to ‘Monitor off’. Look for it in the list, select the drop-down menu and click ‘Monitor and Output’. To avoid your microphone picking up audio from your speakers, use headphones for your PC audio, lower your PC volume, or put your mic as far from the speakers as possible. It’s not great having your game sounds echo on your stream, so keep that in mind when tweaking your audio settings. From my experience, there will be a slight delay coming from the audio on your computer compared to when you’re gaming using your phone’s speakers. It’s not bad enough to mess up your gameplay, but it’s definitely better than not being able to hear any audio at all.
Other than that, from here you can also adjust the volume of your audio sources: make sure that the audio from your game isn’t too loud so that your viewers can hear you speak through your microphone. It’ll require some testing to get the balance right, but once it’s done you don’t have to touch them again unless your hardware changes.
Once everything is set up properly, you can go live. But if you’re worried about your settings being incorrect, the best way to test out your stream is to record a clip first. Click the “REC” button on the bottom right of Streamlabs OBS and record a few seconds. Play your game a bit, speak into the mic and so on, and stop the recording. Go to the folder where the recording is saved, this can be adjusted in the options menu, and watch the clip. If the visuals look good, the audio sounds balanced (not too loud/soft), you’re good to go!
The only thing left to do is to hit “Go Live”. A window will pop up allowing you to input your stream title, description, select your game, and choose which Facebook Page you want to post it to. When you’ve put in all the details, just click “Confirm & Go Live” and your stream will begin after a few seconds. Be sure to share your stream with your friends on Facebook so they can tune in to watch you play. When you’re finished, click the “End Stream” button. You are now a Facebook Gaming streamer!
Tada!
There are many more things you can do in Streamlabs OBS that isn’t covered here, but by following these steps, you’ll be up to speed on broadcasting your very first stream. Feel free to drop comments below or on Facebook if you have any questions and I’ll try to address them. Stay tuned to eGG Network for more content on being a Facebook Gaming creator!
Originally Published: 9th June 2021 on eGG Network
Introduction
This article is the first in a series of guides on how to be a streamer. From start to finish, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about starting a stream on Facebook Gaming.
First things first, you’re going to need the necessary hardware. While it’s possible to stream directly from your phone, we’ll be focusing on the hardware you need to stream from a computer. Assuming your phone is powerful enough, all you need is the right app and you’re good to go – you don’t even need this guide! Streaming through a computer isn’t so straightforward, but its many advantages make it a much more preferable method.
Benefits of Streaming from a Computer
If you don’t have a capable PC, it’s going to cost a bit of money to make your PC stream-ready. Fortunately, PCs are modular, so you don’t have to upgrade everything at once.
Since your computer will be handling all the encoding, it will be less stressful on your phone.
Streaming on your computer will allow you to have a larger display in front of you open for looking at chat, previewing your stream, making adjustments and customizing.
You have the flexibility of using a webcam/external camera to capture your face – phone cameras usually aren’t in the best position when you have it in horizontal mode and your thumbs blocking the front lens.
You have the benefit of using a stable wired internet connection.
There are a lot of different programs out there you can pick and choose when it comes to streaming.
Having a PC means having access to tons of games that aren’t on phones, you’ll be able to increase the variety of your stream content.
If you’re not keen on gaming, you can even use your PC to stream yourself working, creating content, or even host a podcast!
It might be daunting to set up. Making sure that everything works usually isn’t too difficult, but making sure that you’re on the best settings for your stream is going to take some trial and error. If you’re not running a powerful machine, you’ll need to tweak your settings so that your game doesn’t slow down when you’re broadcasting at the same time. This way you’ll enjoy playing the game and your viewers can also enjoy watching a lag-free stream.
Hardware Requirements
There are two routes you can take here: purchase a prebuilt or build a PC for yourself. If you’re purchasing a gaming machine, chances are that it’s stream-ready and you won’t have to worry about the details. Generally, you’ll want your PC to have the following specs:
For your processor and GPU, it will be highly dependent on what you plan to stream. If you’re planning to stream indie/casual games, you won’t need the highest-end processors but you might want to future-proof your machine in case you do decide to stream more intensive games in the future. At the very least you’ll want a quad-core processor – an Intel i5/i7 or AMD Ryzen 5/7. Less powerful processors might be capable of streaming but can affect your streaming experience i.e. frame rate drops on your game or stream.
The same goes for your GPU – you’re going to want at least a GeForce GTX 1650 an equivalent or better. NVIDIA’s NVEC technology, which is present in all their latest cards, are great at alleviating the encoding workload normally taken on by your CPUs. Radeon’s Ryzen processors with built-in Vega graphics can also work here if you’re on a budget (you can get a separate GPU later on). My machine has an i7 9500 CPU and GeForce 980Ti which still holds up since I only stream games at 1080p (and I don’t play the latest titles) – however, I’ll upgrade it once it is no longer sufficient.
If you want to stream in 720p or 1080p, you’re going to want at least 16GB of Dual Channel DDR4 3600 MHz RAM. And if you’re using a Windows 10 machine, 16GB is the minimum I’d recommend anyway – it makes using your computer a much more pleasant experience. In my opinion – you can’t have too much RAM! I have 32GB of RAM on my machine since I stream intensive PC games and multitask at times.
Examples of capture cards
Video capture device – if you’re planning to stream mobile games, this is necessary. You need some way to transmit what’s on your phone to your computer and video input is the most common way. Computers don’t come with HDMI inputs by default, so you’ll need an interface to decode the output from your phone. Video capture devices are available in many different formats, sizes and prices – pick one that suits your budget and needs. Personally, I’m using an AverMedia Live Gamer HD 2 which supports 1080p at 60FPS. It is also an internal capture card which works for me since I don’t want to deal with additional USB dongles sticking out of my computer. If you’re using a laptop, you’ll need an external one.
The above are the main things you need to be concerned about when building a streaming PC. The rest of the parts (motherboard, PSU etc.) don’t matter too much as long as they work with your hardware.
Extras for streaming
Everything here isn’t necessary – but can improve the quality of your stream or your streaming experience
Solid State Drive (SSD) – a high-speed drive will do wonders for your loading time if you’re playing intensive games. While they aren’t necessary, they do reduce the load times on your stream, which is always a good thing.
Green screen – for changing or removing your background – can be used for entertainment purposes or for your video feed to not take up so much of the screen for gaming.
Ring light or desk lamp – most webcams have terrible picture quality when there isn’t sufficient light. As a result, the image will be extremely grainy. to avoid this, you can make sure that your face or surroundings are well-lit while streaming.
Additional monitor – two monitors will allow you to game on the PC and check your messages at the same time without having to alt-tab between windows. this helps you have a more seamless stream with fewer pauses if you need to check anything while gaming. It also gives you the flexibility of having a window open that you don’t want to be accidentally broadcasted to the world (as long as you set up your stream correctly).
Decent microphone and headphones – if you want to sound clearer/better on your stream, a good mic can help with that. Headphones are a great way to make sure that your microphone doesn’t pick up additional sounds that you don’t want on your stream. Since people spend long hours gaming, you’re going to want something that’s comfortable. Wireless headsets are a good choice if you like to move or walk around, however do take note that you’ll need to keep them charged.
Comfortable chair – again, you’re going to spend long hours sitting in front of the computer – you might as well make yourself comfortable and not hurt yourself while doing it.
Quiet or silent keyboard/mouse – if you don’t want your mic to pick up the sounds of you hammering away at the buttons on your peripherals, you can go the option of using silent switches, or tweaking your audio settings (which can be tricky at times) to eliminate the clicks and clacks.
Now that we’ve got the hardware settled, check out part 2 where we talk about the software you’ll need to set up and run a Facebook Gaming stream! In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to drop them in the comments below or on the Facebook post. Stay tuned to eGG Network for more content on being a Facebook Gaming creator!
Originally Published: 3rd March 2021 on eGG Network
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Disclaimer: We were loaned a review unit, courtesy of Lenovo Malaysia in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are the author’s own and not influenced by Lenovo Malaysia, and/or its affiliates, in any way.
Introduction
While there are many high-performance gaming laptops available on the market out now, most of them are large and bulky and aren’t ideal for usage as a travelling device. However, times are changing – a lot more companies are putting out high-performance gaming machines suitable to bring around with you. Introducing the Legion Slim 7i, Lenovo’s take on a high-performance laptop in a slim, lightweight, form factor.
There are plenty of reviews out there already benchmarking this laptop and pushing it to its limits, so we decided to take a different approach for this piece. Since the selling point of the laptop is its form factor and weight, for over a week, I used the laptop as my work machine on days I was not at my desk.
For reference, my regular laptop is an Intel-powered Ultrabook with no discrete GPU. It’s gone through its fair share of wear and tear over the past three years but still functions great as a work device, I expect the Legion Slim 7i to outclass it in multiple ways.
If Looks Could Kill
Right out of the box, I was impressed by the Lenovo Legion Slim 7i. I had seen it in pictures previously, but this machine looked amazing in person. It has a very unassuming look. Instead of bright lights, sharp edges and loud styling – under its corporate-ish attire, lies a beast of a machine. I’m not a huge fan of the whole ‘gamer aesthetic’ and I’m glad Lenovo went in this direction.
Though the device is slightly heavier than my own laptop that I’m used to bringing around, I only noticed its heft when I was holding the laptop (i.e. taking it out of my backpack). When I was carrying it around my backpack, it didn’t feel that much different. On the other hand, the laptop’s power adapter is one heavy unit. Fortunately, the laptop has a reasonable battery life (at least 4-5 hours running in high-performance mode) based on my usage habits, so I didn’t need to need to lug around that chonky accessory if I wasn’t going to be out for the whole day.
The laptop’s power button also works as a battery indicator for the machine – if you see it flashing, you’ll know it’s time to charge. The glowing symbol on the Legion logo behind the laptop display is also a nice touch, giving a subtle hint of its gaming capabilities.
Power…
The Legion Slim 7i is the portable version of the Legion 7i, a powerful gaming laptop. But by making it slimmer and lighter, a few sacrifices had to be made. On the Legion Slim 7i, you’ll find that it’s missing the ethernet, HDMI and side USB A port. Although I could get by without using them, your experience may differ if they are necessary for your workflow.
The Legion Slim 7i only has 4 USB ports – 2x USB C, 2x USB A. Due to the limitations of the slim chassis, the USB A ports are located on the rear of the laptop, which makes them tedious to reach in a pinch. Fortunately, if you have USB C peripherals, those are located on the right side of the device. While it is troublesome if you are used to frequently changing your USB devices (i.e. switching out thumb drives), it can be solved with the use of an external USB hub (not ideal, but it is a solution – or make sure your devices use USB C).
My workflow relies heavily on internet-based apps, so a lot of it is done via a web browser (Chrome), Notion, and Teams. As predicted, I had no issues here, in fact, I would say that using this as a daily machine has been fantastic.
The laptop performs as well as expected – launching programs feels snappy, quick, and effortless. The ultra-responsive touchpad combined with the large 144hz display (which I love) made working feel almost as good as working from my home desktop. My productivity wasn’t hampered at all when I was out and about with this device. It felt good to know that I had a device that I could reliably work with and had the ability to run resource-hogging games when the occasion called for it.
…Overwhelming
The numpad was a nice addition (I don’t normally use one) – it made entering two-factor authentication codes a breeze, and the keyboard itself is one of the nicest keyboards I’ve ever used on a laptop (high praise from someone who’s very picky when it comes to input devices). In fact, most of this review was written on the Legion Slim 7i’s keyboard itself!
If you use your laptop in dark conditions, the keyboard’s RGB lighting will make sure you don’t get lost. I appreciated the fact that pressing the FN key will light up specific keys on the laptop to inform you of the key combos you can use. Though it was expected to perform well for regular day-to-day tasks, it was nice knowing that the laptop was also capable of playing intensive games at the highest quality settings. I benchmarked and played a few rounds of GTA V on the laptop just to be sure, and was not disappointed. With everything set to High or Very High, I was consistently able to reach over 100 FPS, sometimes jumping up to 120+.
One thing to point out is that the fan noise increased substantially during gaming sessions but it kept the laptop running smoothly, with no hiccups. The case did heat up significantly, but again – it won’t be an issue if you plan to use an external keyboard and mouse or gamepad (which you’ll probably want to when gaming).
The laptop also features unobtrusive Lenovo software and it didn’t come loaded with bloatware (except McAfee antivirus – it’s 2020, who needs anything else besides Windows Defender and good browsing habits?). It also has iCUE if you need to adjust the RGB on the keyboard (I turned the lights off because it’s not for me). A 1TB SSD also meant that I wouldn’t be running out of space any time soon, and 16GB of RAM is plenty for most people. The front-facing camera is passable – it works well enough but can be a bit grainy even in brightly lit conditions. For those who are worried about their privacy, it features a slider to block the lens when not in use.
Speaking of privacy, the laptop features a fingerprint reader for security purposes. With the built-in Windows 10 security options, it was quick and easy to set up a fingerprint password to unlock the device. I set it up to replace the PIN on the login screen without a hitch. No more fumbling for keys when trying to access your laptop quickly.
Bluetooth and wireless connectivity worked great. I had no issues with the speakers or onboard microphone – they were loud and clear. But as usual, you’ll want to use your favourite headphones/mic anyway, especially if you work in public.
Conclusion
Using the Legion Slim 7i for the past week has been a pleasure, and I’ll be sad to part with the machine. That being said, the laptop isn’t perfect – the hard to reach USB A ports in the rear (a problem that will be solved eventually when more devices transition to USB C), the heavy power brick and the less-than-stellar battery life are all points to consider before picking this machine up.
While it is very powerful, the machine does seem a tad overkill if you’re planning to use it as a daily driver for non-GPU-intensive work – there are more affordable laptops out there for that purpose. However, if you’re looking for a machine that’s great for travelling and powerful enough to game with when you need to, the Legion Slim 7i is hard to pass up, especially if you want one of the sleekest-looking machines on the market.
The Legion Slim 7i is going to cost a pretty penny, with a retail price of RM7,599 (but at the time of writing, Lenovo does have some web deals to bring the price down). The laptop comes installed with Windows 10 Home edition, and from now till 31st March, will come preinstalled with Microsoft Office Home & Student 2019 (worth RM529). You can purchase it from Lenovo Exclusive Stores nationwide and Lenovo authorised online sellers.
Pros: Amazing performance, great keyboard, trackpad, gorgeous high refresh rate display, sleek design
Cons: Poor placement of USB A ports, lack of HDMI port, heavy power brick, gets hot and noisy under heavy load
Originally Published: 19th July 2021 on eGG Network
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Disclaimer: We were loaned a review unit, courtesy of Illegear in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are the author’s own and not influenced by Illegear, and/or its affiliates, in any way.
When Illegear reached out to us to review their latest laptop, I jumped at the chance. It wasn’t a typical gaming laptop that they’ve been producing for years now, instead, they were looking to enter a new space – a laptop for creators. Now that might seem a bit broad since “creators” can apply to so many different kinds of users and based on their description and the Arté 14’s specs, it’s targeted at visual/graphic designers who can make full use of the laptop’s opulent display and portability. The way I interpret the laptop – it’s Illegear’s answer to the MacBook Air.
Since I am not a graphic designer, I’m not the intended audience of the device but I still put it through the paces of my own workflow to see how well it would hold up. After all, I can appreciate a lightweight laptop with a fancy screen and I do create content.
A Workhorse
I’ve been using the Illegear Arté 14 as my daily driver for the past week, and my routine consists of using Chrome for a lot of my tasks – writing in Google Docs, updating spreadsheets, Facebook, emails, and blogging in WordPress. Outside of Chrome, I used Photoshop for some image editing.
In this regard, the device performs admirably. I have no complaints at all. Everything ran smoothly, without a hitch (as I expected it to, thanks to its beefy specs). The laptop boots up in seconds, applications load instantly, and I never encountered any slowdowns or crashes. From the responsive trackpad and keyboard to the brilliant 90Hz display, the Arté 14 was a joy to use.
I also appreciated the laptop’s weight (or lack of – at 1.04kg). Even though I didn’t leave home during the testing period, I shifted it about my house many times, and it never was a hassle to do so. I think this can translate to bringing your laptop around for meetings or appointments outside when the world goes back to normal.
Another thing I like about the Arté 14 is the number of ports available on the laptop. You get: USB 3.1 Type-A (x2), USB 3.1 Type-C, Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C, 2-in-1 audio jack, HDMI 2.0 output and an SD Card reader – it’s not common for super-slim devices like these to have so many ports available, good on Illegear for addressing that need. Personally, I could have done away with the SD Card reader since I don’t use it but I can see how it would be useful for people who want to transfer photos/videos from their cameras.
Speaking of cameras, the webcam on this laptop isn’t great. The quality of the built-in mic is adequate, and the speakers are loud, clear and balanced. I enjoyed listening to music and watching movies on the laptop.
Gaming
Since I’ve never had a chance to play with an Iris Xe-powered laptop before, I decided to install COD: Warzone to see how it would fare. I had the rendering at 1440 x 900 and upscaled to its native resolution (2880 x 1800) and it was barely playable at a very choppy 45 FPS. All the other settings were turned to the lowest or off when possible.
While it was not unplayable, it’s definitely not ideal and it caused the CPU/GPU to heat up to about 90 degrees C while running. A real shame, since we had a gorgeous high resolution and refresh rate display, that couldn’t be used for intensive gaming. Running Warzone also caused the top of the laptop (near the hinges) to heat up terribly, which is definitely not something you want to put your laptop through for extended periods of time.
If you plan on playing smaller 2D indie or old/retro games, you won’t have any problems there, but this is definitely not for you if you’re into hardcore gaming or the latest triple-A titles. I did some digging around and it seems that the GPU might work better with different titles and graphics APIs. Regardless, I would not recommend this laptop if you’re looking for a gaming machine, and since it wasn’t marketed as one, we can let it slide. However, it’s still something to note when considering a purchase.
Battery Life
Based on what I’ve written so far, you must be thinking – this laptop seems perfect for a work machine, what could be wrong? It has great specs, a reasonable price tag, and a lovely form factor.
Well, if there’s one thing I was let down by in this device, it’s the Arté 14’s battery life. Throughout my week of testing, I used the laptop at different brightness levels and performance settings to see how much they would affect my experience.
I used the laptop at max brightness and max performance, 50% brightness and better performance mode, 50% brightness and better battery mode, 50% brightness and best battery life mode, and 10% brightness and best battery life mode. Here’s what I encountered: 5-6 hours of battery life despite the setting I was at.
It seemed like the brightness or performance mode didn’t matter at all – I couldn’t squeeze any extra life out of the battery. On the plus side, this meant I could use the laptop at max brightness and performance with no drawbacks since going down to lower settings didn’t improve the battery life. On the downside, there was no way to extend the battery life. I am not sure if this was a hardware or software issue and I have brought it up with Illegear who responded that they will look into it.
5-6 hours of usage isn’t terrible, but for such a portable device, I wished it could at least last a full day because it brings me to the next issue – its massive power brick. If you aren’t using this laptop as a desktop replacement, you’ll need to lug around this bulky accessory with you since the laptop won’t last a full day of use.
Conclusion
If the laptop had better battery life, it would have made this machine an easy recommendation from me. It does everything that Illegear set out to do with their Creator-focused line in a sleek, attractive, and lightweight package with a reasonable price tag. However, I wish the battery life could have been a tad better, or at least extendable when I set it to battery saving mode. Maybe if the charger wasn’t so cumbersome, I could have overlooked this issue.
That being said, if you’re looking for a portable high-performance laptop (not for gaming) and you don’t mind the 5-6 hour battery life or lugging around a large power brick, the Illegear Arté 14 is right up your alley.
The Illegear Arté 14 is available now on their official website, with prices starting at RM4,599 (before discount). If you purchase one before 31st July, you are entitled to a free Samsung 512GB SSD upgrade, free Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut, and free colour calibration.
Supports Dual Channel DDR4 Two 260 pins SODIMM sockets, support for DDR4 3200MHz (Real operation frequency depends on processor) Expandable up to 64GB, depends on 8GB/16GB/32GB SODIMM module
Graphics Card
Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics, 400 MHz – 1300 MHz
Storage
Two M.2 2280 SSD, PCIe Gen3 x2 and PCIe Gen4 x4 interface (RAID 0/1 support)
Sound System
Built-in Dual Digital Microphone Built-in High Definition Audio (2 Channels) Two 2 Watt Amplified Speakers THX® Spatial Audio
Keyboard
Ultra-tactile Keyboard with White Backlit (USA International)
Pointing Device
Integrated touchpad with Microsoft PTP multi-gesture and scrolling function Double-tap ON/OFF Feature
I/O Ports
1 Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C port – Support Type-C Fast Charging – Support Power Delivery – Support Data Transfer – Support DisplayPort 1.41 HDMI 2.0 output Port 1 USB 3.1 Gen. 2 Port (Type-C) (Support Display Output) 2 USB 3.1 Gen. 1 Ports (Type-A) 1 2-in-1 Audio Jack 1 DC-in jack
Slots
2-in-1 Card Reader Three M.2 Card Slots – 1st for WLAN Combo M.2 2230 Card with PCIe and USB interface – 2nd for SSD M.2 2280 Card with PCIe Gen3 x2 interface – 3rd for SSD M.2 2280 Card with PCIe Gen4 x4 interface
Communication
Intel®️ Wi-Fi 6 AX201 + Bluetooth v5.1
Other Features
Magnesium Alloy with Protective Coating Large Glass Touchpad Windows Hello Camera (Top Webcam)
Power
Embedded Polymer 53Wh Battery Pack Full Range AC-in 100~240V, 50~60Hz, 90W AC Adapter
Security
Kensington® Lock
OS Support
Windows® 10
Certificate
11th Generation Intel® Core™ i5/i7 Logo Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics Logo
Physical Characteristic
1.04kg with Battery 308.8 (W) x 215 (D) x 13.6~15.6 (H) mm
Originally Published: 13th May 2021 on eGG Network
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Disclaimer: We were loaned a review unit, courtesy of Illegear in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are the author’s own and not influenced by Illegear, and/or its affiliates, in any way.
Illegear has been stepping it up with their high-performance laptops recently, and one of their latest machines to join the fray is the Selenite X with GeForce RTX 30 series graphics.
We had the opportunity to play around with the machine for a couple of weeks and boy, it sure delivers – at least on the performance front. In terms of being a portable computer, I would chalk that down to personal preferences because this isn’t for me.
Firstly, the laptop is massive. It has a large footprint thanks to its 17.3″ 165Hz display and isn’t what anyone would call lightweight, at 2.4kg. Throw in the massive power brick (because the battery life on this machine isn’t great – I managed to squeeze slightly over an hour on high-performance mode) and you’ve got a recipe for backache. I tried lugging the laptop around as a daily driver and while I eventually got used to the weight, it made me appreciate the weight of my Ultrabook (ASUS UX430UA) when I switched back.
That being said, the Selenite X delivers on all other fronts. In terms of performance, you won’t be disappointed. The machine can run all games, watch HD films, stream, and anything else you can throw at it. Unsurprising for a laptop of this caliber, but just thought I’d point it out in case you were wondering. The review unit I had was powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H, 32 GB of RAM,RTX 3070 and SSD had no issues keeping up for the most part.
Yes, I shall point out one of my main issues with the laptop – the CPU/GPU combo on my review unit does not take full advantage of the 165Hz display. Sure, the display is gorgeous and has no issues pumping out high-resolution visuals, but I had trouble getting games to run at that frame rate. By no means the games are unplayable – I ran a multitude of tests at different settings, with and without overclocking the hardware and I could never get Fortnite or COD: Warzone to run at 165 FPS. I was definitely getting above 100-120 FPS in most situations, and even 140 in certain areas, but I could never get the games to make full use of the display’s capabilities. At this point, it’s probably a CPU restriction because the equipped RTX 3070 is no slouch, but I thought I’d point that out.
In my opinion, if the laptop came with a 120Hz display instead, I probably wouldn’t be too bothered by this point. With that being said, I’m not upset about the laptop’s performance, just that the display might be more suitable when paired with the higher-end configurations (you can purchase the Selenite X with an R9 5900HZ if you top up RM3,800).
With a base price of RM7,299, it’s nowhere near a budget-friendly machine, so what else does the Selenite X bring to the table? For one, the laptop is massive for a good reason – it makes full use of its real estate. Because of its huge footprint, Illegear has managed to fit a keyboard with a numpad and a gigantic touchpad below it. If you ever found yourself complaining about the size of your touchpad, this laptop might be for you.
The touchpad is so big that users have the ability to disable the right half of it (or you can disable the whole thing, but what would be the point?). While I don’t see it making a difference when it comes to gaming (I’d rather plug in an external mouse or use a gamepad), it was great for day-to-day usage. Having a larger touchpad made it easier to use without having to constantly lift and reposition my finger. Dragging things around was so much easier to do.
In the beginning, I found myself constantly making accidental moves on the touchpad because my palms were resting on it (where I imagined the empty portion of the laptop should normally be). Disabling one half of the touchpad somewhat solved the issue, but that meant I would absentmindedly use the disabled section instead, which led me to think that it was not responding, so I left it enabled. After a few days of adjusting, I got used to the positioning of this humongous touchpad.
One thing I applaud about the design of the laptop is its thermals. I didn’t open up the laptop, but I assume the large base allowed them to put larger fans or at least space out the components more for better airflow. There are vents on the side and back of the laptop to let hot air out. Even when overclocked, the laptop did a great job of getting rid of the heat from the device. I had no issues using its keyboard during my gaming sessions, it never got hot enough for me to be uncomfortable or worried, which is a step up from other gaming laptops I’ve reviewed in the past. The fans still go pretty loud but one step at a time, I guess!
The Selenite also features plenty of ports on the side – great if you have a lot of accessories to plug in. Three USB 3.0 ports, an SD card reader and separate headphone/mic ports on the left. This means if you have a dedicated mic cable on your headset you’ll be able to make use of the microphone port, though I suspect most people will have USB mics these days. On the back, you get an ethernet port, a full-sized HDMI port, and a USB C port.
In terms of appearance, the laptop definitely has some sleek and subtle hints to its gamer pedigree but is professional enough to be used in an office setting with no judgement (you’ll probably have to turn off the keyboard RGB). No complaints from me – it’s a decent-looking machine.
To conclude – if you need a high-end desktop replacement that features a super large trackpad, an almost full-sized keyboard, has good thermals, the Selenite X is probably right up your alley. Since there are competing models within the same budget, it’ll be up to you to decide what kind of features you are looking for when shopping for a similarly specced laptop. You can buy one from the official Illegear website, starting at RM7,299.
Originally Published: 13th October 2020 on eGG Network
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Disclaimer: We were loaned a review unit, courtesy of Illegear in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are the author’s own and not influenced by Illegear, and/or its affiliates, in any way.
For the longest time, people have been streaming games on their desktop computers. Usually due to how intensive the process is and how expensive it is to build a computer that is capable of doing so. However, as time passed and technology became more powerful, cheaper, and small enough to fit into a small form factor device like a laptop. Enter the Illegear Onyx V – a Ryzen-powered gaming laptop with beefy enough specs to handle everything thrown at it, including streaming.
Here are the specs of the review unit:
AMD Ryzen 5 4600H (3.00 GHz)
16GB DDR4 RAM (3200MHz)
15.6″ 120Hz/144Hz Full HD Anti-glare IPS INFINIVISION Display
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB)
256GB PCIe SSD
At this point in time, we know that the laptop’s specs are good enough to run any game you throw at it, so I won’t spend any time on it and get right to the meat of this article – is this machine good enough for your streaming needs? In short, yes. I installed two popular, intensive games on the laptop, set up a stream and put it to the test.
Streaming Setup:
I didn’t connect the laptop to an external display for streaming – I decided that people would be interested in this device to stream on the go, and since most people won’t be carrying around external monitors, it made the most sense to use this route.
720p stream to Facebook Gaming at 30 FPS (due to me not having a partnered account, it’s the max video quality I can stream at).
The streams I tested were over a 500Mbps WiFi connection. This was done under the impression that not everybody will have access to a LAN port to stream with if they were on the go.
I used the laptop’s built-in webcam, and for audio, I used an external headset/microphone combo (Armaggeddon WASP-7). This isn’t necessary, but I prefer it when my computer’s audio isn’t picked up by a microphone.
I ran both games at the high graphic settings to stress out the laptop because I assume that’s what most people will be doing.
I used an external keyboard and mouse because I’m not a fan of all laptop keyboards (this one is no exception), and I’m terrible at gaming with a trackpad. Most people will probably do the same thing as well.
Dota 2 and Fortnite were my games of choice. Dota 2 because it was a CPU-intensive game, while Fortnite was GPU-intensive, and both games are free-to-play on the PC and still relevant in the streaming scene.
Here are the results:
Dota 2
Under normal conditions, I had Dota 2 running in high settings, at 120 FPS. When I started streaming the game, it dropped to around 60 FPS – still playable, but not optimal. However, during the stream, there were no other issues. The game ran smoothly, and there were no hitches with performance at all.
Fortnite
I decided to limit the frame rate to 60FPS for Fortnite, and during streaming, I didn’t notice it drop, so it looks like 60FPS might be the sweet spot to stream at. Depending on where you’re streaming to, that’s usually the max frame rate you’ll be able to stream at, so it shouldn’t be a problem. The game looked and played great, no performance issues at all either.
Conclusion
I was impressed by the results. Based on my tests, it’s safe to say that the Illegear Onyx V is perfectly capable of being a streaming machine.
However, the machine is not perfect – during heavy load, the fans get extremely loud, to a point where I got worried about the laptop. Fortunately, the CPU/GPU never got too hot when I monitored them, but parts of the laptop were extremely warm to the touch. If you don’t plan on using the onboard keyboard, this heat isn’t going to be a problem (something I’d recommend anyway, as laptop keyboards aren’t the best to use) but I would recommend a keyboard stand of some sort to cool the laptop while it is in use. Most importantly, it didn’t affect gaming performance or cause any crashes.
The laptop works best when it’s connected to a power outlet – not a huge issue, but if you’re planning to game on the go, expect framerates to drop if you don’t lower your settings.
The Onyx V is also noticeably heavy (1.85kg with the battery), but that’s a given seeing how it’s a desktop replacement. But for what it’s worth, it’s much lighter than desktop replacement laptops I’ve used in the past.
My favourite feature of the Onyx V is its 120Hz FHD display – high refresh rate displays aren’t very common on laptops, and the one on this machine was a joy to use. Everything felt buttery smooth – even dragging around windows and scrolling through websites. If you don’t plan to stream with this machine, I would say the gorgeous display would be its next best selling point.
If you’re buying a laptop for regular word processing and email usage – there are more suitable and lightweight machines out there. But if you want a laptop that is capable of gaming and streaming, the Illegear Onyx V is definitely one of the best devices for the job.
The starting price for the Illegear Onyx V is RM3,499 and can be purchased through their official website.
