I have a more overly complicated system for Twitch that I'm still working out the bugs from but:

Option A: Single system
Requires a much more powerful PC, roughly 25% more powerful than playing without streaming. So if you want 60fps, you need the 500$ video card.
- OBS works with FFXIV without problems, albeit it's a bit complicated to setup.
- Requires a 5Mbit uplink minimal. Maximum stream is 1920x1080x30fps or 1280x720x60 at 3500Kbps
- Turn off or pause all auto-updating cruft like windows update, antivirus

Option B: Dedicated hardware encoder (for use with PS4)
Currently the only available option is this: http://gamerzone.avermedia.com/game_...e_capture_hd_2
- Usually does not allow for video overlays, just audio.

Option C: Two device setup
- You play from one computer or PS4, and a second machine does the video composition, encoding and streaming. This is how most twitch channels work. The Video encoding machine usually leverages Intel Quicksync on windows so any second generation or better intel i5 or i7 can be used.
- Requires a highend CPU machine for encoding. Can also use a mid/high-end GPU for encoding.
- This allows the most flexibility for input sources, but... see later.

Option D: Three or four device setup.
- You play on the first device (be it PC or PS4), If playing from the PC, you use OBS to stream a high bitrate to the second machine, where it composites the video and audio, and a third machine actually does the encoding and streaming. If playing from a PS4, you use a dedicated HDMI capture card on the second machine.
- This setup is very expensive, and not generally worth the trouble unless you play with multiple consoles AND a PC during the stream. This allows compositing machine to switch inputs without having to stop and start the stream.


My setup is a three-device setup, but that's to leverage all the available hardware so that the encoding machine can also record the high bitrate stream to disk. A single machine can only encode one bit rate since it can only use one hardware-assisted encoder at a time.

The question people often overlook when setting up any kind of streaming is if it's worth the trouble.

1) Are you entertaining? If No. Stop now so you won't depress yourself with the results.
2) Are you able to keep a schedule? If No, stop now. Subscribers will tune in to engage in real time. See Youtube for non-live video streams.
3) Are you exceptionally good? If YES. Stop now. Nobody likes a show off.
I repeat, nobody cares to watch someone effortlessly faceroll over content. That is boring.
4) Are you in it for the money? If YES. Stop now. Twitch only shows the top 100 results, unless you have deep social media reach elsewhere (tumblr, twitter, facebook) you are facing an uphill battle against established streamers for the same game.

Overall the top streamers are people who are both entertaining and able to keep a schedule of sorts. Their abilities are all over the place. Video streams are not very profitable at all.
http://danielfenner.com/how-much-doe...-january-2015/
Income
Here’s what everyone really wants to see, I guess. Most of these numbers are estimates, because sites tend to calculate pay outs months later but they should be close to accurate.

Tips: $716.88
Twitch Subs: $212.50
Twitch Ad Revenue: $61.92
Casting with Basetrade: $44
YouTube Ad Revenue: $12.49
Total: $1048
Notice that the majority of that came from "tips" eg people who just threw money at him.
Each subscriber was worth about 50 cents. If you want to make a job out of this you need 15,000 subs minimum.