I know, for me, XSplit is a lot easier on my CPU when broadcasting.
I wanted to put together something simple to help out.
Here is a great guide for people that are new to XSplit:
http://www.xsplit.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8333
I pulled out some key information to help with streaming settings.
Here is a chart that shows you what bitrate setting to use based on your speedtest.net results.
Please note, this is using your upload speed result, not your download result.
Speedtest.net upload result - - - - -What bitrate to use in XSplit
1mbps - - - - - 600
1.5mbps - - - - - 1100
2mbps - - - - - 1500
2.5mbps - - - - - 2000
3mbps - - - - - 2400
4mbps - - - - - 3000
Here is a chart, based on your bitrate setting of what resolution and FPS you should be using.
Note, with the free version, you cannot change the FPS, it is defaulted to 25.
Bitrate - - - - - Resolution - - - - - FPS
< 500 - - - - - 360p (640x360) - - - - - 25
500-1200 - - - 480p (852x480) - - - - - 30
1200-2200 - - 720p (1280x720) - - - - - 30
2200+ - - - - - 1080p (1920x1080) - - - - 30
2200+ - - - - - 720p (1280x720) - - - - - 60
3000+ - - - - - 1080p (1920x1080) - - - - 45
4000+ - - - - - 1080p (1920x1080) - - - - 60
Since I am using the free version and cannot change my frames per second, I left the resolution to the Default Stage Resolution option.
One trick I read was, once you have your VBV Max Bitrate set, double that and use this value as your VBV Buffer.
This will help reduce the dropped frames.
Here are the settings that I use:
In the Location Dropdown, you MUST choose a location if you are on XSplit version 1.1.
Leaving it to default appears to not allow broadcasting to work properly. You HAVE to go in and choose a location and then it should broadcast just fine.
When I am broadcasting, at the top of your XSplit window, you will notice that your bitrate changes constantly, that is ok. It does this based on what is available to use over your internet.
If the red text appears to be all )'s besides the dropped number and your broadcast is not actually starting, this is the bug that I talk about above in RED text.
After playing a few games online, all of this really appears to be based on your opponents connection too. Sometimes I am able to stream really good and sometimes I am not.
Each time I was not, I run speed test and my speeds are the same.