MSI Streaming Boost

Given its unusual inclusion with the GODLIKE, I thought the Streaming Boost capture card deserved a closer look. It comes in its own little box, as shown earlier, and includes no manual or drivers. The idea is pretty simple as aspiring streamers just plug an HDMI output from whatever device they want to stream into the single HDMI input on the Streaming Boost card and select the card as the source in the supported software. MSI developed the card with mobile game streamers in mind specifically, although it will work just as well with consoles or even other PCs. Let's take a look under the hood.


Pulling the aluminium shroud off the card reveals a clean, relatively simple design. The first step in the process is an HDMI receiver, an ITE IT66021FN.


The ITE receiver then passes the signal to an Etron Tech EJ511 USB 3.0 capture IC that supports up to 1080p/60fps. The processed signal is then passed to an ASMedia ASM1042ae chip. The 1042ae is a Universal Serial Bus 3.0 extended host controller that bridges PCI Express into two USB 3.0 ports or, as in this case, the reverse.


That's the simple breakdown. There is obviously more to the details, including a Nuvoton Nuc126 family ARM microcontroller and a USB header for factory programming and tuning. MSI is not currently selling the Streaming Boost as a discrete peripheral, though I would expect them to in the future.