What is really preventing me from recording with OBS at higher res?

Perenista · 17th January 2021, 17:02

I have an outdated PC which I need to replace everything, yet I was wondering what would really make a difference when it comes to using OBS:

https://obsproject.com/

To record/capture PC games.

Well, first of all, this is my current setup:

- Core i7 4770
- MB: H97M-D3H, Gigabyte
- Windows 10-64 bit, 16 GB of RAM
- Video card: https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-spec...n-r7-265.c2558

- SSD 1 TB
- Old monitor: LG W2452V

And this is how OBS is configured to make these recordings:

https://i.postimg.cc/3xcXVwPm/XU1.png

Audio bitrate is 320 and sample rate 48 Khz, stereo.

Also:

https://i.postimg.cc/sghxfDMp/XU2.png

As you can see, if I record this game here (Resident Evil, 1996, PC):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERsaiwb1Fc0

At 1280x960 (more or less 720p) no problems. OBS creates a MP4 file with no slowdowns or any hint of any issue.

However if I change both resolutions from the previous image to 1920x1200 which is the max for my system, then the entire video created will be useless, freezing 100% of the time.

That of course indicates anything higher than 720p is more than this system can handle.

That includes recent PC games, however in this case as you can see I am trying an old one that is much less demanding.

To answer my question, there are 4 possibilites:

a) A change in CPU + mobo + RAM and using Windows 10 will be all I need. Regardless of using the same video card.

b) Even if the same system remained, a newer video card would make all the difference. That means the bottleneck here is the video card, meaning that even if I remained with this old CPU/ram/motherboard, buying a new one would prevent this freezing at a higher resolution such as 1080p or even higher than that, say, 4K. At least for this game, not recent ones.

c) Even my current system would be able to handle these recordings, the problem here is the configuration used for OBS.

Or d) you need to replace a) and b) together.

So which is it?

- New CPU + MB + RAM
- New video card
- Both
- Or just configuring OBS correctly?

My guess is new CPU, perhaps this recording isn't so GPU dependent.

filler56789 · 19th January 2021, 08:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perenista

................

And this is how OBS is configured to make these recordings:

https://i.postimg.cc/3xcXVwPm/XU1.png

Assuming OBS can use fast lossless video codecs, or high-quality Motion JPEG, give them a try.
BUT before this, you could also set the H.264 encoder to use zero P-frames per GOP, that is to say, only I frames,
and see what happens...

Blue_MiSfit · 21st January 2021, 04:37

Try swapping to Intel QuickSync for encoding?

FranceBB · 21st January 2021, 07:14

Both are valid suggestions.
If you record with a lightweight codec like v210, huffyuv, utvideo, lagarith etc it will be way faster and you won't have those issues. On the other hand, I can't find anything on OBS to record in lossless... What I found, though, is GPU based encoding like Derek suggested. Quicksync, AMF, and NVENC are hardware encoders that come on recent Intel Integrated GPUs, newer AMD GPUs, and recent nVidia GPUs, respectively. You can offload encoding load to those hardware encoders at the cost of a somewhat noticeable decrease in quality at the same bit rate. Generally speaking, GPU-based encoders don’t quite have as high of quality as x264 and x265 for a given bit rate, but the benefit is a greatly reduced load on your CPU. If you have one of the mentioned hardware encoders, you can see if those options are available to you in "Encoding settings" inside OBS. As to Intel Quick sync, here is a guide I found in the OBS forum: https://obsproject.com/forum/resourc...-quicksync.82/
Likewise, here is the troubleshooting guide for the AMF encoder: https://github.com/Xaymar/obs-studio...shooting-Guide

Please note that you could also use FFMpeg to record in lossless grabbing the picture and audio of your screen. If you want I can come up with a bat for that. I generally use FFMpeg to record my screen when I really have to (like when I can't download videos published on some weird social media which is not covered by JDownloader for our news channel...

filler56789 · 22nd January 2021, 01:57

Time to correct myself

Apparently, OBS can use only hardware/GPU encoders ++ x264...
and anyway, it doesn't support I-frame-only encoding :-/

So if one has a slow machine and wants to record videogames, it's better to switch to a dedicated game-capturing application, since OBS means
"Open Broadcaster Software"...

huhn · 2nd March 2021, 13:53

just in case someone reads about this.

OBS can do pretty much everything from i frame only to lossless recording using h264 and so on you can change the command line options.
you can record using ffmpeg so you can in theory encode in xbm codec if you want to.

and please think about the file size if lossless recording is done the issue is now the speed of the disk.

17th January 2021, 17:02	#1 \| Link
Perenista Registered User Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 218	What is really preventing me from recording with OBS at higher res? I have an outdated PC which I need to replace everything, yet I was wondering what would really make a difference when it comes to using OBS: https://obsproject.com/ To record/capture PC games. Well, first of all, this is my current setup: - Core i7 4770 - MB: H97M-D3H, Gigabyte - Windows 10-64 bit, 16 GB of RAM - Video card: https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-spec...n-r7-265.c2558 - SSD 1 TB - Old monitor: LG W2452V And this is how OBS is configured to make these recordings: https://i.postimg.cc/3xcXVwPm/XU1.png Audio bitrate is 320 and sample rate 48 Khz, stereo. Also: https://i.postimg.cc/sghxfDMp/XU2.png As you can see, if I record this game here (Resident Evil, 1996, PC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERsaiwb1Fc0 At 1280x960 (more or less 720p) no problems. OBS creates a MP4 file with no slowdowns or any hint of any issue. However if I change both resolutions from the previous image to 1920x1200 which is the max for my system, then the entire video created will be useless, freezing 100% of the time. That of course indicates anything higher than 720p is more than this system can handle. That includes recent PC games, however in this case as you can see I am trying an old one that is much less demanding. To answer my question, there are 4 possibilites: a) A change in CPU + mobo + RAM and using Windows 10 will be all I need. Regardless of using the same video card. b) Even if the same system remained, a newer video card would make all the difference. That means the bottleneck here is the video card, meaning that even if I remained with this old CPU/ram/motherboard, buying a new one would prevent this freezing at a higher resolution such as 1080p or even higher than that, say, 4K. At least for this game, not recent ones. c) Even my current system would be able to handle these recordings, the problem here is the configuration used for OBS. Or d) you need to replace a) and b) together. So which is it? - New CPU + MB + RAM - New video card - Both - Or just configuring OBS correctly? My guess is new CPU, perhaps this recording isn't so GPU dependent.

21st January 2021, 07:14	#4 \| Link
FranceBB Broadcast Encoder Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, UK Posts: 3,030	Both are valid suggestions. If you record with a lightweight codec like v210, huffyuv, utvideo, lagarith etc it will be way faster and you won't have those issues. On the other hand, I can't find anything on OBS to record in lossless... What I found, though, is GPU based encoding like Derek suggested. Quicksync, AMF, and NVENC are hardware encoders that come on recent Intel Integrated GPUs, newer AMD GPUs, and recent nVidia GPUs, respectively. You can offload encoding load to those hardware encoders at the cost of a somewhat noticeable decrease in quality at the same bit rate. Generally speaking, GPU-based encoders don’t quite have as high of quality as x264 and x265 for a given bit rate, but the benefit is a greatly reduced load on your CPU. If you have one of the mentioned hardware encoders, you can see if those options are available to you in "Encoding settings" inside OBS. As to Intel Quick sync, here is a guide I found in the OBS forum: https://obsproject.com/forum/resourc...-quicksync.82/ Likewise, here is the troubleshooting guide for the AMF encoder: https://github.com/Xaymar/obs-studio...shooting-Guide Please note that you could also use FFMpeg to record in lossless grabbing the picture and audio of your screen. If you want I can come up with a bat for that. I generally use FFMpeg to record my screen when I really have to (like when I can't download videos published on some weird social media which is not covered by JDownloader for our news channel... __________________ LUT Collection FFAStrans Videotek - AAA - SafeColorLimiter

22nd January 2021, 01:57	#5 \| Link
filler56789 SuperVirus Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Antarctic Japan Posts: 1,392	Time to correct myself Apparently, OBS can use only hardware/GPU encoders ++ x264... and anyway, it doesn't support I-frame-only encoding :-/ So if one has a slow machine and wants to record videogames, it's better to switch to a dedicated game-capturing application, since OBS means "Open Broadcaster* Software"...* Last edited by filler56789; 22nd January 2021 at 01:58. Reason: clarity

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

21st January 2021, 04:37	#3 \| Link
Blue_MiSfit Derek Prestegard IRL Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 5,993	Try swapping to Intel QuickSync for encoding?

2nd March 2021, 13:53	#6 \| Link
huhn Registered User Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 8,108	just in case someone reads about this. OBS can do pretty much everything from i frame only to lossless recording using h264 and so on you can change the command line options. you can record using ffmpeg so you can in theory encode in xbm codec if you want to. and please think about the file size if lossless recording is done the issue is now the speed of the disk.