# Preset Max Quality vs Quality



## Deleted member 246571 (Jun 29, 2020)

I have a 1660 but deal with clients (I do stream/tech help) who often have more powerful NVIDIA GPUs, but the Turin Tb encoder is the same right? My real question is, what is the difference between max quality and normal quality? Apparently max quality runs the output through the encoder twice? Does this have any significant performance impact or quality impact? Thank you


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## qhobbes (Jun 29, 2020)

> *Preset*: Select Max Quality. This determines how much load we put on the encoder to get more quality. NvEnc is incredibly efficient, so most users can select the maximum setting. If you get encoder overload issues, change this back to Quality. Max Quality and Quality differ in that Max Quality uses 2-pass encoding.


Unless you're gaming or doing something else with lots of CUDA cores, Select Max Quality.









						NVIDIA Nvenc Obs Guide
					

Configure OBS to get the most quality out of your stream.



					www.geforce.co.uk


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## Deleted member 246571 (Jun 29, 2020)

qhobbes said:


> Unless you're gaming or doing something else with lots of CUDA cores, Select Max Quality.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Gaming is the main focus, but the Turing encoder is separate so how does that play into it?


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## k9online (Jun 25, 2021)

ImaSnakySnake said:


> Gaming is the main focus, but the Turing encoder is separate so how does that play into it?


I know this is old but was looking for something specific and saw this was never answered.

NVNEC for specific encoding flags/features DOES use some of the GPU core. Most notably High Quality preset, which introduces 2-pass encoding. On slower cards, even in the 20/30 series, this can cause some stuttering/frame time issues with demanding games on higher settings. I would never recommend HQ preset for live streaming because 2-pass can't truly be helpful based on the nature of how 2-pass encoding works. But yeah a common misconception is that NVENC under no circumstances uses the GPU itself, this is not true. However in MOST cases and other presets its very little and unnoticeable.


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## FerretBomb (Jun 25, 2021)

Additionally, NVENC using *any* CUDA-core-required options (using the Max Quality preset, Lookahead, or Psychovisual Tuning) can cause Rendering Lag issues to crop up, even if the game is not using CUDA at all, even on a machine that should by all rights have NO problem handling the render load.
Rendering lag will lead to encoding lag as the frames are not delivered in time to be encoded, and your stream/recording will stutter.

The gains are minimal _at best, _but random encoding lag will make your stream look awful.
I STRONGLY advise *against *using any of those three options. Quality is fine for the preset.
Any time rendering lag crops up in a support thread with NVENC in play, turning OFF those options is always the first step, and solves the issue an overwhelming majority of the time.

Don't use them.


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## equalf (Mar 19, 2022)

tl;dr uncheck look ahead, psycho. Go for bicubic downscale filter and quality preset. stick to 720 60/30/48 unless you have a monster 3080+.

FerretBomb knows really well, shoutout to this guy. look ahead i had always dissabled but psycho tuning does not do what it says at all. in fact it would give my stream a wierd pixelation especially in high foliage. warzone caldera looked like poop. i disabled both and turned to Quality from Max Quality and voila! yes foliage is bad in every mean for streams but it is way better than before at least on my single pc setup. max quality vs quality i didnt notice any difference tbh. if i would recomend something is this: stick to 720p 30/48/60fps on single pc even on 6k bitrate. Go with bicubic downscale cause lanzcos gives a wierd edging i dont personaly like to see as a viewer. 30 fps is pretty fine, 48/60 is perfect. i tried 864p which is perfect for high motion games but i think giving a little more space to my bitrate to handle the image of 720 on 6k is better.


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