2 PC setup question (Encoding)

MajorDrumKill

New Member
TL;DR - With a 2 PC Setup, is using RTX Nvenc (new) as the encoder on the dedicated machine still a better option than x264 with a high end CPU such as the 3900x?

Hello everyone!

Apologies on not being able to provide a log, I am currently at work and decided out of the blue to post this.

I have been streaming for a few years now and am very educated on the basics for setting up single PC and 2 PC setups. And like many others, my brain won't stop racing with curiosity on certain things. Keep in mind, my streams are performing great! I have no issues whatsoever. I am mainly just curious to see what kind of input you guys can throw in.

As I said, I have a 2 PC setup and my dedicated streaming rig has the following specs:
- CPU: R9 3900x
- GPU: RTX 2060
- RAM: 16GB 3200
- CC: Elgato 4k60 Pro Mk2

I stream using the OBS Screen Projection method (I used to do the clone method, but that gave me many issues on screen tearing and jitter).

GAMING PC DETAILS:
I game at 1440p at 144hz, FPS capped at 120 across the board to stay in sync with 60fps in OBS. I capture my games in OBS on the gaming rig and project my preview to the capture card which I have found runs PERFECTLY AND SMOOTHLY when set to 1080p 60hz. I originally had it 1440p 60hz but this caused massive stuttering and jitter in the stream rig. Going down to 1080p fixed that. I also disable the preview in OBS to help keep things smooth.

STREAMING PC DETAILS:
I stream at 720p60, 6000 bitrate, at medium preset with x264. However, I've noticed that even with a 3900x on a dedicated machine, my stats report that I sometimes get a few hundred missed frames due to rendering lag and encoding lag. I know it isn't much seeing as it's still 0% and I am probably being too much of a perfectionist, but I did my last stream with the Nvenc (new) encoder on the dedicated machine and both rendering and encoding missed frames were 0. This seriously got me scratching my head... I know x264 provides the best quality but one would assume even with a 2 PC setup the 3900x should have no hiccups.

The reason I have an RTX in the stream rig is because I utilize the RTX Broadcast software (for the fake green screen and RTX voice when needed). I used to use Nvenc with my 2080Ti for my gaming rig, but my OBS on Single PC setup was not running well, no matter what I did. Constant skipped frames, FPS dropping to like 23, just ran poorly overall. The 2 PC setup definitely makes me happy but I am noticing the little things and it's driving my perfectionist mind up the wall, haha.
 
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