2021 - Best laptops for OBS + Streamlabs

[Lorne.T]

I'm currently recording using OBS and just started streaming with Streamlabs, using a 2020 i9 MacBook Pro.

While recording isn't too bad streaming leaves a lot to be desired.

I'm contemplating buying a Windows laptop £1000 - £1500, to use only for OBS.

Would this be beneficial ?

I appreciate a desktop would probably be better, but I've not really got room for it, as I would need another monitor, and I've already got a 34 inch wide one for my Mac mini and a 28 inch 4k one I use for my PS5.

Are there any laptops people could recommend, and let me know what I'd be losing by going for the laptop over the PC.

Thanks.

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

Issue is generally laptops have power constrained CPU & CPUs (there are certain exceptions, and engineering workstation class machines are less constrained, and a lot heavier and more expensive). For a given dollar amount, a desktop PC tends to be more powerful, as it can use more electricity and not be thermal constrained. And then you have other expansion options you lose, in exchange for lower power consumption and convenience, with smaller form factor

In general, mimicing what others have said (I've not directly compared), your best bet tends to be something with a Turing nVidia GPU w/ NVENC support, so GTX 1650 Super or newer/higher. I think the same applies for laptop or desktop (not 100% sure on that)

That said, most monitors have multiple video inputs, so you wouldn't necessarily need another monitor. I find switch inputs on my brand new 32" 1440p monitor a bit tedious compared to my almost 20 yr old 20" Ultrasharp where I can cycle through video inputs quickly and easily from a single button on the front panel.. or there are always KVM switchers

Are you planning for Windows PC/laptop to ONLY be running OBS, ie streaming content from other device (Mac or gaming console)? in which case, what is your plan for video capture/transfer? to use HDMI capture card, or NDI, or ??

I'm surprised an i9 MacBook is struggling, but depends on what you are doing and what you are expecting in terms of video quality. Did you see the article on the guy annoyed by his MacBook fan so removed bottom and set up a liquid cooling setup and greatly improved performance (by changing thermal thresholds).. anyway... Are you gaming on the Mac and trying to stream from it?
Sorry, not a Mac person... I've heard in general that AMD's GPU encoding offload isn't that good (Windows side), is it the same on the Mac side? Are you gaming or other on the Mac, and trying to stream? or just streaming content from gaming console? if just doing video capture/real-time video encoding/streaming, I'd have thought the MacBook would be ok (assuming realistic stream settings for a laptop)

Not sure about in British pound market, but here in US dollars, lots of perfectly usable gaming laptops for streaming in the US$1->1.5K range. Real-time video encoding is demanding, so I'd recommend looking for the Turing or Ampere NVENC option (assuming that video quality is ok for you), or a laptop capable of providing a high level of cooling to the CPU (good to have regardless)

 

[TryHD]

I'm surprised an i9 MacBook is struggling

That is not realy suprising, apple has designed it to be pretty but the thermal solution apple did build in it does not allow to operate it for more than a few moments with high performance, so it does throttle under the base clock after some minutes, making it slow af. Gaming notebooks have beefier cooling than that but because of that they are loud.

So getting a PC with a good cooler should be the goal, that will operate silent and with full performance all the time. Notebooks suck at delivering performance for long time periods, that is why they are not suited for streaming. A SFF build does not take more space than a Notebook, so as long as you don't stream outside there is no benefit of a notebook, only all the disadvantages.
For possible SFF take a look e.g. at this

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

 

[Lorne.T]

Thanks folks for your replies.

I'd be using OBS for just recording / streaming from my Elgato HD60 S +, though I'd probably upgrade it to the 4K60 S+, which doesn't work with a Mac .

Looks like I may end up having to get a desktop, but it would mean switching between monitor inputs, which wouldn't be great. I'd also struggle to monitor whether my recording was working properly.

I'll look into the SFF build, but as mentioned it's more an extra monitor than the device itself that's the issue.

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

That is not realy suprising, apple has designed it to be pretty but the thermal solution apple did build in it does not allow to operate it for more than a few moments with high performance, so it does throttle under the base clock after some minutes, making it slow af

Not just Apple, Dell XPS followed same thin/light aesthetic with similar resulting thermal throttling issues
I did read that the MacBook Pro i9 can only briefly use full i9 performance before throttling. That said, the i9 should perform ok at i7 levels, which should suffice, depending on OBS settings

Lorne.T If you haven't already, I'd post your OBS Studio log (not streamlabs, that is another company using a forked version of OBS Studio, and you should go to them for support) in the Mac support forum here (per the pinned post, with a number of minutes of recording and/or streaming) so folks you could advise on settings adjustments that would facilitate a stable stream. Oh, and of course using a wired Ethernet connection (not WiFi) [ex dock or USB-to-Ethernet adapter]

 

[Lorne.T]

Thanks for the reply.

I've just been checking out a few Twitch streams for comparison and mine only needs to be a bit better picture wise. Movement currently seems fine but the picture just needs to be a bit less "muddy"!

I was recording again today and I'm actually now happy with what I'm getting picture and sound wise, so obviously pondering on whether it's worth forking out for a comp, just for streaming on Twitch and You Tube?

I'm only using a wireless network rather than ethernet. Unfortunately my router and phone line is on the other side of the room, so I would have to run a cable all the way around my room, I just this moment realised I actually did buy one a few years ago, that's long enough, but I'm not sure if it would make any difference?

I think my stream is stable. My picture isn't choppy, it's just a poor resolution, and I'm not sure what to change to take it up a couple of notches, quality wise.

Not just Apple, Dell XPS followed same thin/light aesthetic with similar resulting thermal throttling issues
I did read that the MacBook Pro i9 can only briefly use full i9 performance before throttling. That said, the i9 should perform ok at i7 levels, which should suffice, depending on OBS settings

Lorne.T If you haven't already, I'd post your OBS Studio log (not streamlabs, that is another company using a forked version of OBS Studio, and you should go to them for support) in the Mac support forum here (per the pinned post, with a number of minutes of recording and/or streaming) so folks you could advise on settings adjustments that would facilitate a stable stream. Oh, and of course using a wired Ethernet connection (not WiFi) [ex dock or USB-to-Ethernet adapter]

 

[raphaelbdorneles]

Hello!

I'm a huge fan os Obs Studio and with the pandemic I have to stream AND record my videos. I'm planning to sell my laptop and desktop to buy a more potent laptop, maybe a gamer one. Do Nvidia GPUs for laptops support NVENC? I was thinking about buying a gamer laptop with a GTX 1650, or any cheaper GPU with Turing support. Do you think that will do the job? 1080p it's good enough for me.

Thanks!

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

Better quality, if livestreaming (not recording and uploading at whatever bitrate at a later time), usually implies a higher bitrate and WiFi is NEVER consistent, and things outside your place can effect it (only not an issue in places like rural areas where next WiFi device is more than many hundreds of feet away). so... you've been warned about WiFi (the vast majority of the public doesn't understand how it works, what typical WiFi problems are, how to address those problems, etc) ymmv

@Lorne.T - I'd start with recording (not streaming) and checking that quality. Adjust settings (asking for help in the Mac forum as required) until you are happy with recorded video quality. Then try streaming...

@raphaelbdorneles - note I specifically said 1650 Super (which is Turing) or higher. GTX 1650 and 1650 Ti are NOT Turing... details count.. so beware. Whether a laptop will do the job or not... depends. You can set up OBS to overwhelm a $5K workstation tower with liquid cooling, or you could stream fine on a sub $1K laptop.... it just depends. It is likely asking which car is best, or will it work?

 

[Lorne.T]

Thanks.

As mentioned, I'm actually really happy with my recordings for YT now, I had sound issues with game settings , but I seem to have got them worked out. My mic sound is fine and the picture is decent quality, with no stuttering, so that's all good. It's the quality of the picture when streaming that's the issue.

I'll have to get an adapter, but I'll try and use ethernet eventually. I don't think that would be a major issue with my picture set up though, as it's constantly bad.

I obviously can't use my recording settings for streaming, so not sure how to get a better picture.

Better quality, if livestreaming (not recording and uploading at whatever bitrate at a later time), usually implies a higher bitrate and WiFi is NEVER consistent, and things outside your place can effect it (only not an issue in places like rural areas where next WiFi device is more than many hundreds of feet away). so... you've been warned about WiFi (the vast majority of the public doesn't understand how it works, what typical WiFi problems are, how to address those problems, etc) ymmv

@Lorne.T - I'd start with recording (not streaming) and checking that quality. Adjust settings (asking for help in the Mac forum as required) until you are happy with recorded video quality. Then try streaming...

@raphaelbdorneles - note I specifically said 1650 Super (which is Turing) or higher. GTX 1650 and 1650 Ti are NOT Turing... details count.. so beware. Whether a laptop will do the job or not... depends. You can set up OBS to overwhelm a $5K workstation tower with liquid cooling, or you could stream fine on a sub $1K laptop.... it just depends. It is likely asking which car is best, or will it work?

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

If you are recording locally, and uploading (not livestreaming), then WiFi is a non-issue (sort of) as jitter/latency aren't a factor... it simply takes how ever long it takes.... it is with livestreaming, and the need for consistent throughput and low jitter that WiFi is problematic

IF you are recording locally, and like that quality, but upload and stream and don't like that quality.... that has nothing to do with OBS but rather the re-encoding that the stream platform does (to lower bandwidth). In something that is NOT my area of expertise and could (will?) vary by platform, is what recording settings to use and maintain picture quality? Note this is different from streaming to that platform

But if I understand your comment, your desire is to livestream. Due to my content and audience, I'm streaming to FB at 720p 30fps, so I'm fine with OBS' auto settings. As above, recommended video stream settings for video quality will most likely vary per platform as they are all using the same re-encoding setup, and you have to balance resolution and frame against available bitrate (not determined using an optimistic speed test).

Maybe this will help? Boost your stream quality — choose the right encoder! | by Andrew Whitehead | Mobcrush Blog
Get the most out of your CPU or GPU and stop dropping frames Jul 2, 2020 · 4 min read

Good luck and let us know how it goes

 

[Lorne.T]

Thanks for the info. Sadly with a Mac we only have X264 as an option. I'll have to check my settings again, but I believe I'm currently streaming at 720, but it looks more like 300 something .

The encoder was one of the reasons I thought about a pc. It is annoying, as it just needs to get a little bit better, picture wise, for me to be happy. I've hopefully got some money coming in in the next couple of months that could pay for it, so that's not an issue, but I'm still having second thoughts about adding a desktop pc to my set up, as it will mean switching between monitor inputs a lot and that's a pain!

If you are recording locally, and uploading (not livestreaming), then WiFi is a non-issue (sort of) as jitter/latency aren't a factor... it simply takes how ever long it takes.... it is with livestreaming, and the need for consistent throughput and low jitter that WiFi is problematic

IF you are recording locally, and like that quality, but upload and stream and don't like that quality.... that has nothing to do with OBS but rather the re-encoding that the stream platform does (to lower bandwidth). In something that is NOT my area of expertise and could (will?) vary by platform, is what recording settings to use and maintain picture quality? Note this is different from streaming to that platform

But if I understand your comment, your desire is to livestream. Due to my content and audience, I'm streaming to FB at 720p 30fps, so I'm fine with OBS' auto settings. As above, recommended video stream settings for video quality will most likely vary per platform as they are all using the same re-encoding setup, and you have to balance resolution and frame against available bitrate (not determined using an optimistic speed test).

Maybe this will help? Boost your stream quality — choose the right encoder! | by Andrew Whitehead | Mobcrush Blog
Get the most out of your CPU or GPU and stop dropping frames Jul 2, 2020 · 4 min read

Good luck and let us know how it goes