Best Recording Settings for my Computer

[Mantix]

Hi there! I have been trying to record with OBS for a while and I've gotten to a pretty good point, but whenever I check the video after recording there is always a slight bit of lag that, once you notice it, you can't unsee it and it's driving me nuts. I have an alien ware Aurora R10 with these specs:

Processor = AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core Processor 3.59 GHz
Installed RAM = 16.0 GB
System type = 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor.

My current settings in OBS are as follows:
Recording Format: MP4
Encoder: NVIDIA NVENC H.264 (new)
Rate Control: VBR
Bitrate: 100,000 Kbps
Max Bitrate: 200,000
Keyframe Interval: 2
Preset: Quality
Profile: High
Look- Ahead and Psycho Visual Tuning are both checked
GPU: 0
Max B-Frames: 2

My Last Log File: https://obsproject.com/logs/vF_BQJuxwEg7upyl
I'm only wanting to record and not stream at all. I don't know if these settings are the best for what I have or if I am just doing something wrong, but any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[FerretBomb]

The included logfile does not contain a recording session. That said:

-Turn of Psychovisual Tuning and Lookahead (these use CUDA cores, and tend to cause encoding overload even in situations where they should not).
-Record using CQP or CRF, NOT VBR or CBR. CQP/CRF are quality-target based rendering methods that guarantee a given image quality level. When recording to a hard disk, there is NO reason to use VBR/CBR.
-NEVER RECORD DIRECTLY TO MP4 FOR ANY REASON. EVER. MP4 is not a recording-safe format. If anything goes wrong during recording or finalization, the entire session will be lost and 100% un-recoverable by any means. It will be a pile of digital garbage that you have to delete and re-record. On top of that, most video editing suites have major issues with the MP4s that OBS records directly. If you only need one audio channel, record to FLV. If you need multiple, record to MKV. You can convert both easily and quickly to MP4 after the recording is complete with the 'remux recordings' option under the File menu in OBS.

 

[Mantix]

The included logfile does not contain a recording session. That said:

-Turn of Psychovisual Tuning and Lookahead (these use CUDA cores, and tend to cause encoding overload even in situations where they should not).
-Record using CQP or CRF, NOT VBR or CBR. CQP/CRF are quality-target based rendering methods that guarantee a given image quality level. When recording to a hard disk, there is NO reason to use VBR/CBR.
-NEVER RECORD DIRECTLY TO MP4 FOR ANY REASON. EVER. MP4 is not a recording-safe format. If anything goes wrong during recording or finalization, the entire session will be lost and 100% un-recoverable by any means. It will be a pile of digital garbage that you have to delete and re-record. On top of that, most video editing suites have major issues with the MP4s that OBS records directly. If you only need one audio channel, record to FLV. If you need multiple, record to MKV. You can convert both easily and quickly to MP4 after the recording is complete with the 'remux recordings' option under the File menu in OBS.

That's great thank you so much!! What level should I have my CQ be at? Right now it's at 15.

 

[FerretBomb]

That's great thank you so much!! What level should I have my CQ be at? Right now it's at 15.

22 is a pretty good balance.
16 is generally visually lossless.
12 should only be used if you plan to edit and re-encode later.
Below 12 should not be used unless you have a specific need, and know why.

The lower the number, the closer to 'perfect' it is (essentially the number is how far it can deviate from uncompressed video). But files get gigantic, FAST as the numbers get lower.

 

[Mantix]

22 is a pretty good balance.
16 is generally visually lossless.
12 should only be used if you plan to edit and re-encode later.
Below 12 should not be used unless you have a specific need, and know why.

The lower the number, the closer to 'perfect' it is (essentially the number is how far it can deviate from uncompressed video). But files get gigantic, FAST as the numbers get lower.

Well I record for YouTube and then I edit them in Premiere Pro so maybe I'll stick at 15 or go down a number or two if I see fit. Thank you so much for the help though!!!