Question / Help Best Settings for my Specs/Connection - CS:GO

[S00K]

Hey everyone! I know you guys get a lot of questions like this so bare with me! I started streaming recently and am really enjoying myself. I have meh internet connection and a pretty good gaming rig. An issue I am coming across though is fps drops when OBS is running. (I play CS:GO) I'll list my specs below and any and all recommendations are greatly appreciated. I'll take the recommendations and use the settings you guys see fit in my next live stream and report back.

GPU: Two GeForce GTX 660's
CPU: Intel Core I5-4670k @ 3.40GHz
Memory: 16gb Ram
Resolution: 1920x1080
Op System: Windows 7

Upload Speed: 5600 kbps at best time, averages closer to 5400 kbps during busy hours.

Thanks a ton in advance!

 

[FerretBomb]

720p downscale, 30fps, 2000kbps.

2000kbps is the max bitrate advised for use by non-partnered casters, as it will ensure that the largest portion of the Twitch viewerbase will be able to watch your stream without buffering, per usage metrics released by Twitch a year and change ago.

720p@30fps is the best resolution/framerate tradeoff point for this bitrate which maintains a passable level of quality. (480p@60 is also an option, but generally is unnecessary unless you have a specific technical need for 60fps, like capturing sprite blitting in older games)

Also, consider disabling SLI if you run into weird problems or performance issues. It doesn't play well with OBS, or most livestreaming software.

 

[S00K]

So just for clarification I should be down scaling by 1.50 to 1280x720p? Also should I be ticking/unticking anything in particular? I currently have CBR & CBR Padding ticked. With the previous settings I was getting choppy game fps but on stream it looked normal. I'm just trying to make sure I am not overlooking anything as I want to enjoy my playing experience as much as my audience is.

 

[FerretBomb]

CBR is required for Twitch, and CBR padding helps.
Yes, that's the right downscale.
Streaming is very CPU intensive, and uses your GPU (very minor hit) for scaling and compositing sources. You will see an in-game performance hit while streaming, which is unavoidable without going to a 2-PC setup.

You can also turn on 'minimize network impact' and 'automatic low latency mode' to see if those will help. Turn off SLI, see if in-game performance/smoothness increases. You can also try turning on VSync and triple-buffering (which have received a very bad and wholly undeserved rap from 'competitive' gamers who don't understand crap about the underlying technology, just see a lower fps rate, and need something to blame for losing).

Beyond that, livestreaming is a game of trial and error. Test stuff offline by locally recording it when you're tweaking settings, it'll have the same processing hit as streaming (though if your network connection is the problem, it won't diagnose that; have to be live for that one).

Oh, and ignore any 'custom x264 settings' guides out there. 99% of them are written by people parroting settings they heard from someone else, who don't know what the hell they're doing either.

 

[S00K]

Yeah I can see where a lot of trial and error will play in here! Just checked it out and apparently my sli was already disabled. I will see if my performance increases from the downscale and try out the other recommendations you listed and see if those work well. Been a long day so I'll test later in the PM and report back with findings. Thanks for the help, Ferret.

 

[S00K]

So I tried your suggestions and game was still a little bit choppy. I completely forgot to try out the obvious solution and simply turned down my game graphics a tiny bit and it helped immensely in combination with the settings you suggested, Ferret. Thanks for the help. For any future readers, simply try toning down the in game graphics. It helped me out a ton.