Best settings for playing on 4K PS5 but streaming in 1080p? (Youtube)

[PanicPanicsPanic]

Here is a short list of some information about my setup before I get to my dilemma

CPU: 7950x
GPU: RTX 3090
Download/Upload: 1400/42 Mbps
Capture Card: Elgato HD60 X
Main monitor: LG 42" C2 (4K)

So I'm planning on streaming and also recording a playthrough of Final Fantasy XVI on my PS5. The OBS recording encoder settings I'm using are NVIDIA HEVC with CQ 18 and P6 Preset which gets it looking as good as I could ask for before actually uploading it and putting it through Youtube's compression. The issue I'm having is figuring out the optimal stream encoder settings to get the best quality 1080p on Youtube without having to sacrifice image quality playing on 4K resolution. I've tried playing and capturing in 1440p and while it does look massively better especially with Youtube's VP9 Codec, it is impossible for me to use my 3090 to stream and record in 1440p cause the GPU becomes overloaded and the stream turns into a slideshow. Right now I'm only capable of streaming and recording in 1080p using NVIDIA HEVC for both outputs. I want to try and maintain the best quality I can for both outputs but it seems to hard to get 1080p to look good on youtube stream.

I've done so many test streams making all kinds of changes to the encoder settings but still the stream comes out looking pretty pixelated on stream. Would appreciate any help or insight into this and if more info is needed I can let you know more about my settings. Thanks for any help :)

 

[rockbottom]

I like to spread the load around.

I record 4k using my 3090 while my outgoing streams (1080p/720p) are encoded by my iGPU (UHD 770). Works great & I get the quality I want on everything.

 

[rockbottom]

P5 is the correct Preset for 4k. Lowering it to P3 or P4 should allow for you to be able to encode a 1080p stream concurrently on the 3090 if you can't get the iGPU to work. x264 is also an option, don't think you'll run into any issues with your CPU...

 

[PanicPanicsPanic]

I like to spread the load around.

I record 4k using my 3090 while my outgoing streams (1080p/720p) are encoded by my iGPU (UHD 770). Works great & I get the quality I want on everything.

Appreciate the reply! I figured that probably would have to be the case since I am using a single PC setup. Guess the biggest question I have is does it matter how I split up the encoding? Like would it be better to use x264 for stream and 3090 for recording or vice versa? I haven't really messed around with x264 that much before making this post but I was looking into it...

P5 is the correct Preset for 4k. Lowering it to P3 or P4 should allow for you to be able to encode a 1080p stream concurrently on the 3090 if you can't get the iGPU to work. x264 is also an option, don't think you'll run into any issues with your CPU...

So would you say the difference in NVENC presets is that noticeable say from P7 to something like P5 or lower? Also the only thing is with x264 I see a lot of people talking about not going any higher than a slow or even medium presets. Is the quality comparable from x264 slow to Nvenc presets? Sorry if these are simple enough questions to figure out. I've done so much testing but it when I compare other 1080p content of the same game for reference and compare it back to my test streams it feels like I'm not doing something right.

 

[rockbottom]

Whatever gets the job done. I record H265 too so using the 3090 is my best option for that.

I honestly don't see much difference visually between P5-P7. Just lightens or increases the encoder load/file size.

I think so, a 1080p stream using the Slow preset will more than like only utilize maybe 3-5% of your CPU.