Cannot see NVENC option for encoders

johuang50

New Member
Hi everyone,

I want to set up my OBS for recording gaming content. I do not have the best graphics set up (graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce MX230) so I want to have the most optimal video and output settings so that my game itself runs smoother. I usually have problems while recording Minecraft on a famous server Hypixel (no server side lag), where I get 20-30ms ping and ~100 fps while recording; but I still somehow have random lag (I dont see the fps drop for even a moment). It's not consistent lag and it comes randomly where the screen just freezes on the same frame for like 250 milliseconds and then the next second I noticed that I have fallen off my island and died since I ninjabridge (nerdy minecraft stuff but its aggravating since even small lag spikes have a huge impact on my gameplay).

I really could not find out what the exact problem is; my GPU usage is never too high, I am using the nvidia high performance gpu for the game and obs, I have 16GB RAM, i7 processor, and 1T SSD space so I expect this only 6-month-old machine to perform pretty decently.

So I went into my OBS Settings and realized that most tutorials say to use the NVENC encoder, but when I looked at all the options in the drop down, all I could see was x264, alternative x264, and Hardwars(QSV). I do not want to use the Intel QuickSync one since I thought that having an NVIDIA graphics processor meant that I am supposed to have the option of selecting Hardware(NVENC), but I do not see this option.

I saw someone else's thread on this: https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/nvenc-option-will-not-show-up-in-the-encoder-drop-bar.108341/#:~:text=NVENC is not available because,Windows is using for it. But I really dont think its the same problem since I have made sure my drivers are up to date many times and since my problem seems different altogether since my hardware option is shown as QSV.

Sorry if this problem statement is huge but I really want to get around to fix my lag problem so my main questions are: 1. is there any other problem that could be causing lag in game, and 2. how do I fix it? 3. Is there a reason why the NVENC option isn't appearing for me, how can I fix it? 4. Does the encoder affect my in-game performance or should I not even be worrying about it?

Thanks community,
Joshua

P.S. here is my last log file, not exactly sure if it will help but let me know: https://obsproject.com/logs/JHgbnqrGWR_VO9-M
 

johuang50

New Member
Your GPU doesn't have a hardware encoder.

wow thank you for the speedy response, I understand now. Is there method I could follow to trace/debug my in-game lag issues? I have tried low video settings like 720p res and 30 fps recording. Does my downscale filter affect in-game performance?
 

johuang50

New Member
I don't thing think the MX230 is supported per https://developer.nvidia.com/video-encode-decode-gpu-support-matrix
Do you have QuickSync (QSV) available?
Yes, I have QuickSync, but should there be a reason for me to think that the QSV encoder might be causing my in-game performance issues? If encoder is totally unrelated to how my game performs, is there method I could follow to trace/debug my in-game lag issues? I have tried low video settings like 720p res and 30 fps recording. Does my downscale filter affect in-game performance?
 

qhobbes

Active Member
1. Update your Windows 10 to at least 1909 or 2004 (if available) per https://obsproject.com/blog/five-simple-tips-for-new-streamers
2. OBS is not running as Administrator. Because of this, OBS will not be able to Game Capture certain games, and it will not be able to request a higher GPU priority for itself -- which is the likely cause of the render lag you are currently experiencing. Run OBS as Administrator to help alleviate this problem.
3. Your GPU is maxed out and OBS can't render scenes fast enough. Running a game without vertical sync or a frame rate limiter will frequently cause performance issues with OBS because your GPU will be maxed out. OBS requires a little GPU to render your scene.

Enable Vsync or set a reasonable frame rate limit that your GPU can handle without hitting 100% usage.

If that's not enough you may also need to turn down some of the video quality options in the game. If you are experiencing issues in general while using OBS, your GPU may be overloaded for the settings you are trying to use.

Please check our guide for ideas why this may be happening, and steps you can take to correct it: GPU Overload Issues.
4. The encoder is skipping frames because of CPU overload. Read about General Performance and Encoding Issues.
5. Strongly recommended that record to FLV or MKV. If you record to MP4 or MOV and the recording is interrupted, the file will be corrupted and unrecoverable.

If you require MP4 files for some other purpose like editing, remux them afterwards by selecting File > Remux Recordings in the main OBS Studio window.

Most of that info came from Log Analyzer.
 

RQrc

New Member
Your GPU doesn't have a hardware encoder.

I to have this problem but I have MX330
But the thing is i used nvidia on obs before with the mx330

I took a brake from recording videos now its been removed .
Also I re installed obs because I cant open it because of dll problem.

Now I cant use my GPU but when I open my Ge Force Expierience it says that it is compatible but in reality noting shows up
 

Harold

Active Member
MX series cards including the MX330 don't actually have hardware encoders.
Physically

You never actually had nvenc available on the system.

The nvidia encode matrix specifically shows this.
1656598940433.png
 
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