Question / Help Dropping OBS FPS (Not in-game FPS) When Streaming WOW

[HipsterVegeta]

Hi so I just recently started experiencing this problem (Probably a few months old) and this problem only happens when using WOW. I have tried using window capture, game capture, monitor capture and nothing works. I have been using OBS for years to stream and up untill recently wow has worked just fine. The game itself doesn't drop FPS at all only OBS and every other game I run even things like Fallout 4 on Ultra work just fine and OBS doesn't miss a beat staying at 60 FPS but I am lucky to get 40 when wow is running on Good settings and again the game itself isnt losing FPS it is staying at 90-120 FPS.

Log File:
https://gist.github.com/b8dde32bf721d74b8f8c

 

[FerretBomb]

23:08:51: video thread frame - [100%] [avg time: 24.612 ms] [children: 58.6%] [unaccounted: 41.4%]
23:08:51: | scene->Preprocess - [58.3%] [avg time: 14.355 ms]

A normal video thread time is under 10ms, generally under 5. To maintain 60fps, it MUST be below 16ms in total, and to keep a steady 30fps it can't be above 32. So yeah, there's the problem.

It appears either your GPU is overstressed by the game (poor optimization can cause this). It also may be waiting on another device; one reason running a webcam at 1080p is not advised, most commonly they can cause it to happen as the system has to wait to receive video from the camera, then transfer it into VRAM for use by OBS.
Texture loading could be the problem too, if it's choking the system bus if the game is trying to 'aggressively' manage video memory (which OBS uses for compositing and scaling of sources).

Would recommend removing the webcam (just unplug it with OBS not running) and do a test recording/stream to check the most likely culprit. If it still has an issue, may just have to turn down your game settings, despite how your GPU performs in other games. Try disabling streaming textures if possible (if your game uses them).

 

[HipsterVegeta]

The GPU doesn't seem to be having a problem with the game at all. I can run anywhere from 1-3 copies of it and it works with 0 FPS drops in game itself but I can't even run 1 version with good settings (I typically run Ultra when im not streaming) before the FPS drops in OBS but not in game.

As for the webcam when it comes to every other game I stream it runs the webcam just fine with no hiccups in terms of OBS FPS. Always running at 60 FPS without ever really dropping. This is for games like League of Legends, Fallout 4, Battlefield, COD, and most other games I run on stream. Never had this problem with WOW either up untill a few months ago. Although I hadn't streamed WOW for quite some time before a few months ago so I can't pinpoint whether or not it has been say a Nvidia update or something.

So you can kinda see why im a bit stumped I guess. Doesn't seem to be anything but OBS interacting with WOW and even still I have tried, Window, Game, and Monitor capture. I know you guys recommend Game Capture though. Which it was running for that log file.

Edit: Poor optimization as in? The game itself or in OBS settings? Again seems meh as every other game runs 100% fine. Also Tried turning off the webcam completly and the FPS still stayed at 20-50 FPS Fluxing massively

Edit2: Also tried using the lowest settings possible and the FPS in OBS did not change at all still fluxing. Did do a tiny bit better staying in the 30-40 range instead of dropping down to 20 etc but literally at 120 FPS in game constant.