Encoding Overload

[YesIsNo]

I've used OBS for a while now and never had a problem. I just upgraded my CPU from a Ryzen 5 2600x to a Ryzen 7 5800x with a RTX 3070, 2TB SSD, and 48gb DRAM. Ever since I upgraded to a faster CPU I end up skipping about 25% of my frames due to encoding overload. I'm not familiar with the settings in OBS, since I've just been using default settings for months with no problems.

My GPU will go to %100 when the encoding overload occurs, while the CPU sits at %30-%50, so I know it's GPU related (also says "Number of lagged frames due to rendering lag/stalls: 3179 (24.3%)" in log). Graphic settings set to epic and frames capped at 90, game runs smooth at 90. But I don't understand why that never happened with a lower tier CPU. Recording at 1080p 60fps, yes I know decreasing the quality would help but I'd like to keep it that way.

 

[YesIsNo]

I've used OBS for a while now and never had a problem. I just upgraded my CPU from a Ryzen 5 2600x to a Ryzen 7 5800x with a RTX 3070, 2TB SSD, and 48gb DRAM. Ever since I upgraded to a faster CPU I end up skipping about 25% of my frames due to encoding overload. I'm not familiar with the settings in OBS, since I've just been using default settings for months with no problems.

My GPU will go to %100 when the encoding overload occurs, while the CPU sits at %30-%50, so I know it's GPU related (also says "Number of lagged frames due to rendering lag/stalls: 3179 (24.3%)" in log). Graphic settings set to epic and frames capped at 90, game runs smooth at 90. But I don't understand why that never happened with a lower tier CPU. Recording at 1080p 60fps, yes I know decreasing the quality would help but I'd like to keep it that way.View attachment 100428

I should mention this, Ready or Not, the game I tested it in, is poorly optimized and runs my GPU like crazy. I don't get the encoder overload in other games that don't run the GPU to 100%.

 

[AaronD]

I should mention this, Ready or Not, the game I tested it in, is poorly optimized and runs my GPU like crazy. I don't get the encoder overload in other games that don't run the GPU to 100%.

Does that answer your own question? Or is there something else?

It would make sense to me - not that it's a good idea, but it does make sense at least - if the game is designed to run the GPU flat out "for maximum performance" or whatever the marketing spin is, and it doesn't measure what other things are doing so as to share with them. So it runs just fine by itself, but as soon as you try to do anything else at the same time - like OBS - on the same computer, it doesn't go well.

It's not uncommon for people to run two separate machines: one dedicated to the game, and the other dedicated to the stream or other media. Then each machine is optimized for each job, without caring about the other. Physical A/V cord from the game machine to the media machine, usually HDMI. It's amazing how many problems that solves, while only introducing a few.

If you go that route, don't skimp on the HDMI capture. There are lots of $20 USB things, that are deceptively marketed trash. Yes, they'll give you "a picture", but the quality of that picture, the latency, and the existence of audio are all random. Spend about $100 per channel on a name-brand USB capture, or use an internal PCIe card.

 

[YesIsNo]

Does that answer your own question? Or is there something else?

It would make sense to me - not that it's a good idea, but it does make sense at least - if the game is designed to run the GPU flat out "for maximum performance" or whatever the marketing spin is, and it doesn't measure what other things are doing so as to share with them. So it runs just fine by itself, but as soon as you try to do anything else at the same time - like OBS - on the same computer, it doesn't go well.

It's not uncommon for people to run two separate machines: one dedicated to the game, and the other dedicated to the stream or other media. Then each machine is optimized for each job, without caring about the other. Physical A/V cord from the game machine to the media machine, usually HDMI. It's amazing how many problems that solves, while only introducing a few.

If you go that route, don't skimp on the HDMI capture. There are lots of $20 USB things, that are deceptively marketed trash. Yes, they'll give you "a picture", but the quality of that picture, the latency, and the existence of audio are all random. Spend about $100 per channel on a name-brand USB capture, or use an internal PCIe card.

Thanks for your detailed response! I have found a solution though. There was a process running called "windows audio device graph isolation" which got enabled when I turned on AI noise cancelation for my mic. This took up 100% of my GPU for some odd reason, with this disabled I now have plenty of GPU space to run OBS.

 

[AaronD]

Thanks for your detailed response! I have found a solution though. There was a process running called "windows audio device graph isolation" which got enabled when I turned on AI noise cancelation for my mic. This took up 100% of my GPU for some odd reason, with this disabled I now have plenty of GPU space to run OBS.

That would do it too!

As a general rule, don't try to do any more electronically than you absolutely have to. If you can clean up the audio before it even gets to the mic, do that. Get rid of noise sources entirely.

• Turn off the fridge, air conditioner, desk fan, whatever you have that's getting into it.
• Put the keyboard, live speakers, or other noise sources that you can't get rid of, in the null of the mic's pickup pattern (which means you have to know what that pattern is), and/or put something solid between them and the mic.
  • The nulls are actually more useful to know than the forward direction. If you have to fudge the forward direction to point the null directly at something, you're still ahead.
• Pad the walls and ceiling, so you don't get a weird reflection into the mic from some other direction, delayed by the speed of sound along that non-direct path.
• Etc.

If you solve the audio problems acoustically, then you don't need a noise suppressor, noise gate, AI noise reduction, or anything else that is easily fooled and causes problems when it does, or even just by running at all, as you've found.

Sometimes, you do have to clean things up electronically, depending on how the studio or other location is, but the more you can do acoustically and the less electronic, the better it will be.