First time issues with stream after update? Grainy/Pixelated

[Inharmonius]

Hi all, thanks for anyone that is able to help me. This is the first time i've asked for help here as I usually try to debug things myself but I am having some major difficulty here. I'm not sure exactly what I did that caused it but for the past week my stream has been very grainy/pixelated on movement. I normally stream with no issues. Particularly this is in FPS (CSGO, Apex, Valorant) all the same grainyness, even my desktop has a noticeable pixelation. I understand that this is normally bitrate related so i'm not sure if it's my internet. I've tried a few sites testing internet speed with varied results below:

Settings:
Video bitrate: 6000 kbps
Encoder: Hardware (Nvenc)
Audio Bitrate: 160
Encoder Preset: Quality

Base Canvas: 1920x1080
Output (Scaled) Resolution: 1600x900
Downscale filter: Lanczos (I've tried Bicubic as well no difference)
FPS: 60

I have also used the twitchtester to find the proper server and that has not helped either. I have tried to downscale it to 720p, changing bitrate with no success.
I have been streaming fine for the whole year but lately I am not sure if I messed with my cpu settings, or if it's because I updated my OBS studio. I havent updated it for months, but since around the time of update I have noticed the grainy/pixelated images while moving. I am honestly lost here and really considering if it is just an internet issue. There was an outage about a week or so ago which may coincide with when the streams have started to have issues. I appreciate any help, thank you.
I have attached my log here: https://obsproject.com/logs/aOP0BBY6-ohsFQa2 (This log was in Apex, normally I have no issues with these settings).

 

[Deleted member 121471]

There are a bunch of issues in your setup that may or may not be related. It's a fairly large list so need to know if you want them all taken care of or only what you want fixed.

 

[Inharmonius]

There are a bunch of issues in your setup that may or may not be related. It's a fairly large list so need to know if you want them all taken care of or only what you want fixed.

I will be willing to fix all that is needed, I would appreciate any help that can be provided. Thank you

 

[Deleted member 121471]

First, the reason you're having issues is that your internet connection is very unstable, as the following in the log indicates, and may require contacting your ISP:

08:54:23.847: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] Dynamic bitrate enabled. Dropped frames begone!
08:54:23.847: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] Connecting to RTMP URL rtmp://iad03.contribute.live-video.net/app...
08:54:23.877: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] Interface: Intel(R) Ethernet Connection (7) I219-V (ethernet, 1000 mbps)
08:54:24.800: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] Connection to rtmp://iad03.contribute.live-video.net/app successful
08:54:24.826: ==== Streaming Start ===============================================
08:54:37.191: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate decreased to: 3900
08:54:41.547: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate decreased to: 3800
08:54:45.148: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate decreased to: 2800
08:54:46.685: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate decreased to: 1200
08:54:51.047: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate decreased to: 500
08:55:21.050: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate increased to: 900, waiting
08:55:27.633: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] going back to prev bitrate
08:55:27.633: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate decreased to: 500
08:55:57.642: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate increased to: 900, waiting
08:56:10.000: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate decreased to: 600

Secondly, these are all the other issues I have found with a quick glance:

1) In Windows 10 settings, disable "Hardware-accelerated GPU Scheduler" and "GameDVR" then enable "Game Mode";

2) In OBS Settings --> Video, change Output resolution to 1536x864 (I'll spare you the technical reasons for this);

3) You do not have a scene with fullscreen camera so reduce camera resolution to 720p or even 480p, depending on how much of the scene it covers;

4) Multiple capture sources in the same scene will, at best, reduce performance or, at worst, interfere with each other. Create new scenes so each one has a single capture source;

5) In OBS -- >Output, use NVENC, "Quality" preset, "CBR" rate control, "6000" kbps bitrate, "Lookahead" and "Psycho Visual Tuning" disabled.

 

[Inharmonius]

First, the reason you're having issues is that your internet connection is very unstable, as the following in the log indicates, and may require contacting your ISP:

08:54:23.847: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] Dynamic bitrate enabled. Dropped frames begone!
08:54:23.847: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] Connecting to RTMP URL rtmp://iad03.contribute.live-video.net/app...
08:54:23.877: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] Interface: Intel(R) Ethernet Connection (7) I219-V (ethernet, 1000 mbps)
08:54:24.800: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] Connection to rtmp://iad03.contribute.live-video.net/app successful
08:54:24.826: ==== Streaming Start ===============================================
08:54:37.191: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate decreased to: 3900
08:54:41.547: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate decreased to: 3800
08:54:45.148: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate decreased to: 2800
08:54:46.685: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate decreased to: 1200
08:54:51.047: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate decreased to: 500
08:55:21.050: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate increased to: 900, waiting
08:55:27.633: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] going back to prev bitrate
08:55:27.633: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate decreased to: 500
08:55:57.642: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate increased to: 900, waiting
08:56:10.000: [rtmp stream: 'simple_stream'] bitrate decreased to: 600

Secondly, these are all the other issues I have found with a quick glance:

1) In Windows 10 settings, disable "Hardware-accelerated GPU Scheduler" and "GameDVR" then enable "Game Mode";

2) In OBS Settings --> Video, change Output resolution to 1536x864 (I'll spare you the technical reasons for this);

3) You do not have a scene with fullscreen camera so reduce camera resolution to 720p or even 480p, depending on how much of the scene it covers;

4) Multiple capture sources in the same scene will, at best, reduce performance or, at worst, interfere with each other. Create new scenes so each one has a single capture source;

5) In OBS -- >Output, use NVENC, "Quality" preset, "CBR" rate control, "6000" kbps bitrate, "Lookahead" and "Psycho Visual Tuning" disabled.

Thank you, I have fixed the issues you have mentioned. Unfortunately, the stream is more or less the same. I believe it must be the internet as the kb/s on the bottom right of the obs display is also fluctuating a ton. My upload seems to have varying range from 2.7mb - 10mb+. I will be contacting my ISP soon. If there is anything else that may help I would appreciate it. Thank you very much for your help.