Question / Help FPS on OBS extremely low, high in-game

[Zak32]

I am having the same issue on a dual PC setup. I have my games full screen being captured by game capture in OBS on my gaming PC and am projecting it to my "third" monitor that is my capture card which is what people on stream will see. I am getting high fps in game but in OBS on my gaming PC i am getting 20ish fps. My gpu usage is also at 99% playing over watch which is what I am guessing is causing the lag in obs while if I stream, cuphead there is no lag.

This is all n a 1080ti which is rather disappointing. Is it a bug or just what happens?

I'm not very familiar with dual PC setups for streaming, but aren't you meant to run OBS on the PC you're not using for gaming? I figured the point was to have one PC running OBS, with a capture card in it connected to the PC doing the gaming, so your gaming PC can use it's power on gaming and the stream PC can use it's power on streaming?

Maybe I'm wrong, never looked into it properly, but seems like a bit of a separate issue to mine.

Will be doing a recording tonight anyway and grab that log file, hoping it has some useful info in it (also bumping thread a bit)

 

[DEDRICK]

I'm not very familiar with dual PC setups for streaming, but aren't you meant to run OBS on the PC you're not using for gaming?...

If your main monitor is only 60hz you would run a duplicate version of your main monitor onto the capture card, you can do it this way if you have 144Hz as well but with massive screen tearing. It's the typical way to run 2 PC.

The way akskiller is doing it is a workaround for screen tearing on high hertz monitors, instead of duplicate desktop you run Extended and use OBS on the gaming PC to project a full screen preview onto the capture card monitor. Due to the way Windows Vsyncs the desktop, it sends a perfect 60 FPS to the stream PC without tearing, even if the main monitor is way over that on FPS.

Instead of a capture card you can use OBS-NDI as well, which also requires OBS to run on both PCs. It sends your preview over your home gigabit network to be encoded on the stream PC.

One of the other benefits is it allows you to run your full scene setup with alerts, bots, fancy mic, etc on the game PC, you don't have to worry about async audio or being able to hear your alerts.

 

[Zak32]

Ah right I see, fair enough!

Anyway, so I kept Game Mode and Fullscreen Optimisation turned off and also left the game capped at 60 FPS. Here's the log for a recording when playing the game on low settings - https://gist.github.com/0fb53993a9ed8346b288cf96e662f00a it surprisngly seemed a bit better than before? I was occasionally glancing over to OBS like I normally do to check the FPS and it seemed to be ok, but still dropped to 40ish at times.

I decided to grab a log from when playing on high settings too, like I used to. So here's that as well - https://gist.github.com/25a096c23d94e2dd6c717c46b30c80c0 this seemed ok-ish as well, but worse than on low obviously.

I was a bit confused now so I opened up Overwatch and a couple of other games and gave those a test, since I know for sure that I had issues with these before. Same as PUBG, super high FPS in game but not on OBS. And yeah, still really low FPS on those too.

I hope these log files can provide something, thanks for helping out so far :)

EDIT: Oh and yeah I also tried setting both monitors to 60hz, but same issue occurs

 

[Zak32]

Any ideas guys?

Still struggling with it. Probably going to fresh install Windows in a few weeks if I can't get anywhere

 

[DEDRICK]

What happens if you globally enable Fast Sync in Nvidia Control panel? This is the only other thing I can think of

 

[Zak32]

What happens if you globally enable Fast Sync in Nvidia Control panel? This is the only other thing I can think of

Nah didn't work unfortunately. Not sure if I mentioned it before as well but the FPS on OBS goes up to 60 if I tab out of the game, or in the case of PUBG, click onto the other monitor since it's in borderless windowed. I've tried fullscreen as well.

 

[DEDRICK]

I want to solve this one because it's not just you with this issue, and then there's people that don't have the issue.

It's tied to GPU usage, but at the same time it isn't.

The PUBG menu is the perfect test scenario because it pegs you at max GPU

Here is an Imgur album of everything I can possibly think of https://imgur.com/a/o5D8U

**Ignore my x264 settings, I'm testing something

 

[endenovsky]

Ive got similiar problem, here is the logs https://gist.github.com/5c9d673b0ea511fc81dce2380424f11f and im trying EVERYTHING in obs. x264, nvec, bitrate 2000-8000, 720p,1080p, and i haven't got cleary quality in CSGO. https://imgur.com/a/KvL1h 1080p....

 

[Zak32]

I want to solve this one because it's not just you with this issue, and then there's people that don't have the issue.

It's tied to GPU usage, but at the same time it isn't.

The PUBG menu is the perfect test scenario because it pegs you at max GPU

Here is an Imgur album of everything I can possibly think of https://imgur.com/a/o5D8U

**Ignore my x264 settings, I'm testing something

I appreciate your efforts! I'll take a look at all these settings some time over the weekend and try and match them or find something that's different. Will let you know soon

 

[Zak32]

I want to solve this one because it's not just you with this issue, and then there's people that don't have the issue.

It's tied to GPU usage, but at the same time it isn't.

The PUBG menu is the perfect test scenario because it pegs you at max GPU

Here is an Imgur album of everything I can possibly think of https://imgur.com/a/o5D8U

**Ignore my x264 settings, I'm testing something

Alright so currently going through all these settings, in order I'll only list ones that are different, in bold. Anything not there will be the same as yours. Afterwards I'll have a play around with any settings that are different and we'll see the results:

• GPU-Z Bus Interface - PCIe x16 2.0 @ x4 2.0 (obviously can't change this one but it's different, assuming because you mentioned you have a 1080Ti, I have a 1080)
• Nvidia settings - Below Maximum pre-rendered frames I have Monitor Technology since my monitor has G-SYNC. It's currently set to Fixed Refresh but can be set to G-SYNC or ULMB (not sure what ULMB is tbh).
• Nvida settings - Power management mode. Mine is currently set to Optimial power whereas yours is Prefer maximum performance. Worth changing later on even if it doesn't help.
• Nvidia settings - Below power management I have Preferred refresh rate (ROG PG278QR (my monitor)) which is set to Application-controlled and can also be set to Highest available.
• Nvidia settings - Man there's a lot of settings different to yours lol Texture filtering - Quality is currently set to just Quality. Every other setting is the same as yours.
• OBS - Process Priority is currently set to Above Normal but this was changed a long time ago and seemed to be perfectly fine.
• OBS - YUV Color Space is currently set to 601. Gonna assume this won't mean much anyway.
• OBS - Output (Scaled) Resolution is currently set to 1280x720.
• OBS - Audio Sample Rate is currently set to 44.1khz. Again gonna assume this won't mean much anyway.
• OBS - Rescale Output is currently unchecked.
• OBS - Bitrate is currently set to 2700. FeelsBadMan my internet sucks.
• OBS - Keyframe Interval is currently set to 0.
• OBS - Profile is currently set to (None).
• OBS - x264 Options is just blank.
• PUBG - Pretty much all my graphics settings are different to yours, obviously, since I have to play on low atm.

So that's it basically.

I'm now gonna go ahead and match my Nvidia settings to yours and see if that makes any difference. And also change the ones I have that you don't to something else as well. Not expecting to see any differences really.

And nope, no differences, still reeaaallly laggy. I can try changing a few OBS settings but I don't see them making a huge difference either since we know my issues happen without going live.

Any more ideas? :( thanks for all the help so far

 

[Osiris]

Seems your card is in the wrong slot on your motherboard, it should be running at 16x.

 

[Zak32]

Seems your card is in the wrong slot on your motherboard, it should be running at 16x.

Oh damn you're right, I didn't notice the second 16x on DEDRICK's for some reason.

Though it's been in that slot from the start and these issues only arose very recently... Not gonna doubt it though, let me give it a go in a little while. About to actually play PUBG with some friends :)

 

[DEDRICK]

Your Video Card should ideally be in the top Grey slot of your motherboard or the middle black, both are 3.0 16x, it should be running 3.0 16x @ 16x, if you have 2 cards though it would be 8x/8x

The bottom slot of your motherboard is 2.0 16x but runs in 4X. So yeah, work out your PCIe card positions, no clue what the true impact is.

PCIe Bandwidth Comparison (Each Direction)

PCIe 1.x PCIe 2.x PCIe 3.0
x1 250MB/sec 500MB/sec 1GB/sec
x2 500MB/sec 1GB/sec 2GB/sec
x4 1GB/sec 2GB/sec 4GB/sec
x8 2GB/sec 4GB/sec 8GB/sec
x16 4GB/sec 8GB/sec 16GB/sec

The OBS differences are minimal, I'm using Recale Output because I'm lazy. Rescale allows you to Record at one res and stream at another on the same profile.

 

[David123456]

I have the same problem Zak32. I opened a topic about this yesterday: https://obsproject.com/forum/thread...ick-on-monitor-a-heavy-fps-drop-in-obs.80713/
Some screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/Pcy4q



Hardware:

GPU: GeForce GTX 1060 6GB CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7600K CPU @ 3.80GHz Memory: 16 GB RAM (15.96 GB RAM usable) Current resolution Gamemonitor A : 1920 x 1080, 240Hz Current resolution OBS monitor B: 1920 x 1080 120Hz Operating system: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64 bit Elgato Capute HD60 Pro

When i run a game (PUBG) on my Gamemonitor (lets call the monitor: A) : 1920 x 1080, 240Hz and check my OBS on my second monitor (lets call the monitor: B): (1920 x 1080 120Hz) and then click on the second monitor B, OBS Studio says i have 60 fps. I see the game running in OBS: no problem. NOW when i go back to the game ( i click on monitor A) the fps drops to 12,72 then it slowsly crawls up to 58-60 then 35-60. I am not even streaming or recording! The weird thing is also my cpu % never gets over 14% when this happens! My source is the Elgato Caputere HD60 Pro.

Is there a way to make the fps more stable? I have this problem in all settings: from extreme low to extreme high.

I tried the software and hardware profile this did not help!

heres the logfile https://gist.github.com/6cf4bb54e36ec733937a47c986a69369

Some screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/Pcy4q

The logfile pasted: 2018-02-04 06-19-50.txt 06:19:50.802: CPU Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7600K CPU @ 3.80GHz 06:19:50.802: CPU Speed: 3792MHz 06:19:50.802: Physical Cores: 4, Logical Cores: 4 06:19:50.803: Physical Memory: 16343MB Total, 8798MB Free 06:19:50.803: Windows Version: 10.0 Build 16299 (revision: 192; 64-bit) 06:19:50.803: Running as administrator: false 06:19:50.803: Aero is Enabled (Aero is always on for windows 8 and above) 06:19:50.803: Windows 10 Gaming Features: 06:19:50.803: Game Bar: Off 06:19:50.803: Game DVR: Off 06:19:50.803: Game DVR Background Recording: Off 06:19:50.803: Game Mode: On 06:19:50.804: Sec. Software Status: 06:19:50.804: Windows Defender Antivirus: enabled (AV) 06:19:50.807: Windows Firewall: enabled (FW) 06:19:50.807: Windows Defender Antivirus: enabled (ASW) 06:19:50.808: Portable mode: false 06:19:50.820: OBS 21.0.1 (64bit, windows) 06:19:50.820: --------------------------------- 06:19:50.834: --------------------------------- 06:19:50.834: audio settings reset: 06:19:50.834: samples per sec: 44100 06:19:50.834: speakers: 2 06:19:50.835: --------------------------------- 06:19:50.835: Initializing D3D11... 06:19:50.835: Available Video Adapters: 06:19:50.841: Adapter 1: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 06:19:50.841: Dedicated VRAM: 2051014656 06:19:50.841: Shared VRAM: 4273575936 06:19:50.841: output 1: pos={0, 0}, size={1920, 1080}, attached=true 06:19:50.841: output 2: pos={1920, 0}, size={1920, 1080}, attached=true 06:19:50.843: Loading up D3D11 on adapter NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB (0) 06:19:50.872: D3D11 loaded successfully, feature level used: 45056 06:19:51.478: --------------------------------- 06:19:51.478: video settings reset: 06:19:51.478: base resolution: 1920x1080 06:19:51.478: output resolution: 1920x1080 06:19:51.478: downscale filter: Bilinear 06:19:51.478: fps: 60/1 06:19:51.478: format: NV12 06:19:51.481: Audio monitoring device: 06:19:51.481: name: Default 06:19:51.481: id: default 06:19:51.481: --------------------------------- 06:19:51.481: Required module function 'obs_module_load' in module '../../obs-plugins/64bit/chrome_elf.dll' not found, loading of module failed 06:19:51.483: [CoreAudio encoder]: CoreAudio AAC encoder not installed on the system or couldn't be loaded 06:19:51.535: [AMF] <obs_module_load> AMF not supported (no AMD graphics) 06:19:51.536: Failed to initialize module 'enc-amf.dll' 06:19:51.544: Required module function 'obs_module_load' in module '../../obs-plugins/64bit/libcef.dll' not found, loading of module failed 06:19:51.544: Required module function 'obs_module_load' in module '../../obs-plugins/64bit/libEGL.dll' not found, loading of module failed 06:19:51.545: Required module function 'obs_module_load' in module '../../obs-plugins/64bit/libGLESv2.dll' not found, loading of module failed 06:19:51.545: Failed to load 'en-US' text for module: 'obs-browser.dll' 06:19:51.545: [browser_source: 'Version: 1.29.0'] 06:19:51.547: NVENC supported 06:19:52.999: Couldn't find VLC installation, VLC video source disabled 06:19:53.002: No blackmagic support 06:19:53.184: --------------------------------- 06:19:53.184: Loaded Modules: 06:19:53.184: win-wasapi.dll 06:19:53.184: win-mf.dll 06:19:53.184: win-dshow.dll 06:19:53.184: win-decklink.dll 06:19:53.184: win-capture.dll 06:19:53.184: vlc-video.dll 06:19:53.184: text-freetype2.dll 06:19:53.184: rtmp-services.dll 06:19:53.184: obs-x264.dll 06:19:53.184: obs-vst.dll 06:19:53.184: obs-transitions.dll 06:19:53.184: obs-text.dll 06:19:53.184: obs-qsv11.dll 06:19:53.184: obs-outputs.dll 06:19:53.184: obs-filters.dll 06:19:53.184: obs-ffmpeg.dll 06:19:53.184: obs-browser.dll 06:19:53.184: image-source.dll 06:19:53.184: frontend-tools.dll 06:19:53.184: enc-amf.dll 06:19:53.184: coreaudio-encoder.dll 06:19:53.184: --------------------------------- 06:19:53.184: ==== Startup complete =============================================== 06:19:53.186: All scene data cleared 06:19:53.186: ------------------------------------------------ 06:19:53.247: WASAPI: Device 'Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)' initialized 06:19:53.318: WASAPI: Device 'Microphone (HD Pro Webcam C920)' initialized 06:19:53.324: Video Capture Device 2: DecodeDeviceId failed 06:19:53.324: Video Capture Device 2: Video configuration failed 06:19:53.362: WASAPI: Device 'Stereo Mix (Realtek High Definition Audio)' initialized 06:19:53.382: adding 46 milliseconds of audio buffering, total audio buffering is now 46 milliseconds 06:19:53.401: Switched to scene 'Scene' 06:19:53.401: ------------------------------------------------ 06:19:53.401: Loaded scenes: 06:19:53.401: - scene 'Scene': 06:19:53.402: - source: 'Audio Input Capture' (wasapi_input_capture) 06:19:53.402: - source: 'Video Capture Device 3' (dshow_input) 06:19:53.402: - source: 'twitchchat' (browser_source) 06:19:53.402: - source: 'Video Capture Device' (dshow_input) 06:19:53.402: - filter: 'Chroma Key' (chroma_key_filter) 06:19:53.402: - scene 'Scene 2': 06:19:53.402: - source: 'Video Capture Device 2' (dshow_input) 06:19:53.402: ------------------------------------------------ 06:19:53.951: --------------------------------- 06:19:53.951: [DShow Device: 'Video Capture Device'] settings updated: 06:19:53.951: video device: Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 06:19:53.951: video path: \?\usb#vid_046d&pid_082d&mi_00#7&38d5fd09&1&0000#{65e8773d-8f56-11d0-a3b9-00a0c9223196}{bbefb6c7-2fc4-4139-bb8b-a58bba724083} 06:19:53.951: resolution: 640x480 06:19:53.951: fps: 30.00 (interval: 333333) 06:19:53.951: format: I420 06:19:54.650: --------------------------------- 06:19:54.650: [DShow Device: 'Video Capture Device 3'] settings updated: 06:19:54.650: video device: Elgato Game Capture HD 06:19:54.650: video path: __elgato 06:19:54.650: resolution: 1920x1080 06:19:54.650: fps: 60.00 (interval: 166666) 06:19:54.650: format: UYVY 06:19:54.650: using video device audio: yes 06:19:54.650: sample rate: 48000 06:19:54.650: channels: 2 06:19:54.650: audio type: Capture 06:20:15.343: adding 23 milliseconds of audio buffering, total audio buffering is now 69 milliseconds 06:20:15.397: adding 69 milliseconds of audio buffering, total audio buffering is now 139 milliseconds 06:20:30.747: adding 23 milliseconds of audio buffering, total audio buffering is now 162 milliseconds 06:20:31.007: adding 46 milliseconds of audio buffering, total audio buffering is now 208 milliseconds 06:23:10.474: adding 46 milliseconds of audio buffering, total audio buffering is now 255 milliseconds 06:23:23.646: warning: Using AVStream.codec to pass codec parameters to muxers is deprecated, use AVStream.codecpar instead. 06:23:23.646: warning: Using AVStream.codec to pass codec parameters to muxers is deprecated, use AVStream.codecpar instead. 06:23:23.654: ==== Recording Start =============================================== 06:25:46.105: Output 'adv_ffmpeg_output': stopping 06:25:46.105: Output 'adv_ffmpeg_output': Total frames output: 8548 06:25:46.105: Output 'adv_ffmpeg_output': Total drawn frames: 8203 (8548 attempted) 06:25:46.105: Output 'adv_ffmpeg_output': Number of lagged frames due to rendering lag/stalls: 345 (4.0%) 06:25:46.106: ==== Recording Stop ================================================ 06:25:46.106: Video stopped, number of skipped frames due to encoding lag: 6481/8548 (75.8%) 06:25:46.135: warning: 2 frames left in the queue on closing

 

[David123456]

Weird putting Vsync on in game mostly solves the problem! Is there a way to play without Vsync but with Gsync? so i can get 140+ fps?

 

[Zak32]

Excuse my language but holy fucking shit. It's fixed????

Such a simple thing but took so long to fix... How I didn't notice this before I don't know but you guys are gods.

I did as you said, seated my graphics card in the correct slot and bam, everything at 60 FPS. Tested PUBG first and was pleasently surprised to see my FPS drop to... well, 60, it didn't drop at all. Went and tried Overwatch as this used to show as 10-20 FPS on OBS, guess what? Smooth as a babies bum, 60 FPS all around.

I am still very confused by it though. It used to work fine, I never had these issues and my GPU has been in the "wrong" slot since the start? I mean it's now in the correct slot which helps, but I figured maybe because I put it into a different slot, my PC kinda thinks it's got a new GPU in it and it's gone and done a bunch of updates and stuff, so kinda like a fresh start? Possibly helped a bit as well.

Also because others have the same issue but have already tried everything I tried and I'm sure they don't all have their GPU in the wrong slot... right?

@David123456 Pretty sure you just turn on G-Sync in the Nvidia settings and turn off V-Sync in game? Not sure about your issues though, maybe these gods can help you!

@BK-Morpheus, @DEDRICK and @Osiris thank you so much for this. OBS is actually performing better than it ever has, I may just be the happiest person alive today (and also the stupidest for not putting it in the right slot in the first place). I feel like I owe you guys since I've had this issue for a while, you got Twitch channels? Following you all and stopping by some time is the least I could do!

Not sure how to mark thread as solved or a best answer, but a few of you were really helpful. Feel free to keep the thread open for the others having issues here. Maybe some of the stuff in this thread can be really useful to others for solving their similar issues :)

 

[DEDRICK]

My PCIe Bandwidth theory actually worked? I mean... I totally knew that was it!

It makes sense but what about everyone else with Lagged frames? Do they all have low PCIe bandwidth? There's not enough people with issues to determine this.

I opened PUBG and GW2(Both 1440p max settings) with OBS(720p60) all running in Borderless, 99% GPU, no lagged frames other than from tabbing around.

People open PUBG and immediately get lagged frames, OBS FPS counter drops. The default answer is to "cap FPS" to reduce GPU usage, but that is not a solution in my opinion. Lowering your GPU usage masks the underlying issue, it's not that clear cut, it's not as simple as GPU "usage".

 

[Zak32]

My PCIe Bandwidth theory actually worked? I mean... I totally knew that was it!

It makes sense but what about everyone else with Lagged frames? Do they all have low PCIe bandwidth? There's not enough people with issues to determine this.

I opened PUBG and GW2(Both 1440p max settings) with OBS(720p60) all running in Borderless, 99% GPU, no lagged frames other than from tabbing around.

People open PUBG and immediately get lagged frames, OBS FPS counter drops. The default answer is to "cap FPS" to reduce GPU usage, but that is not a solution in my opinion. Lowering your GPU usage masks the underlying issue, it's not that clear cut, it's not as simple as GPU "usage".

I totally knew it too! I was just testing you all, of course...

But yeah, agreed, capping GPU usage is only a temporary fix and a lot of people are having the same issues I had, but like you said it seems unlikely everyone has their GPU in the wrong slot on their motherboard lol

I'd love to assist in helping figure out the main cause of these issues anyway.

 

[Osiris]

Most people won't have the GPU in the wrong slot, in that case capping fps is the solution usually, or whatever else is needed to not make the game use 99% of the GPU.

 

[Zak32]

Most people won't have the GPU in the wrong slot, in that case capping fps is the solution usually, or whatever else is needed to not make the game use 99% of the GPU.

Seems odd that some people have to do that though... I understand OBS needs a little bit of GPU to render some stuff but others with same/similar spec PCs probably don't have to cap their FPS. Surely there's some issue somewhere?