Frame drops in OBS preview window

[MarvN]

When I try to record or stream Apex Legends, I get lots of drops to 0 fps when recording or streaming. I tried to use the NDI output plugin over ethernet on a network switch to stream to a second PC and use that to stream/record, but the drops still persist. They occur in the OBS preview window without even recording or streaming on the main PC, and I don't know what to do. I also tried disabling Windows Game Mode as I'd heard it can affect OBS performance, but that doesn't seem to help. This issue started happening a few months ago when I first tried using OBS to capture my gameplay. It does not seem to affect other games, in my limited experience.

https://obsproject.com/logs/JglDFpoky10KCfUx

edit: here is a log file from a few months ago when I tried to record. not as many frames drop with NDI as with recording, but it's still an issue.

https://obsproject.com/logs/S4gYdTtiWlMgrJvN

 

[qhobbes]

1. The version of Windows you are running has a limitation which causes performance issues in hardware accelerated applications (such as games) if multiple monitors with different refresh rates are present. Your system's monitors have 3 different refresh rates, so you are affected by this limitation.

To fix this issue, we recommend updating to the Windows 10 May 2020 Update. Follow these instructions if you're not sure how to update.
2. Display and Game Capture Sources interfere with each other. Never put them in the same scene
3. Multiple Game Capture sources are usually not needed, and can sometimes interfere with each other. You can use the same Game Capture for all your games! If you change games often, try out the hotkey mode, which lets you press a key to select your active game. If you play games in fullscreen, use 'Capture any fullscreen application' mode.
4. In Windows 10 versions 1809 and newer, we recommend that "Game Mode" be enabled for maximum gaming performance. Game Mode can be enabled via the Windows 10 "Settings" app, under Gaming > Game Mode
5. Run OBS as Admin

 

[MarvN]

Thanks for the advice, I have tried all of the suggested tips except for updating Windows, because the update has not been rolled out yet to my device. Unfortunately, the frame drops persist. Here is a current log file, if that helps with anything.

https://obsproject.com/logs/Fu3K-S-RAUDalVZR

When the Windows 10 May 2020 update is available I will try it ASAP.

 

[qhobbes]

Try disconnecting the other 2 monitors you don't use when recording/streaming and see if that makes a difference or set all your monitors to same refresh rate, probably 60 Hz.

1. The encoder is skipping frames because of CPU overload. Read about General Performance and Encoding Issues.
2. Your log contains no recording or streaming session. Results of this log analysis are limited. Please post a link to a clean log file.
To make a clean log file, please follow these steps:

1) Restart OBS.
2) Start your stream/recording for about 30 seconds. Make sure you replicate any issues as best you can, which means having any games/apps open and captured, etc.
3) Stop your stream/recording.
4) Select Help > Log Files > Upload Current Log File. Send that link via this troubleshooting tool or whichever support chat you are using.

 

[MarvN]

Analyzer | OBS

OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) is free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. Stream to Twitch, YouTube and many other providers or record your own videos with high quality H264 / AAC encoding.

obsproject.com

I'm getting GPU overload, how can I fix that? I have enabled V-Sync as recommended but wish not to reduce my framerate too much. If there were a way to allow OBS to take GPU priority over the game, I'd be all for that instead. My game settings are already on all low, and I don't achieve 144fps most of the time (my monitor's refresh rate). Strangely, this issue doesn't affect it when I use the windows game bar to record, and those recordings come out perfectly fine.

 

[MarvN]

It occurred to me that perhaps windows Game Bar recording may have been affecting my OBS performance; I turned that off and the issues persist. In addition, whether Game Mode is on or off doesn't seem to affect it either.

 

[MarvN]

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

It seems this may be an Apex-specific issue; I've also tried streaming/recording some other GPU-intensive games and they haven't had these issues.
I tried some of these things:
Turning on Game Mode
Setting OBS priority to high in advanced settings
Reconnecting my other two monitors and putting OBS in the foreground in one of them
It seems to have fixed the issue with that last step, not sure if the other things had any contribution to it. With just OBS in high priority I was still getting frame drops.

 

[qhobbes]

Did you try running OBS as Admin to?

 

[MarvN]

Yea, OBS is currently running in admin. Though after some time it seems the frame drops might be back.