Question / Help Gameplay smooth, Recording/Streams choppy

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SomeRandomCow

New Member
So basically I've used OBS for about 3 years now, ever since I started a YT Channel. OBS has been working perfectly for 3 years straight and I'd recommend it for anyone who'd want to try recording/streaming. However recently I noticed a huge delay in my streams and recording with chopped up frames, even though my game was running smoothly. This has never happened before and I would like to know why. My internet has been the same as usual (never really had issues with it), and my laptop has been the same as usual (since it's a gaming laptop). Basically I ended up switching my setting to low quality, low bitrate, low resolution to make my recording smoother even though the quality dropped. That still didn't fix it. I have a log if you need to look at it, I'll do anything I can to basically fix this issue. So if you need specific information please let me know. Here's the log:

https://obsproject.com/logs/eHJku6pqJ4z73mf4
 
Narcogen

Narcogen

Active Member
23:14:43.818: Windows Version: 10.0 Build 16299 (revision: 1087; 64-bit)

Looks like you haven't updated Windows in those 3 years.

23:14:48.804: - source: 'Display Capture' (monitor_capture)
23:14:48.804: - source: 'Game Capture' (game_capture)

Display and Game capture sources should be kept in separate scenes; having them together can cause interference/performance degradation.

23:16:13.157: Output 'adv_file_output': Number of lagged frames due to rendering lag/stalls: 642 (62.7%)
23:50:14.820: Output 'adv_file_output': Number of lagged frames due to rendering lag/stalls: 1835 (58.2%)
23:51:28.308: Output 'adv_file_output': Number of lagged frames due to rendering lag/stalls: 2375 (86.6%)

That is significant GPU overload. Are you capturing a different app than usual, or an app with different settings?

23:16:13.157: Video stopped, number of skipped frames due to encoding lag: 837/1021 (82.0%)
23:51:28.308: Video stopped, number of skipped frames due to encoding lag: 826/871 (94.8%)
23:52:16.290: Video stopped, number of skipped frames due to encoding lag: 202/255 (79.2%)

Very significant encoding lag. This makes me wonder if there is a problem with the Nvidia driver for your card. This is so significant that it seems very odd that the same system with the same settings would be working properly one day and then dropping 80% of frames or more in encoding at 60% or more in rendering.

23:15:56.038: psycho_aq: true

Presumably this wasn't on for all of the past 3 years, as it was a feature only recently added. Does turning it off provide any improvement?

Generally I would have just suggested either dropping canvas resolution to 720p or dropping to 30fps. 1080p60 can be problematic with some applications even for desktops.
 
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SomeRandomCow

New Member
Can you explain to me how I can update Windows and check my NVIDIA Card? (Sorry I'm new to most of this stuff now), and also I very much appreciate you helping me. I haven't captured with anything different, but I've changed the settings to low latency and basically tried making my quality drop to run smooth; obviously didn't work. I don't record anything that requires a lot to handle for my computer; all I record/stream is Minecraft and some other games that take up no lag on my computer. Now that you've told me what's going on I'm concerned as to what to do.
Also psycho_aq: true I don't know where that is in order for me to set it to false. Mind showing me where it is? After this post I'll give screenshot details of my NVIDIA Card and see if that helps you further.
 
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SomeRandomCow

New Member
Update:

I use a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 with Max Q-Design; I updated the driver (to the very newest) and I've seen a little bit of improvement. However it's still a bit choppy, so I'll send you the new log file:

https://obsproject.com/logs/TRRoy4tpEXfO2TQI

I removed the Display Capture on the scene so it wouldn't cause performance degradation. Seems to have improved a little.

Don't know if I updated Windows correctly but I did.

Don't know where that psycho_aq: true is so I'm hoping I find it and see if that changes anything?

The game itself starts to lag every now and then since I updated the driver, but it's not too much of a difference from the video quality (which is pretty bad).
 
Sukiyucky

Sukiyucky

Member
To update Windows 10

Start | Settings | Update and Security
The current public version is 1903 for x64. You have choice of doing a manual or auto update. Its best to do manual update and check to see if updates are available. Do it manually instead of auto to avoid having updates being performed while you doing something important, like streaming/recording (which would slow down the stream and basically kill it).

Sometimes, your system will run into problems updating. Go to View update history to see what's been installed and what errors are occurring. In some laptop models, update and installation errors occur due to problems in the update installer. In that case, you need to install via the Microsoft Update Catalog. Type in the current known build version in the search box (example: 1903) and run the appropriate package.

To update your Nvidia drivers

Go to Nvidia and download and install GeForce Experience. Manually, check for updates every few weeks.

2019-06-25_10-36-50.jpg
 
Narcogen

Narcogen

Active Member
Reported windows version unchanged. Is this the correct log?

09:58:40.794: Windows Version: 10.0 Build 16299 (revision: 1087; 64-bit)
 
Sukiyucky

Sukiyucky

Member
Follow my suggestions in this thread.

To reduce CPU load for video/audio encoding, place the burden on the onboard GPU encoder to do the processing. However, with this additional burden placed on the GPU, you need to reduce your in-game video settings. Turn them down to low or medium.

See if that helps.
 
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SomeRandomCow

New Member
@Sukiyucky By any chance do you have settings for recording so I can try it out too? Because I do both recording/streams. I'm also looking into seeing if those settings for streaming still lag; still tinkering with it.
 
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