Good broadband and high-end PC, but stream stutters enormously once a Warzone game starts

[Dimitah]

Hi guys,
I have been trying to test-stream Warzone for the past few hours (basically this whole day now), but I can't even close to a "stable" stream. What I mean is, it not only stutters, but it's so bad it only shows a single frame every few seconds. Did manage to almost have a stable tream when game was in Windows mode (more below). I have followed a bunch of YouTube / Reddit guides that suggest using pretty much the same settings in OBS.
OBS main settings I am using:

Output
- Encode: NVENC
- Bitrate 4500-6000 CBR (not much changed tweaking the bitrate)
- Keyframe: 2
- Preset: Performance
- Profile: High
- Look-ahead ticked, Psycho Visual Thing not, tried the oppost or both ticked
- GPU: 0
- Max B-frames: 2

Audio
No issues there

Video
- Base: 2k (my native resolution)
- Output: tried 1080, 936, 900, 720 - not much change, but probably 720 is best
- Downscale filter: Lanczos
- Commonf FPS: 29.9, 30, 59.0, 60 - again, that doesn't seem to change much

Advanced
- Process Priority: tried High down to Normal
- In Video only changed Colour Range to Full

A few other things to note
What I have noticed is if I change Warzone to Windowed, it runs best this way, but that's just not an option. None of the other options did anything to help (I play Fullscreen like most people).
The issue starts only after I enter the actual lobby - the stream runs super smooth in the menu or when ALT+TAB.
If OBS source is Game Capture, regardless what option I choose (e.g. select a specific app or to only show fullscreen apps) the game won't show at all on stream.
Warzone and OBS both being started as "Run as administator".
My broadband is 350 Mbps and upload speed is around 40; I am always ethernet connected.
Windows Game Mode is on, Game Bar is off / disabled.

My system
- Ryzen 5800x (slightly undervolted, if that matters)
- RTX 3080 (no OC)
- 32GB 3600 RAM (OC'ed manually to match the frequency the sticks support, but no latencies touched yet)
Worth nothing I've had issues with the Warzone performance (low FPS), so this is why I upgraded my PC even though my previous specs were fine for the game. I had a 8700k, 32GB 3000 RAM and same card (game actually used to run almost better with my old 1080 Ti!).

OBS also drops my frames by 30-40 (from 180 to 120-140) - so if I eventually manage to run succesfully a stream, I would really appreciate help with how to keep most of my frames :).

I might be missing something import out, so please let me know if any more info is required. And of course, absolutely appreciated any responses and help! Thanks in advance!

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

Are you monitoring hardware resource (CPU, GPU, RAM, etc) utilization to see if your system is being maxed out with your settings [Task manager’s Performance tab and/or Resource Monitor]?
With OBS even started, what is CPU typically running at?
IN terms of keeping CPU load reduced with OBS, have you read up on Psycho Visual using CPU (CUDA cores, if I recall correctly, and this is from others... could be completely wrong...do NOT take my word for this) instead of GPU... or something like that (others have posted details.. I'm not a gamer, so not something I care about/track/commit to memory)

Running with local admin priv's is typically suggested when needing to override OS scheduler (and for OBS with specific reference to GPU). I'd think by having both game and OBS running as Admin, you defeat the intent (giving OBS higher priority). And always bad practice to run either as Admin, unless you absolutely have to (and then only if you know what/how to watch for, and mitigate, security risks)

Are you sure you understand the full impact of changing Color Range?

Per pinned post in this forum

Please post a log with your issue! Here's how...

OBS Studio creates a log file each time you run it which contains very useful diagnostic information. Without a log file, it's much harder for any support volunteers to figure out problems and your post may be ignored. To upload a log file, go to the Help menu > Log Files > Upload Last Log...

obsproject.com

 

[Dimitah]

Hi there, thanks for commenting!
I wasn't actually monitoring what component is being used at what rate / under what load. So I did check quickly check that:
- Only OBS working and stream started - 3% CPU usage
- OBS + Warzone - still 3% by OBS
- Warzone was using in-game only 30% CPU
- Warzone was showing as using 0% GPU
- Windows Task Manager (as this is what I used to check usage) was at 60% for some reason
- OBS was occasionally at 30% GPU
That's with 720p stream at 59.9 FPS and 4500 CBR bitrate. I will look into another software to better see those values as in order to access Task Manager, you need to obviously ALT+TAB to check it. And the above makes little sense to me too!

What is interesting is that while the game was at the background (I was ALT+TABing), the picture on stream seemed a lot smoother than when going back in the actual game. I have changed my Warzone FPS settings from 240 in-game (240Hz monitor) / 60 game menu / 30 out of focus to unlimited as I thought it may had something to do with it, but it would have been such an easy fix! Didn't work.

As for the Psycho Visual Tuning, it seems like it actually when enabled uses GPU rather than CPU (CUDA cores is, as far as I know GPU stuff too). As I mentioned, I have tried it on, but did no change anything. And it seems like my GPU gets used while streaming and having Warzone running at about 100%, although Task Manager does not show Warzone being the app that uses it.

Running apps as administrator - read about this in a few threads across the internet, so went with it. It was suggested to do it for both OBS and Warzone.

No idea what Color Range exactly does, apart from the implied (Partial/Full). Again, something I noticed being mentioned in multiple places. I will actually test with Partial after this response.

And finally, here is the log from OBS: https://obsproject.com/logs/re9_tHDDekmyQORY

 

[Dimitah]

Here's some more data from the Performance section of Task Manager:

OBS stream only
CPU - 2%
Memory - 11%
GPU - 34%

Warzone on in-game menu
CPU - 35%
Memory - 34%
GPU 99%

Warzone in-game
CPU - 45%
Memory - 37%
GPU 99%

Furthermore, I have tried using the x264 encoder and stream suddenly started moving smoothly enough!
I have it currently at 2500 CBR, Fast preset and high Profile.
Not sure if I should be using this encoder at all, considering the NVIDIA one being newer and better, but I can't seem to make it work with it.