Question / Help Help! New OBS user having trouble with stream lag/encoding errors

A

AyTrayne

New Member
Hello all,

As the title suggests, I'm in need of some serious help for streaming from OBS. I will outline as many details below but any/all help would be greatly appreciated.

Ultimate Goal:
Stream my Xbox One (mainly FPS games) using an Elgato Capture Card through OBS with all the stream/twitch bells and whistles.

PC Specs/Internet:
Dell Inspiron Laptop
Intel Core i5-62000 CPU @ 2.30/2.40GHz
8 GB RAM
64-bit Operating System
Running Windows 10
Internet download: ~15 Mbps
Internet upload: ~18 Mbps

Problem:
I've spent countless hours setting everything up for my stream - nightbot, OBS overlays, multiple scenes, webcams, twitch profile, panels, etc. - but when I went to test my stream before I actually started gaming, I ran into numerous lag/encoding problems. It skips, it lags, audio is jacked up, I have the "encoding error" pop-up at the bottom of the OBS application, etc. etc. Note: I have NOT tested this with gameplay as I figured it would be best to test my hotkeys/alerts prior to incorporating gameplay. Even without gameplay/capture card in use, there was tons of lag. Even when I showed a YouTube video on my test stream, it was terrible.

Steps Taken
I've watched an insane amount of help videos and read countless forum posts but can't seem to pinpoint the issue. I'm connected to the closest/most reliable server, I'm streaming at a 2400 bitrate, 720p, 30 FPS, using an "ultrafast" encoder to help lower CPU usage but nothing is working. When I start the stream, my webcam/audio is decent when capturing my desktop and switching between certain scenes but once I bring up my desktop and play a YouTube video, everything crumbles. The only programs I'm running when OBS is active are my Windows Xbox App, Twitch Alerts App, and Chrome (twitch.tv, streamlabs.com, nightbot.tv).

Solution?
Is my laptop too slow to handle streaming via OBS? Are there any solutions I haven't thought of? I REALLY hope I don't have to PC for streaming as that would be a huge hit to the wallet.

I'm not sure if this is necessary or not but my twitch URL is twitch.tv/aytrayne

Thanks in advance for the help!
 
A

AyTrayne

New Member
I think I may need some additional guidance to get you what you need. I followed the link you posted to get the latest log from OBS and every time I try, my logs start with "gist.github"....etc.

I just did a test stream and it successfully uploaded to twitch (albeit incredibly laggy) and I re-watched what I just recorded 10 minutes ago so I must be missing something from the log perspective.

Let me know next steps to take...
 
A

AyTrayne

New Member
OK, I think I may be lost (apologies in advance).

I did another test stream on OBS using the following flow: open OBS > hit start streaming > did a test stream for 2 minutes > stopped stream in OBS > closed OBS > went to my profile on twitch and located and watched my latest test stream video (the one noted above) in the video manager area of my channel > opened OBS > copied the following log files:

current log: https://gist.github.com/64c21b94b6a0a1b1030e5cc8d17e2d61
latest log: https://gist.github.com/14c0173e932fc29d19d66383e0069b5d

Am I missing a step?
 
EBrito

EBrito

Active Member
15:04:51.393: Output 'simple_stream': Number of skipped frames due to encoding lag: 1984 (67.8%)
15:04:51.393: Output 'simple_stream': Number of lagged frames due to rendering lag/stalls: 189 (6.2%)

Your CPU can´t handle encoding.


You have to downscale to 540p or even 480p
 
A

AyTrayne

New Member
Alright. If I downscale to 540 or 480 and that doesn't work, am I SOL?

Also, if there a way to increase the CPU's capacity for my laptop or would I have to buy a whole new actual computer to handle 1080 and higher resolutions?
 
EBrito

EBrito

Active Member
Yes, same settings.

You can start trying 1080p, and then rescaling to 720p, 540p or 480p
 
A

AyTrayne

New Member
So, in summary, I should keep all my above settings the same but use my GPU instead of x264 and select Quicksync in the dropdown menu? Then I should start my resolution at 1080p then downscale from there until something works.

Is thag correct?
 
A

AyTrayne

New Member
I did the suggested changes and we're getting warmer. When I switch between windows, there isn't much delay/lag and my webcam looks much better too. However, when playing YouTube videos (watching at 480p FYI), it starts to lag and frames start dropping - it's pretty noticeable. It's not nearly as bad as it was before but still un-streamable I would say. Note: my goal is to test the stream before I incorporate gameplay. I figure if the stream can't handle a YouTube gaming video, it won't be able to handle my actual gameplay either.

I took my resolution all the way down to 480, used the Quicksync option in the advanced output settings and did another test stream (video on my twitch channel). Logs are below.

Do you have any other suggested changes and/or recommendations?

Last Log: https://gist.github.com/14a9d56a67dda1bdfd69eba9f72c6ee8
Current Log: https://gist.github.com/808f34eee4ca5bf37746ec45303e981c
 
EBrito

EBrito

Active Member
Last log:
10:30:18.399: Output 'simple_stream': Number of lagged frames due to rendering lag/stalls: 434 (15.1%)
Your CPU can´t handle 720p 30 fps (this stream was Ultrafast profile)


other attempt
10:34:04.056: Output 'simple_stream': Number of dropped frames due to insufficient bandwidth/connection stalls: 38 (2.2%)
Don´t stream over wireless

QSV 480p
10:51:18.929: Output 'adv_stream': Number of lagged frames due to rendering lag/stalls: 224 (13.8%)


So, try x264 at 480p. But I think your CPU can´t handle it.
Last chance, stream at 360p :(


Current Log: no streaming sessions
 
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