help! obs slows my whole PC down when not even streaming / recording when playing a game

[cie]

I am hoping that I can some assistance as have trawled the internet for a solution but to no avail.

I'll set the scene - I have a 3080 RTX GPU i-9 intel PC with plenty of ram and bits and bobs. I also have 1 gig internet with the PC wired into the router with 100+ upload speed.

I would regularly stream from my office which would mean playing a game like warzone, destiny 2 etc whilst having song request active and it worked perfectly. However, we had a new baby and he needed my office as a bedroom, so off up to the attic my PC went.

Since then, when I try to stream via OBS I cannot play a game without the game and desktop running slowly. The internet is bang on and wired in. The PC is more than capable in terms of specification. I have tried to tone down graphics in game but it does not help. I have messed about with OBS, capped the frame rate, changed the bitrate from 6000 to 4000 and this does not help. I have changed the encoder settings and again it doesn't help. There are no virus' on the PC, and over 386gb of available space on the hard drive.

Even just having OBS open (not recording or streaming) causes my games to lag. I should mention that the games run perfectly when OBS is not open.

The stream itself works fine and records fine, so the actual streaming is not an issue - it's the games themselves that are lagging out. Additionally, trying to use say facebook or something on the PC is slow when OBS is open and a game is running.

I am no expert with tech stuff, but this is driving me mad - no idea why this is happening. Literally nothing changed bar moving my set up to a different room.

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

1. don't ignore pinned post in the forum regarding OBS Studio log when asking for help
2. my suspicion is that you asked/allowed OBS Studio to update and there may be a plugin compatibility issue, or a change in the Encoder settings, or updated video driver, or OS change, that is causing the game impact.. But without having exact details of the before and after... no way to know.

The Encoding impact takes place when you open OBS Studio and have a scenes with any video rendering in them. Recording/Streaming is just outputting the work already being done (for the most part).... so not unexpected system behavior

PC in attic is wired Ethernet right all the way to router to Internet, right? no baby monitor next to router, or new electric cables running alongside ethernet cable(s)? Without specific cable testing equipment, hard to know if wiring issue up in attic (both Internet and A/C power) ... though a simplistic test would be to pull back downstairs

Also, you aren't using a babycam or other sending video to Internet (now causing bandwidth contention on upload)?

 

[cie]

1. don't ignore pinned post in the forum regarding OBS Studio log when asking for help
2. my suspicion is that you asked/allowed OBS Studio to update and there may be a plugin compatibility issue, or a change in the Encoder settings, or updated video driver, or OS change, that is causing the game impact.. But without having exact details of the before and after... no way to know.

The Encoding impact takes place when you open OBS Studio and have a scenes with any video rendering in them. Recording/Streaming is just outputting the work already being done (for the most part).... so not unexpected system behavior

PC in attic is wired Ethernet right all the way to router to Internet, right? no baby monitor next to router, or new electric cables running alongside ethernet cable(s)? Without specific cable testing equipment, hard to know if wiring issue up in attic (both Internet and A/C power) ... though a simplistic test would be to pull back downstairs

Also, you aren't using a babycam or other sending video to Internet (now causing bandwidth contention on upload)?

Apologies for the late response - I have been away on holiday and just had the chance to check back - I certainly do appreciate the response.

I have disabled HAGs and also unchecked 'Enable Browser Source Hardware Acceleration' and this has seemed to improve things a good deal, but when playing a game like Destiny 2, even when not recording / streaming, and the action gets heavy on screen, there is a noticeable bit of lag on the game itself and not the stream.

We do have a baby camera for when the young 'un is in his room or in bed for the night, so this could possibly affect bandwidth but not sure how to check how much bandwidth is being used.

I am wondering if maybe stream elements or potentially the overlays themselves (downloaded from OWN3D) are potentially the issue as well.

I'll attach the OBS log and see if anything jumps out at anyone for this: https://obsproject.com/logs/aum8ynYMILl2dSSe

Thanks Lawrence :)

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

The method to check bandwidth usage depends on your network/router.

Your is the VERY FIRST OBS Studio log I've seen with stream elements where streamelements didn't puke all over the log.
And the ending of that log is different? did you trim/edit that log? the performance metrics normally at the end of the log are missing

Yes, streamelements is highly correlated with problem systems... but I don't know if that is due to sloppy code, or users not adequately configuring (most likely Users not directed to, and lacking adequate documentation to actually make the appropriate edits/settings changes... maybe).
Yes, overlays and plugins which are sloppy with network usage can cause issues with other network traffic (timeout issues impacting NIC... shouldn't with proper code and drivers, but whole other /rant)

Is there a reason you chose to change what I've typically seen (and thought was default ) settings for downscale filter and YUV mode?
16:30:51.358: video settings reset:
16:30:51.358: base resolution: 1920x1080
16:30:51.358: output resolution: 1920x1080
16:30:51.358: downscale filter: Bicubic
16:30:51.358: fps: 60/1
16:30:51.358: format: NV12
16:30:51.358: YUV mode: Rec. 709/Partial

 

[cie]

The method to check bandwidth usage depends on your network/router.

Your is the VERY FIRST OBS Studio log I've seen with stream elements where streamelements didn't puke all over the log.
And the ending of that log is different? did you trim/edit that log? the performance metrics normally at the end of the log are missing

Yes, streamelements is highly correlated with problem systems... but I don't know if that is due to sloppy code, or users not adequately configuring (most likely Users not directed to, and lacking adequate documentation to actually make the appropriate edits/settings changes... maybe).
Yes, overlays and plugins which are sloppy with network usage can cause issues with other network traffic (timeout issues impacting NIC... shouldn't with proper code and drivers, but whole other /rant)

Is there a reason you chose to change what I've typically seen (and thought was default ) settings for downscale filter and YUV mode?
16:30:51.358: video settings reset:
16:30:51.358: base resolution: 1920x1080
16:30:51.358: output resolution: 1920x1080
16:30:51.358: downscale filter: Bicubic
16:30:51.358: fps: 60/1
16:30:51.358: format: NV12
16:30:51.358: YUV mode: Rec. 709/Partial

hello again

I haven't trimmed the log down - I just copied and pasted the log direct from OBS as such

I don't know what downscale filter and YUV mode are to be honest, or what the defaults are. I don't recall changing these in anyway or know if they affect how the game lags when obs is active, but will give this a google to find what the default settings are and change it back - hopefully this will help! :)

In terms of bandwidth, or internet, we have unlimited so there is no cap for it as such, as far as I am aware

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

In terms of bandwidth, or internet, we have unlimited so there is no cap for it as such, as far as I am aware

You misunderstand me. you do have a cap (on available upload bandwidth... the 'pipe' (connection) is only so big (allows a certain amount), and like a highway, available 'speed' [for length of entire 'trip' will vary over time]

You need to determine what your actual Upload usage is... you only have so much upload bandwidth (same used for livestreaming, vs download). What else is using that Upload bandwidth, and how much. You CAN NOT guess (or assume)... as most people guess really wrong.

A simple test of your OBS Studio Setup is to install a separate 'portable mode' installation of OBS Studio (in a temp folder, or wherever) with NO plugins, and certainly NOT anything from streamelements. And keep to Simple Mode in Streaming/Recording. then test with simple Scene setup (no chromakeying, audio filters/noise cancelling, etc)

 

[cie]

thats really good advice and will look to do this - much appreciated bud. Have a great day :)