Hunting down GPU bottleneck - feedback requested

djmaggie

New Member
Hi all,

I'm actively trying to hunt down a likely GPU bottleneck or misconfiguration with my setup when I stream and would love some eyes on my recent log files for possible ways to address this.

Problem: I can see in my local recordings that the video quality fluctuates between crystal-clear and pixelated throughout my stream. Reading through posts here and via the Goog suggests I may need to make some adjustments or reductions in sources etc, or possibly upgrade some hardware, which I'm currently in a position to do if necessary.

Attached are log files from my most recent stream, which is the scene collection with the most amount of sources, as well as another log file from a week ago, a scene collection with the minimal amount of sources. The problem still occurs in the more minimal scene collection, but not nearly as frequently.

Some additional info that may be helpful, which is not listed in the log files: I use 2 external monitors (both res set at 1920x1280) connected through a Dell TB16 dock connected through a Thunderbolt3 port on my (Dell Precision 7530) laptop, as well as 2 webcams connected through an Anker USB 3.0 powered 10-port hub which is connected via the TB16 dock. I have onboard Intel graphics disabled at the BIOS level, so everything is running through the discrete GPU. The log file from the "max scenes and sources" uses both webcams, 2 window captures and a Spout 2 capture, with each capture set to deactivate when not in use. The "minimal scenes and sources" log file only has 1 window capture and a Spout 2 capture, no webcams, and each set to deactivate when not in use.

Considerations - I have been running different scenes, each with a window capture or a Spout 2 capture, concurrently, deactivating them when not in a particular scene; if I need to just pick one and remove the other sources that may be helpful. But if my log files suggest there may be an issue elsewhere in my configuration I would love to know. Thanks so much!
 

Attachments

Is the recorded resolution issue related to the webcam video, or other content?

Just curious - have you tried connecting the USB webcams direct to the TB16? Have you made sure all firmware and driver updates for that TB16 in place (very tedious). If resolution/pixelation is just on webcams, may move one of them direct connected to Precsision?
I'm thinking of possible USB Root Hub contention. I had the same laptop
I much prefer the WD19TB for the vastly simpler driver setup

Oh, ugh... you are using StreamElements which pukes all over your logs, and is often in the logs of systems having trouble - coincidence or not??? I recommend doing a search in this forum... I've seen strong recommendations to remove that plug-in due to issues it causes... whether related to your situation or not, I can't say.... and the log indicates you have some settings clean up to do (missing elements references, etc) which can't be helping

What are you doing for monitoring hardware resource (CPU, GPU, RAM, etc) utilization [ex. Task manager’s Performance tab and/or Resource Monitor] to see if your system is being maxed out with your settings {unlikely, but if a background processes kicking off??}
 
Is the recorded resolution issue related to the webcam video, or other content?

No, it's everything. Text overlays, visualizers, all of it.

Just curious - have you tried connecting the USB webcams direct to the TB16? Have you made sure all firmware and driver updates for that TB16 in place (very tedious). If resolution/pixelation is just on webcams, may move one of them direct connected to Precsision?
I'm thinking of possible USB Root Hub contention. I had the same laptop
I much prefer the WD19TB for the vastly simpler driver setup

I have played with where the webcams plug in, but since this is everything pixelating I don't think it's as relevant to this issue.

Oh, ugh... you are using StreamElements which pukes all over your logs, and is often in the logs of systems having trouble - coincidence or not??? I recommend doing a search in this forum... I've seen strong recommendations to remove that plug-in due to issues it causes... whether related to your situation or not, I can't say.... and the log indicates you have some settings clean up to do (missing elements references, etc) which can't be helping

Thanks, you may be right about other issues it's causing, but I'm not understanding how it can be an issue directly related to this specific issue. Streamelements is where I have my chatbot and alerts. If not with SE, would any other chatbot and alertbox from elsewhere have the same issue?

What are you doing for monitoring hardware resource (CPU, GPU, RAM, etc) utilization [ex. Task manager’s Performance tab and/or Resource Monitor] to see if your system is being maxed out with your settings {unlikely, but if a background processes kicking off??}

I have a small CPU meter running in my systray for a quick visual, and I pay attention to both the CPU measuring at the bottom of the OBS window as well as in Traktor for the streams when I'm mixing live. I have looked at the Task Manager at times when I have everything running and don't see any consistent maxing out of CPU, RAM or GPU. Some of the presets in the Spout 2 Capture app I use (Nestdrop) are more resource-heavy and I have been trying to catch which ones they are so I can pull them out of rotation, but otherwise my OBS CPU usage sits at around 0.8% - 2.4% most of the time while everything is running.
 
Thanks, you may be right about other issues it's causing, but I'm not understanding how it can be an issue directly related to this specific issue. Streamelements is where I have my chatbot and alerts. If not with SE, would any other chatbot and alertbox from elsewhere have the same issue?
If stream elements plug-in is glitching (getting technical) then it can mess up all kinds of things potentially (I don't know its coding paradigm, and the thread model, so I don't know if can mess up the rest of OBS, but that isn't outside of possibility)

I would also recommend uninstalling the StreamElements OBS.Live plugin. It makes several changes to core OBS Studio files and replaces them with inferior versions, along with (as Lawrence noted) puking all over the log and making it hard to diagnose. All SE OBS.Live functionality can be added to base OBS Studio via Custom Docks.
 
If you're recording, change the following settings, in OBS settings --> Output:

1) Rate Control: CQP, set to a value between 16-23 (lower value = higher image quality at the cost of filesize);
2) Preset: Quality;
3) Disable Lookahead and Psycho Visual Tuning.

CBR is for bitrate limited scenarios, like most streaming services that have infrastructure constraints.

The comments concerning StreamElements still apply regardless. I also use that service and there's no need to use their plugin, if you use their website and dock links made available. I managed to reduce all my EL sources down to a single one in this manner.
 
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