Question / Help Low FPS in game during Stream / High End PC

[Johankfar]

Hello guys, I'm doing a repost with logs this time .

I'm actually streaming with a:

1. CPU : i7 7820x 3.6 GHz
2. GPU : 1080 TI
3. RAM : 32GB
4. I play on a 1440p/144fps screen at 1440p resolution, scaling the stream to a resolution of 900p/60fps.
5. Bitrate : 7300.

I'm a Twitch Partner, which allows me to use high bitrates, and I'm streaming Overwatch with quite a high-end PC. I would love to stream with CPU encoder, however it brings me a lot of stutters in games, not on stream, with the FPS dropping from 142 (limited to it) to 100, lots of times, which makes the game quite unplayable when you're a DVA/Tracer main.
As such, I was streaming in NVENC which means 0 fps drops for me in game, and a stream that seems to be 56/57 fps on stream for the viewers, and of course less quality cause it's not CPU encoder. When I'm saying 56 fps, it's smooth on stream but it doesn't seem 60 fps like other people if you're looking at it closely.
So today, I tried to stream twice with CPU encoder, both on 864p and just to try on 720 (however I didn't buy such a computer to stream in 720p :/), and also on NVENC 900p to show you my usual stream log.
As it was unplayable for me on CPU encoder, I took a picture of the CPU usage during the tests with x264 encoder. Take in account that I'm playing on a 1440p screen at 1440p resolution. The FPS in game is limited to 142.

1. OBS LOG : CPU ENCODER , 864p/60 FPS, 1440p in game : https://hastebin.com/iyagoqamih
2. OBS LOG : CPU ENCODER 720p/60FPS, 1440p in game : https://hastebin.com/jucamuqubu
3. OBS LOG : NVENC ENCODER 900p/60 FPS, 1440p in game : https://hastebin.com/yeyurudeca
4. CPU usage during OBS test : https://imgur.com/a/ZKiCvwf

 

[RytoEX]

Your logs consistently show rendering lag, which is generally a sign of the GPU being overloaded, not CPU overload. The GPU doesn't have enough resources to render Overwatch at your current settings (quality, framerate, etc.) and allow OBS to composite and render its scenes.

The easiest way to fix this is to cap Overwatch's framerate to your display's framerate. Rendering at 142 FPS doesn't bring any benefits on a 60Hz display, and it certainly doesn't bring any benefits to a 60 FPS stream.

If, by chance, your display is a 144Hz+ monitor, you're likely still going to have to cap Overwatch's framerate to something lower. As powerful as the GTX 1080 Ti is, it still takes more resources to render at 1440p144 than at 1080p60, and you're gaming and streaming.

 

[Johankfar]

Thanks so much for your answer Ryto.

I tried to stream with CPU encoder at 864 and on a new scene collection with only the game on : https://hastebin.com/aqehekepan

As you can see, only 0.1% missed frames due to rendering frame which is absolutely perfect. But the problem still remains. I will have massive stutters in game which makes it unplayable with Overwatch, stutters mean dropped frames from 142 to 108 and then back to 120 etc during massive fights which makes it impossible to play. Ofc when I turn off OBS, there are no more stutters.

So here I am with CPU encoder and 0.1% missed frames, but stutters make it really hard to play. Any idea? You would save me ! Thanks so much

 

[Johankfar]

Also, I'm asking my self how even in 720p stream with CPU encoder, a computer like this can have FPS drops in game :/ .

 

[BK-Morpheus]

Turn Windows 10 GameDVR off and limit your ingame FPS, that should solve the issue. If you can not let go on uncapped fps (don't know, why anyone would want the frame times jumping all over the place), you are free to set up a dedicated streaming rig.

 

[RytoEX]

As I said earlier:

The GPU doesn't have enough resources to render Overwatch at your current settings (quality, framerate, etc.) and allow OBS to composite and render its scenes.

In the more recent log, OBS is managing to render all frames properly, but this was likely at the expense of managing to pull some resources from Overwatch in time to render properly (as you said, Overwatch's FPS fluctuated). As I said before, OBS requires some of the GPU to do its scene compositing and rendering. Even a scene with just a game capture source will require GPU resources to render it.

Limit your Overwatch FPS, and turn off the Windows 10 Game Bar/DVR stuff as @BK-Morpheus said. Then run a new OBS session, close OBS, open OBS and upload the Last Log File instead of current log file. OBS writes some more detailed system profile info when it exits.

 

[Johankfar]

As I said earlier:


In the more recent log, OBS is managing to render all frames properly, but this was likely at the expense of managing to pull some resources from Overwatch in time to render properly (as you said, Overwatch's FPS fluctuated). As I said before, OBS requires some of the GPU to do its scene compositing and rendering. Even a scene with just a game capture source will require GPU resources to render it.

Limit your Overwatch FPS, and turn off the Windows 10 Game Bar/DVR stuff as @BK-Morpheus said. Then run a new OBS session, close OBS, open OBS and upload the Last Log File instead of current log file. OBS writes some more detailed system profile info when it exits.

Thanks for your time mate. So here is the log : https://hastebin.com/siloxihiri

This time, Game Bar / DVR deactivated, Overwatch FPS limited to 110.
Result : Still dropping frames in Game, this time from 110 to 90.
You can actually see everything here on the last stream I did a few minutes ago, and take a look at the FPS on the top left to see the drops : https://www.twitch.tv/videos/281534333

Thanks so much guys for your help.

 

[H4ndy]

Please do Scene Collection > New and only add 1 game capture to it, then try again if its better.

Your game scene is pretty heavily loaded with 2 capture devices (move your capture card to its own scene), 2 game captures (delete one and use hotkey or auto-capture mode with the other) and 3 browser sources.

Also I recommend to check Overwatch settings and disable downsampling if its active.
It's in Settings > Video > Graphics Quality > Advanced > Render Scale.
Set it to 100% and try again (it's most likely set to Automatic).

Beside that I recommend you stick to x264 encoding, your CPU has enough room for it and NVENC puts another few% load on your GPU.

 

[Johankfar]

Please do Scene Collection > New and only add 1 game capture to it, then try again if its better.

Your game scene is pretty heavily loaded with 2 capture devices (move your capture card to its own scene), 2 game captures (delete one and use hotkey or auto-capture mode with the other) and 3 browser sources.

Also I recommend to check Overwatch settings and disable downsampling if its active.
It's in Settings > Video > Graphics Quality > Advanced > Render Scale.
Set it to 100% and try again (it's most likely set to Automatic).

Beside that I recommend you stick to x264 encoding, your CPU has enough room for it and NVENC puts another few% load on your GPU.

Thanks a lot mate for your answer. Unfortunately, I tried today with the only Game Capture in a new scene : https://hastebin.com/aqehekepan . So as you can see, almost 0.1 % of lost frames which is absolutely perfect. But still, my in game lags for me with stutters from 142 FPS to 100 a lot of times. I'm playing only on Medium Settings btw, not high or epic. Thanks for your help !

And no, in Overwatch I was careful that the sampling was on 100% everytime. Even on a game like Fortnite I experience stutters :/. Can't be with such a computer :/ . Thanks again for helping <3

 

[H4ndy]

Please do a new scene collection as advised - In Studio, all sources are global and potentially active.
Just making a new scene can keep stuff in other scenes active.

 

[Nilvgaming]

Overwatch is a rough game to stream, before patches was able to play and stream 1080p60fps while running the game at 200fps all the time with my ryzen 1700 and 1070 ti, but after latest patch the FPS is all over the place while streaming. Lots of times dropping under 144fps which is annoying.

 

[vapeahoy]

Turn off 2-pass. Should be fine after that. Run obs as admin.