mac OBS: GPU usage is very high, and frame drops with webcam on

wookayin

New Member
Hello,

I am experiencing a severe performance issue these days. The problem is:

* The GPU usage while OBS is running is extremely high --- utilization is 100% even with an empty scene without any sources.
* Whenever I turn on a webcam (i.e. make the source visible), LOTS of frames drop.

Env:
* Macbook 15-inch Pro 2017 (GPU: AMD Radeon Pro 560)
* MacOS 10.14.6, OBS 26.0.2 (latest)

Screenshot:

CleanShot 2020-11-21 at 11.07.07@2x.png

Note the GPU usage (Radeon Pro 560) hitting 100% at all times. It will drop immediately once I quit OBS.


CleanShot 2020-11-21 at 11.07.26@2x.png

When a webcam source is turned on, a rendering lag happens and ~20% of frames are dropping. Average FPS is around 20.

Notes:

* Nothing else is using GPU in the above example case.
* Just the existence of an OBS instance running slows the entire system down --- Chrome gets slow, all other graphics-related application stalls. Based on the GPU utilization chart above, I think OBS is wasting a lot of GPU resources.
* I don't think USB webcam has any issues. When I record via QuickTime Player or use them with any recording/streaming applications, everything is super smooth, GPU utilization being far less than 50%, and I am able to even achieve 60FPS with 1080p.
* I tried lightweight settings as well, such as low resolutions (320p) and lower FPS, but the problem still presents. I also have tried other image formats (YUV, M-JPEG). In the screenshot above I used 1920x1080 30fps but frame dropping happens even with smaller resolutions (320p, 720p).
* Previously, I was able to run everything very smoothly at 30FPS without any frame losses --- using the exactly same machine and hardware setup. I am not sure what has changed since then.

Any help appreciated! Please let me know what else information I can share for troubleshooting.
 

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wookayin

New Member
Having any single "Display Capture" source or (any single tiny cropped region) in the scene collection --- even if they are not visible or belongs to a scene that is NOT currently displayed --- will increase GPU usage significantly (~40% for Radeon 560) Webcam sources (1080p) do not add any additional GPU load.
 

artasbartas

New Member
I have a similar problem. Running on MacBookPro15,1, 6-Core Intel Core i7, CPU 2,6 GHz, RAM 16 GB and macOS Catalina 10.15.7.

My OBS video settings below:
Screenshot 2021-06-29 at 18.45.34.png


Typically the video would start OK but after a minute start dropping 60%+ of frames. Then might recover after 2-3 minutes, stay OK for a minute, and then start dropping frames again. Any tips for fixing this would be very appreciated.
 

dee_gg

New Member
Hi!
Anyone got any news on this? This issue just started out of the blue without me changing my settings at all. It was fine for more than a year and video sources just started bugging down my CPU like crazy, same with my webcam with the default settings, but if I lower the quality and framerate it starts being tolerable... but the main big difference is the fact that I have a very small video looping background, it doesn't weight anything, it's the same framerate as my output, etc.
What bugs me the most is that it started out of the blue and was working fine for more than a year....
 

maximus7xy

New Member
I have a similar problem. Running on MacBookPro15,1, 6-Core Intel Core i7, CPU 2,6 GHz, RAM 16 GB and macOS Catalina 10.15.7.

My OBS video settings below:View attachment 72683

Typically the video would start OK but after a minute start dropping 60%+ of frames. Then might recover after 2-3 minutes, stay OK for a minute, and then start dropping frames again. Any tips for fixing this would be very appreciated.
My macbook pro has similar specs, and similar video configuration, and of course a similar problem. I have been using ice packs to keep my cpu/gpu cool but it's not a viable long term strategy. I do not think our macs are built for live streaming.
 
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