MBP 16 2019 - CPU/GPU spiking, lagging computer

[ticoyaki]

Hello! Im really getting frustrated now and couldnt figure out what's happening.

I have this mac with the following Specs:

• MBP 16-2019
• MacOS Big Sur (upgraded 2 days ago when i thought upgrading could solve my problem)
• 11.4 2,6 GHz 6 core intel core i7
• 16 GB 2667 MHz DDR4
• AMD Radeon Pro 5300M 4 GB
• Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB

My Setup:

• For art streams: my external monitor, wacom tablet, and mic are connected to my dongle that is connected to my MBP
• For game streams: my elgato capture card (for Nintendo switch), mic are connected to the dongle to my MBP

So i've been streaming for over a year now and haven't been experiencing problems until now. but recently, my computer lags a lot after a few minutes even if I'm only streaming Art with OBS, Adobe Illustrator, Discord and Spotify running in the background. After a few minutes, everything becomes super slow on my computer from typing, to drawing, to switching apps and I noticed that my CPU shows a lot of red bars when I check the activity monitor (see image below)

And a sample log file: https://obsproject.com/tools/analyzer?log_url=https://obsproject.com/logs/Bh5H0UG150xr5Qm_

When I do gaming streams with my ElGato capture card, it also lags the games AND my computer after a few minutes as well.

What I've done so far:

• I've already removed all my unecesary scenes/and stream stuff
• i even reinstalled OBS and tried streaming with only 2 sources but still no luck, so all my settings are basically back to basics now
• Upgraded from Big Sur > Monterey
• Streamed in both evening/afternoon (i thought the heat could be affecting as well)
• Streamed Art only, and Game only respectively
• no luck in all these things

I've attached screenshots of my settings + my main page. please note that i reinstalled OBS so I have everything from scratch. Altho i tried to tweak it based on the settings i had before. I really hope someone can help me check what else i need to do. Thank you so much!

 

[Nass86]

Try changing the encoder from x264 to one of the other ones?

Ie. Apple Hardware Encoder

(Let me know if there are other options in the drop down(

Also you may want to increase your audio quality from 160k to 320

 

[Nass86]

Also the rescaling to 720p adds some pressure - you could try sending it all at 1080p @ 4,200 bitrate and it’ll could tax less resources than resizing it.

 

[ticoyaki]

Also the rescaling to 720p adds some pressure - you could try sending it all at 1080p @ 4,200 bitrate and it’ll could tax less resources than resizing it.

Like this?

Changed the output size to 1920x1080
and also changed 2x64 t Apple Hardware Encoder and changed the bitrate

I also remember you mentioning something about resizing the video preview window. Does that still apply?

 

[Nass86]

Like this?

Changed the output size to 1920x1080
and also changed 2x64 t Apple Hardware Encoder and changed the bitrate

I also remember you mentioning something about resizing the video preview window. Does that still apply?

Yes.

Also change Profile to High.

Yes shrink the video preview window, it may help.

Other than Apple H264 what are the other options on that drop down list?

 

[Nass86]

Like this?

Changed the output size to 1920x1080
and also changed 2x64 t Apple Hardware Encoder and changed the bitrate

I also remember you mentioning something about resizing the video preview window. Does that still apply?

Any joy?