Minimum graphics card for OBS video capture 4k

[niftyrose]

Hi guys, I'm trying to finalize the spec for a budget Windows laptop to run OBS with a 4k Obsbot webcam. I've pretty much settled on a 2nd user HP Pavilion 15 with Windows 10 but there's variants with different graphics cards -- I could really use some hands-on advice.

I plan to use the PC for location shoots, with mains power and lighting. I'll be shooting at 4k, full colour, 24 or 30fps, little or no sound recording and no streaming -- the footage will go straight to disk.

The footage will be edited and converted to B/W on my high-spec Linux workstation, with various bits of trickery to achieve a "silent movie" look . (A couple of people have suggested that I could shoot in B/W, but I'm not convinced.)

The query is basically: what's the cheapest graphics card setup in the laptop that will enable me to capture 4k colour video at 24 or 30fps? The Nvidia GTX1050 has got a few mentions as an entrypoint card for 4k, but it looks to me like the older GTX950 might do the job -- and it would mean I could buy an older PC, shaving $100-150 off my tight budget.

???

 

[koala]

Don't choose a laptop not able to run Windows 11. Windows 10 just went out of support. You need support for security fixes.

Don't choose a machine with a GTX/RTX 10xx and older because the Nvidia driver for that (Pascal chip and older) just went out of development support and will only be updated for security fixes for the next 3 years, then no updates any more at all. No development support means no updates to Nvenc, and since OBS often updates to require quite recent Nvenc versions, you will not be able to use newer OBS versions any more in the not too far future with the Nvenc encoder.

If you ignore this, you will be requesting support in a few years and spending more time solving unsupported issues than it is worth purchasing slightly newer hardware.

 

[Tonagut]

In short, yes, you can, but with some caveats.
If you have a Lenovo IdeaPad 330 (with GTX1050) or similar laptop with a card like the NVIDIA GTX 1050, that's a reasonable minimum for shooting in 4K 24/30fps (color video), with sufficient encoding, buffer, and disk space.
If the card is older, such as NVIDIA GTX 950/950M or similar, it may technically work (for example, hardware capture specifications indicate that GTX 950 “or better” is suitable for 4K60 SDR capture).

 

[niftyrose]

Thanks, guys, that's much appreciated -- really good advice.

It's worth mentioning that the new laptop will be a one-trick pony dedicated to video capture, running only OBS and the Obsbot software, and that the project for which it will be used has a projected lifespan of 4--5 years. It wouldn't be ridiculous to choose a Win10 machine with an older card and set it up as a standalone. But I agree that ongoing support is worth having.

I've begun looking at more recent business-oriented laptops, especially the Thinkpad E14, available with Win11 and an SSD for <$200 used. I've heard mixed reports about the "integrated graphics", with some people telling me that I'll get dropouts when I try to record 4k webcam output straight to disk and others saying that the PC will handle the load fine. Any thoughts?