Need help with spontaneous buffering/jitteriness

[Naomeister]

I'm trying to help someone troubleshoot who's been having massive issues with dropped frames in OBS. This issue spontaneously started happening out of nowhere when previously everything was fine. Initially, it was relatively minor, where they would suddenly get buffering and dropped frames for a short period during a stream, but then it would catch back up again. However, now, it's making streams effectively unwatchable, with the stream starting with buffering and not stopping. In the short moments where it doesn't buffer, it looks really jittery.
About a week ago, we attempted several fixes, and they were able to get a few smooth streams with no issues, but now it's back again after the most recent OBS update, even though all the settings are still the same.

I've attached two logs; one log is with dynamic bitrate off on the server they were using before, the second is with it on and on a different server.
We've already run them through the log analyzer, and both logs say there were 64.9% dropped frames.
We've looked through dozens of OBSProject and Reddit threads searching for solutions and haven't found one that works.

Fixes I've tried:
- Switched streaming servers
- Lowered bitrate, and tried dynamic bitrate
- Internet is running fine otherwise (other programs don't have any connection issues)
- TwitchTest. Most servers are showing as 0, with some at 20, 64, and three servers at 92 (We used the 92 servers for our tests).
- Nvidia power management was changed to "Normal", based one some else's recommendation.

 

[Naomeister]

I'm trying to help someone troubleshoot who's been having massive issues with dropped frames in OBS. This issue spontaneously started happening out of nowhere when previously everything was fine. Initially, it was relatively minor, where they would suddenly get buffering and dropped frames for a short period during a stream, but then it would catch back up again. However, now, it's making streams effectively unwatchable, with the stream starting with buffering and not stopping. In the short moments where it doesn't buffer, it looks really jittery.
About a week ago, we attempted several fixes, and they were able to get a few smooth streams with no issues, but now it's back again after the most recent OBS update, even though all the settings are still the same.

I've attached two logs; one log is with dynamic bitrate off on the server they were using before, the second is with it on and on a different server.
We've already run them through the log analyzer, and both logs say there were 64.9% dropped frames.
We've looked through dozens of OBSProject and Reddit threads searching for solutions and haven't found one that works.

Fixes I've tried:
- Switched streaming servers
- Lowered bitrate, and tried dynamic bitrate
- Internet is running fine otherwise (other programs don't have any connection issues)
- TwitchTest. Most servers are showing as 0, with some at 20, 64, and three servers at 92 (We used the 92 servers for our tests).
- Nvidia power management was changed to "Normal", based one some else's recommendation.

A quick update to this: We've tried streaming with the dynamic bitrate active, rather than just testing, and the stream doesn't buffer nearly as often, but the bitrate rarely goes over 1500Kbps, and mostly sits around 100-500, which makes the stream very difficult to watch. Sometimes it does go above and runs smoothly for about 10-30 seconds, but then drops again.
It's set for a 3000 Kbps bitrate.

 

[qhobbes]

1. Your logs contain streaming sessions with dropped frames/dynamic bitrate. This can only be caused by a failure in your internet connection or your networking hardware. It is not caused by OBS. In many cases, wireless connections can cause issues because of their unstable nature. Streaming really requires a stable connection. Often wireless connections are fine, but if you have problems, the first troubleshooting step would be to switch to wired. We highly recommend streaming on wired connections. If still having issues with a wired connection, follow the troubleshooting steps at: Dropped Frames and General Connection Issues.
2. At least one of your audio devices has a sample rate that doesn't match the rest. This can result in audio drift over time or sound distortion. Check your audio devices in Windows settings (both Playback and Recording) and ensure the Default Format (under Advanced) is consistent. 48000 Hz is recommended.
OBS Sample Rate: 44100 Hz
Wave Link Monitor (Elgato Virtual Audio): 48000 Hz
Headphones (2- BEACN Mic): 96000 Hz
Microphone (2- BEACN Mic): 96000 Hz
3. Run OBS as Admin.
4. Your GPU is maxed out and OBS can't render/encode scenes fast enough (0.1%). Running a game without vertical sync or a frame rate limiter will frequently cause performance issues with OBS because your GPU will be maxed out. OBS requires a little GPU to render your scene.

Enable V/G-sync or set a reasonable frame rate limit (144, 120, 60) that your GPU can handle without hitting 100% usage. Multi-pass and AQ both use additional GPU. Multi-pass can be disabled by setting it to single pass.

If still having issues, post new log.