Notifications-High CPU Usage/Dropped frames

[KBZ]

S.E.Live/OBS Multi-stream setup
Not sure what all is going on, but since the update of OBS, I have been getting this consistently.
I'm not using any CPU for encoding it's all set up for my GPU.
According to OBS Logs
My stream is currently experiencing massive performance issues because
my encoder is severely overloaded.
The stats window shows i' am losing a massive 61.0% of your frames due to encoding lag, causing your stream's output framerate to drop to an unwatchable 17.42 FPS (instead of your target 60 FPS).
I' am running AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU paired with an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU. However, my log indicates that I' am likely forcing OBS to use x264 (CPU encoding) on an overly intensive preset, (which I' am not) or your encoder settings are misconfigured,( They are not) choking the video thread before it can render or output.
This has started since an update and
My GPU Encoder I use is set to see images.
Please help me with this issue. It just seems to be getting worse on each start up live stream.

 

[qhobbes]

1. The Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling ("HAGS") feature added in Windows is currently known to cause performance and capture issues with OBS, games and overlay tools. If you are having issues with performance or OBS freezing, we recommend disabling it via this screen or these instructions as a troubleshooting step. Be sure to restart your PC after disabling it.
2. 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: 48000 Hz
SteelSeries Sonar - Microphone (SteelSeries Sonar Virtual Audio Device): 48000 Hz
SteelSeries Sonar - Gaming (SteelSeries Sonar Virtual Audio Device): 96000 Hz
SteelSeries Sonar - Chat (SteelSeries Sonar Virtual Audio Device): 48000 Hz
SteelSeries Sonar - Stream (SteelSeries Sonar Virtual Audio Device): 48000 Hz
3. Your GPU is maxed out and OBS can't render scenes (21.1%) and encode frames (51.1%) fast enough. It shows texture-amf-h264
and fallback-amf-h264 as the encoders, not x264.
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 Vsync or set a reasonable frame rate limit (60) that your GPU can handle without hitting 100% usage.

If that's not enough you may also need to turn down some of the video quality options in the game. If you are experiencing issues in general while using OBS, your GPU may be overloaded for the settings you are trying to use.

Set the refresh rate on all your monitors to 60.

Please check our guide for ideas why this may be happening, and steps you can take to correct it: GPU Overload Issues.

4. Your log contains streaming sessions with dropped frames (0.8%). This can only be caused by a failure in your internet connection or your networking hardware. It is not caused by OBS. Follow the troubleshooting steps at: Dropped Frames and General Connection Issues. You can try enabling dynamic bit rate (Settings, Advanced, Network) but that may not work with your plugin.
5. Make sure all of your plugins are compatible with OBS 33.0.1 and are up-to-date.

Provide a new log if still having issues.

 

[KBZ]

1. The Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling ("HAGS") feature added in Windows is currently known to cause performance and capture issues with OBS, games and overlay tools. If you are having issues with performance or OBS freezing, we recommend disabling it via this screen or these instructions as a troubleshooting step. Be sure to restart your PC after disabling it.
2. 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: 48000 Hz
SteelSeries Sonar - Microphone (SteelSeries Sonar Virtual Audio Device): 48000 Hz
SteelSeries Sonar - Gaming (SteelSeries Sonar Virtual Audio Device): 96000 Hz
SteelSeries Sonar - Chat (SteelSeries Sonar Virtual Audio Device): 48000 Hz
SteelSeries Sonar - Stream (SteelSeries Sonar Virtual Audio Device): 48000 Hz
3. Your GPU is maxed out and OBS can't render scenes (21.1%) and encode frames (51.1%) fast enough. It shows texture-amf-h264
and fallback-amf-h264 as the encoders, not x264.
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 Vsync or set a reasonable frame rate limit (60) that your GPU can handle without hitting 100% usage.

If that's not enough you may also need to turn down some of the video quality options in the game. If you are experiencing issues in general while using OBS, your GPU may be overloaded for the settings you are trying to use.

Set the refresh rate on all your monitors to 60.

Please check our guide for ideas why this may be happening, and steps you can take to correct it: GPU Overload Issues.

4. Your log contains streaming sessions with dropped frames (0.8%). This can only be caused by a failure in your internet connection or your networking hardware. It is not caused by OBS. Follow the troubleshooting steps at: Dropped Frames and General Connection Issues. You can try enabling dynamic bit rate (Settings, Advanced, Network) but that may not work with your plugin.
5. Make sure all of your plugins are compatible with OBS 33.0.1 and are up-to-date.

Provide a new log if still having issues.

Thanks so much for responding. As far as the SteelSeries Sonar - Gaming (SteelSeries Sonar Virtual Audio Device): 96000 Hz, I'm not able to change it to 48000 Hz like the rest. It's so weird, but I don't have the option anywhere to change it to match the rest. I have spent hours trying to figure this one out, couldn't never find how to, So i just left it. here are my options in both setting in my audio.
Regarding the Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling ("HAGS") feature, I will try this option and see if it fixes my issue.
I should have enabled Vsync or set a reasonable frame rate limit due to it being a demo I was playing when I got a lot of these notifications today.
As far as my log that contains streaming sessions with dropped frames (0.8%).
That this can only be caused by a failure in my internet connection or your networking hardware, Well I do a cmd before stream and I check my hardware. Here are my images for cmd runs and internet speeds, hardware is always consistent.
My internet I have to say has always been rock solid and consistent.
My plugins (S.E.Live) is my only plugin I use with my OBS is compatible with OBS 33.0.1 and currently up-to-date.

 

[qhobbes]

While your internet speed may test as fast with speedtest.net, this does not mean that it is stable/consistent with twitch and YouTube.

A Windows ping uses 32 bytes. That's a lot less than than what your streams are configured to use.

Use TwitchTest to make sure that you are connecting to the best server for your location.

 

[KBZ]

Thanks for responds, I really appreciate you trying to help.
A lot of these things you have suggested I have already tried, I even went back in and verified that is what I have.
I did go in and toggled off my Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling ("HAGS") feature in windows.
But even in the past I have also done that as well.
Also made sure I set my IP Family to IPv4 Only, because I know it had cause issues when set to default.
I had to change my main primary platform to Kick,
Because Twitch being my primary issues were worse. I had been using the twitch API test and the closest server was Ohio to me which was always stable, low ping, quality was always 100%.
But streaming told a different story in OBS logs and on the stats tabs.
I had even tried other servers, thinking it had maybe been that server, nope all the same results.
After a while i began to think OBS had a bug of false positives, due to all the issues it was saying I have, and it was just something with twitch causing the issues and not so much OBS.
But soon realize that wasn't the case so much after making Kick my primary, Still getting the same issues reoccurring.
When i tell you I have reconfigured OBS completely so many times, would be an understatement.
I had spent 52hrs trying to get a stream with no issues warnings, flags or dropped frames. without success.
I at that point thought surely it had to be S.E.Live the only other thing that could maybe cause issues.
So I spent 8hrs downloading OBS portable to my desktop, reset it up, no S.E.Live plugin at all, Twitch my primary live streamed same outcome. Dropped frames, freezes, disconnects/reconnects, and lag. warning of wrong encoder config, which was not right as I know how to config my settings. I know what my GPU was doing and how it runs.
So i did a clean 1 clean stream after that and it went back to same reoccurring logs findings.
So when i tell you I have been down more rabbit holes and videos at this point, I really mean I have.
I know I'm not the only one having these issues, I see them everywhere after i started looking for a resolution/alternative to my consistent reoccurring problem.
I could see this happening with someone with several plugins, or heavy co dependent software running in OBS.
But I don't have that issue, I have only 1 plugin and that is SELive.

 

[qhobbes]

1. Duplicate your existing Profile. Name it RESTREAM. Create a new Scene Collection (also named RESTREAM) with just one Game Capture source; nothing else.
2. Disable the S.E.Live plugin and restart OBS.
3. Go to Tools > Auto-Configuration Wizard > Optimize for streaming, recording is secondary [Next] and complete the process. Once it is done, do not change anything, close and restart OBS.
4. Go to restream.io and sign up for a free account. Connect your twitch and YouTube accounts to your Restream account.
5. OBS > Settings > Stream > Service > Restream.io; Connect with account or stream key.
6. Settings > Output > Recording > set Video and Audio Encoder to (Use stream encoder). [Apply] [OK]

Try doing a test recording of gameplay to see if the streaming settings work.

If still having issues, provide a new log.

@KBZ this method will also allow you to use Dynamic Bitrate since it's built into OBS so you can avoid dropping frames.

 

[KBZ]

@qhobbes Why would you even suggest that?
I stream live to 3 platforms, not just 2.
introducing a paid software, which is not a good middleman or option in my opinion.
I'd rather not start a payment plan and roll out a welcome aboard mat for more problematic known issues on top of my already issues.
Restream acts as a simple pass-through (middleman) when one uses a broadcasting software like OBS Studio.
Kick is not an integrated free platform. Because Kick requires a Custom RTMP setup.
Platform-Specific Feature Loss (The "Mashing" Effect), Network & Stability Risks, Resolution: Locked (Every platform gets the same layout/pixels)
Intermediary Server Latency, stream delays. Loss of Platform Features, Feature loss like Twitch's "Split VOD Audio and Unstable Chat Integrations etc. just to a name a few reasons I wouldn't use this software.
I'd end up in the same issued problematic scenario I'm in now, but worse.
If Restreams servers have an issue, all of your streams go down at once, even if your local internet is perfect.
Resolution is globally throttled by your plan:
Even if you pay $19/mo for the Standard plan to unlock 3 platforms, your entire stream is capped at 720p or 1080p depending on how you source it. You cannot send a 1440p feed to YouTube on the lower tiers.
Strict Free-Tier Paywalls
You are forced into the $19/mo Standard Plan:
To connect YouTube, Twitch, and Kick all at once, you must upgrade to the Standard tier ($19 month-to-month or $16/mo billed annually)
Free Plan Limits

• Channels: Up to 2 simultaneous destinations at once (such as YouTube and Twitch).

• Branding: Includes mandatory "Powered by Restream" branding when using Restream Studio.

• Custom RTMP: Not available on the free tier (requires a paid plan)

 

[qhobbes]

I'm aware of those limitations, forgot you were also streaming to kick. Never had any issues with Restream when I used them.

I don't think you have the necessary resources to do 1 1440p 60 FPS and 2 1080p 60 FPS streams at the same time.
YouTube recommends 34 Mbps for H264 (with a min of 8), Kick recommends 8 Mbps for 1080 @ 60 FPS and it's 6 Mbps for twitch.

A few more things you can try: Use the AMD H265 or AV1 encoders for YouTube as they have lower recommended bitrate.

I would also try disabling the S.E.Live plugin and using the Multiple output/obs-multi-rtmp. It looks like you have it installed but you can download the newest preview for OBS here. Worked for me in 33.0.1. Then setup the twitch and kick streams there.

I would advise using the YouTube stream as the main stream so you can use dynamic bitrate with since it has the highest bitrate.

@KBZ If you're going to use the same bitrate, resolution and FPS for twitch and kick, you could set twitch or kick as the main stream and then use the "Reuse the streaming encoder as OBS" option in Multiple output. I think that should just copy the encode and reduce the number of encodes.

 

[XmM]

Worth separating two different things here, because they lead to different fixes.

Encoding lag (what you're hitting) means the encoder itself can't keep up — not the network, not the capture. 61% dropped for encoding lag with a 9800X3D + 9070 XT is not a "this hardware can't do it" situation. Something is making OBS encode on the wrong path.

The thing I'd check first, because it's the most common cause after an update and it's silent:

Settings -> Output -> Output Mode: Advanced -> Streaming tab -> Encoder.

Confirm what that dropdown literally says. Not what you set it to before the update — what it says right now. On a 9070 XT you want something containing AMD HW (either `AMD HW H.264 (AVC)` or `AMD HW HEVC`). If it says `x264`, that's your whole problem: x264 is CPU encoding, and no amount of GPU horsepower helps.

This matters because OBS only falls back to x264 silently in specific situations, and once it does, the Output settings can keep showing your intended choice elsewhere. The log warning you quoted — "likely forcing OBS to use x264 on an overly intensive preset" — is OBS telling you it thinks it's on x264. That's not boilerplate; it read that from the actual encoder instance.

Two related things to check in the same visit:

• Preset. If it really is on x264, check the preset too. `slower`/`slower` on a 9800X3D will absolutely produce the numbers you're seeing, and it's easy to leave a preset cranked from an old experiment.
• Look-ahead / B-frames on the AMD encoder. If you're on AMD HW and still dropping, look-ahead is the usual culprit — it buffers frames and inflates encode latency. Turning it off is the standard first move for AMD hardware encoding.

On the 9800X3D specifically: it's a strong CPU, and that's exactly why this is misleading. It will happily grind through x264 at a heavy preset and give you 17fps output, looking like "the hardware is struggling" when really it's encoding on the wrong unit entirely.

One more, since it's free and rules out a whole category: if you're running S.E.Live multi-stream, confirm OBS isn't encoding once per output. Multi-output setups can end up with two encoder instances competing, which halves your effective headroom and produces exactly this "overloaded encoder" pattern while single-stream to the same settings would be fine. Try one output only, see if the encoding lag disappears. That single test tells you whether it's the encoder choice or the multi-output structure.

If you post the log link (Help -> Log Files -> Upload Current Log File) I can point at the exact line rather than the likely suspects — but the encoder dropdown is a 10-second check and it's where I'd put my money.

I don't want to sell you anything here — this one's probably a settings fix, not a job. Happy to look at the log if the dropdown checks out and it's still broken.

 

[KBZ]

Worth separating two different things here, because they lead to different fixes.

Encoding lag (what you're hitting) means the encoder itself can't keep up — not the network, not the capture. 61% dropped for encoding lag with a 9800X3D + 9070 XT is not a "this hardware can't do it" situation. Something is making OBS encode on the wrong path.

The thing I'd check first, because it's the most common cause after an update and it's silent:

Settings -> Output -> Output Mode: Advanced -> Streaming tab -> Encoder.

Confirm what that dropdown literally says. Not what you set it to before the update — what it says right now. On a 9070 XT you want something containing AMD HW (either `AMD HW H.264 (AVC)` or `AMD HW HEVC`). If it says `x264`, that's your whole problem: x264 is CPU encoding, and no amount of GPU horsepower helps.

This matters because OBS only falls back to x264 silently in specific situations, and once it does, the Output settings can keep showing your intended choice elsewhere. The log warning you quoted — "likely forcing OBS to use x264 on an overly intensive preset" — is OBS telling you it thinks it's on x264. That's not boilerplate; it read that from the actual encoder instance.

Two related things to check in the same visit:

• Preset. If it really is on x264, check the preset too. `slower`/`slower` on a 9800X3D will absolutely produce the numbers you're seeing, and it's easy to leave a preset cranked from an old experiment.
• Look-ahead / B-frames on the AMD encoder. If you're on AMD HW and still dropping, look-ahead is the usual culprit — it buffers frames and inflates encode latency. Turning it off is the standard first move for AMD hardware encoding.

On the 9800X3D specifically: it's a strong CPU, and that's exactly why this is misleading. It will happily grind through x264 at a heavy preset and give you 17fps output, looking like "the hardware is struggling" when really it's encoding on the wrong unit entirely.

One more, since it's free and rules out a whole category: if you're running S.E.Live multi-stream, confirm OBS isn't encoding once per output. Multi-output setups can end up with two encoder instances competing, which halves your effective headroom and produces exactly this "overloaded encoder" pattern while single-stream to the same settings would be fine. Try one output only, see if the encoding lag disappears. That single test tells you whether it's the encoder choice or the multi-output structure.

If you post the log link (Help -> Log Files -> Upload Current Log File) I can point at the exact line rather than the likely suspects — but the encoder dropdown is a 10-second check and it's where I'd put my money.

I don't want to sell you anything here — this one's probably a settings fix, not a job. Happy to look at the log if the dropdown checks out and it's still broken.

@XmM
Thanks for reaching out as well,
I can Confirm what that dropdown literally says. Not what I had set it to before the update — what it says right now.(see image).
I have never used X264 ever since I had started streaming.
As far as the Look-ahead / B-frames on the AMD encoder, I never had change B-Frames, they have always been set to 2
Ever since I started streaming.
As far as the Look-ahead, I don't think AMD has that feature, unless you are referring to (Pre-Analysis), in that case that box has never been checked. See image.
Here is the stream with shown issues 11-08-26 see in images,
I had done last which was on 11-10-2026- https://obsproject.com/logs/vrZ8VQXdPhcn6jax
had no issues, no red flags, no dropped frames it all went so
smooth and before that stream I had literally changed only one setting in windows that was suggested by qhobbes that was to toggle off my Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling ("HAGS") feature in windows. see images
Now rather that was an issue or not, it is hard to tell since i had only streamed once since changing that setting.
The only thing that is showing in the OBS Log Analyzer is my Mismatched Sample Rates
SteelSeries Sonar - Microphone (SteelSeries Sonar Virtual Audio Device): 48000 Hz
SteelSeries Sonar - Stream (SteelSeries Sonar Virtual Audio Device): 48000 Hz
SteelSeries Sonar - Chat (SteelSeries Sonar Virtual Audio Device): 48000 Hz
SteelSeries Sonar - Gaming (SteelSeries Sonar Virtual Audio Device): 96000 Hz
But there are no options at all nowhere to change it to 4800Hz in windows/sound/volume mixer/settings. see image.

 

[KBZ]

Okay, did a live stream today, and got 36.9% Dropped Frames. See log files. I'm not sure what is going on.
How can one live stream be great, then the next live stream turn not so great.

https://obsproject.com/logs/oPfg9MFEsPvnTb4M

 

[qhobbes]

That 36.9% appears to be the YouTube stream. Try this:
1. In OBS, go to Settings > Advanced > Network > check the box for "Dynamically change bitrate..." [Apply]
2. Go to Output and change the Video Encoder to AMD/AMF AV1 or H.265 and the Bitrate to 11000 Kbps. Preferably AV1. Both of those get better quality per bit/byte compared to H264. Keep the other settings the same as they are now (Preset balanced, pre-analysis off, etc.). That is 5 Mbps higher than the min recommended and 13 away from the recommended. With H264 at 13000, it's also 5 Mbps higher than min recommended but 21 away from the recommended.
3. Go to Stream and configure OBS to connect to your YouTube. [Apply] [OK]
4. Go into your S.E.Live settings and disable/remove the YouTube Stream.
5. Start the twitch and kick streams via the S.E.Live plugin.
6. Wait for OBS to fully connect to both and then start the YouTube stream via normal OBS method.

 

[KBZ]

I do appreciate you being patient and trying to- help me out.
I feel like it is switching around from one thing to another.
Configuring OBS to connect to my YouTube isn't an option, as I' am having to use Kick as my primary, because my my
Custom RTMP isn't working correctly. So I'm having to use my SRT authorized by Kick support.
Neither Twitch nor Kick supports AV1 ingest for standard live streaming. ( I only Live Stream)
Trust me if I could I so would make YT my primary and SELive twitch and Kick. But with the crazy stuff happening with Kick for me I can't.
What's crazy, even though Twitch is set to 1080p in the OBS setting, it only streams out in 1440p which makes no sense at all.
So i don't know what to do anymore to be honest, ever since this update by OBS it has been crazy for me.
Everything has literally gone mad in my Live Streams.
I'm almost at a stand still in having to choose rather or not to even stream to Kick at this point, because I can't even rearrange any of my platforms to see if it will improve or not.
Because when I stream to Kick using my Custom RTMP it turns all my hrs of live stream gameplay into 50sec, 20SEC, 30SEC, 10SEC, 1:00MIN LIVE Stream into all these small short video segments all over in my Kick channel instead of 1 Live stream I made. So yea that was a huge issue recently with Kick, all they said after me testing on a clean OBS run was to simply use the SRT link.

 

[qhobbes]

If you're main OBS stream is configured to YouTube to use AV1 or HEVC, your other's should not unless they're set to use the same settings/copy the output. Looking at the log, there's 3 encoding sessions going with different bitrates so they are clearly not using the same settings.

I setup a Kick account and then used the Multiple output/obs-multi-rtmp 0.8.0.0 plugin and was able to stream to Kick using SRT with that plugin. I'm not sure if the SE plugin supports SRT but I can't find any documentation on their website about it and I'm not installing their stuff.

I would again recommend setting YouTube as main stream and then using that plugin for twitch and Kick. You can choose the protocol and Encoder.

 

[rockbottom]

Updating the Network driver is generally the fix for the non-zero error counters below. Check your mobo's support page for an update. Hopefully the errors become history & your connection improves.

12:07:09.536: [rtmp stream: '681bfa8bb6953dcf9adb8dc9-youtube-1'] Interface: Realtek PCIe 5GbE Family Controller (ethernet, 5000↓/5000↑ mbps)
12:07:09.537: [rtmp stream: '681bfa8bb6953dcf9adb8dc9-youtube-1'] Interface has non-zero error counters (0/15 errors, 0/0 discards)
12:07:09.648: [rtmp stream: '5ef4ec693c515147c07047ea-twitch-1'] Interface: Realtek PCIe 5GbE Family Controller (ethernet, 5000↓/5000↑ mbps)
12:07:09.648: [rtmp stream: '5ef4ec693c515147c07047ea-twitch-1'] Interface has non-zero error counters (0/15 errors, 0/0 discards)

 

[KBZ]

@rockbottom , thanks for reaching out and responding to my craziness I have going on.
Okay So i went into my MoBo manufacture website ASUS located my
mobo Realtek LAN Driver V11.28.50.1224 for Windows 11 64-bit.(WHQL) on the site.
I downloaded, exported the .zip file on to my desktop, ran the new drivers. and did a restart.
I sent my prior and newly updated version in device manager.
I agree with ya on that phrase "Hopefully the errors become history & your connection improves."