OBS Cutting FPS in Half When Opened (I7 12700k, RTX 3080, 32GB DDR 4)

[SHIFT_walker]

Looks like this post didn't get approved but I'm not sure why so I'm trying again...

I set up recordings for my son but we're struggling with this on his computer so I'm trying my own (specs above). I get 200+ FPS in Fortnite but when I open OBS (not even when recording) my FPS cuts in half. I'm new to this but happy to share anything I can to help. Also, he has a Surface Book 2 with a GTX 1060 and it's unusable to record while playing on Fortnite even on the lowest graphic settings (yes, I confirmed it's using the Nvidia GPU). Of note, the recording doesn't experience any drops.

A bit of context:

1440p monitor, downscaling to 1080p 60 FPS
Tried H264 and both NVIDIA NVEC options
I've made it "priority" in settings and even tried ultra-low latency options
Audio is consistent at 48
Fortnite settings have been tried all across the board - it doesn't seem to matter much
I've disabled preview mode -- didn't make a difference
I've asked ChatGPT and Bard all about this - they can't help :)

I've got to believe my PC should be powerful enough to keep above 80-90 FPS with medium settings when recording, or am I crazy?

Can anyone provide some guidance?

Thanks!

 

[DayGeckoArt]

Don't downscale, it uses processing power. Low latency settings might be reducing performance and aren't needed unless you're playing the game through the OBS preview

 

[SHIFT_walker]

Interesting. I dont need to use OBS preview, I suppose. Curious, how much resources does the preview take up? Also, curious about the same question in regard to downscaling. I was really only trying to avoid file size. I edit with Da Vinci resolve and that finishes in 1080p. Thoughts?

 

[SHIFT_walker]

Also, I tested again last night and simply opening OBS when playing Fortnite moved FPS from around 220+ to 80-100. I've tried running as admin, changing prioritization levels, etc. This happens before I even press record and doesn't matter if I enable preview or not. I've reinstalled and checked for errors. Super confusing here!

 

[angvil]

Also, I tested again last night and simply opening OBS when playing Fortnite moved FPS from around 220+ to 80-100. I've tried running as admin, changing prioritization levels, etc. This happens before I even press record and doesn't matter if I enable preview or not. I've reinstalled and checked for errors. Super confusing here!

Did you find a solution? I have your same specs and I tried everything. Even a fresh empty obs install