Question / Help OBS framerate issue

[fentizzle]

I've had to explain this too many times and it's so hard to do over text but I'll try my best.

I stream. I'm terrible but it's fun. And I can only really stream Fortnite and PUBG which isn't optimal because I love Siege.

But there's a problem.

As you're all more than aware, I assume, having vsync off is crucial for shooters and just PC games in general. But when I have vsync on in siege, OBS captures it perfectly but the game dips down to 35 and bounces around there. Turning vsync off, Siege hits 120+ frames perfectly and doesn't drop below 110 at its worst. However, with vsync off and OBS outputting at 60 fps, it actually ends up only capturing a maximum of 48 fps from the game and 21 at the lowest Ive caught it dropping. Capping OBS at 30 doesnt help either, as it just ends up capturing 17-18 fps at best.

Also, these framerates happen without even recording or streaming. They actually get worse when recording/streaming. Recording with Shadowplay is flawless though, which is why Ubisoft support and I both believe it's an issue with my OBS.

When I bought the game March last year, I could stream it perfectly on the i5-6400 I had (hardware encoding, which also doesnt work anymore and affects the game heavily). About 4 months in, I stopped being able to stream. It forced me to go out and buy a Ryzen 5 1600X. I can now stream with x264 but Siege is still so much trouble.

I'm so sorry for the essay, it's so hard to get this across through text, it's so much easier to explain by voice but I tried. I hope someone can help me out.

full specs:
Ryzen 5 1600X
ASUS Dual GTX 1060 O3G
16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
EVGA 500W PSU

I tried my best to get my message across here

 

[Narcogen]

Please post a log with your issue! Here's how...

 

[fentizzle]

Please post a log with your issue! Here's how...

One of the many logs from trying to get it to work

 

[BK-Morpheus]

There is no recording or streaming attempt in that log file.

 

[fentizzle]

I'll give it a shot recording it. The problems happen in and out of recording, I asumed the log would show any problems pre-attempt. Bear with me.

 

[BK-Morpheus]

Just from your problem description, I bet on GPU overload (uncapped fps = forcing GPU or CPU to become a bottleneck). If that bottleneck is the GPU (more than 95% load), OBS can run into rendering issues.

Way more important than just FPS as high as possible is the consistency of frame times.
AVG 200fps with constant jumps between 90 - 300fps do feel way more stuttery and delayed, than limited 120fps with only slight dips down to 100.

If you just want to get rid off the input/outpu lag that Vsync often introduces, go for an FPS limit via ingame options or 3rd party tools like Riva Tuner statistics server.

 

[fentizzle]

There is no recording or streaming attempt in that log file.

Here you go. Bear in mind, Hardware Encoding is completely off the table. Yes, OBS would pick it up perfectly, but the game can't handle it if I do that. You might also see in the log file the point Siege decided to Vsync itself without my permission. Which happens a lot with games I play.
I apologise if i come across as arrogant or rude, I'm just real sick of the shit I've been through with this computer.

 

[fentizzle]

So, it's my GPU that's the real issue? It is only a 3gig 1060, I've been saying this to my mates for God knows how long and they just wouldnt listen.

 

[BK-Morpheus]

You could say, it's the GPU (Number of lagged frames due to rendering lag/stalls: 2734 (18.1%)), but I say it is the fact, that you allow your game to use up all available GPU power, by not limiting the ingame FPS.

If you upgrade from the 1060 to a 1080TI, you might still run into the same bottleneck, if the CPU is fast enough to not become the new bottleneck.

 

[fentizzle]

You could say, it's the GPU (Number of lagged frames due to rendering lag/stalls: 2734 (18.1%)), but I say it is the fact, that you allow your game to use up all available GPU power, by not limiting the ingame FPS.

If you upgrade from the 1060 to a 1080TI, you might still run into the same bottleneck, if the CPU is fast enough to not become the new bottleneck.

I was thinking of just going up to the 6GB version... Or would I be better off with a 1070 at that point?

But this RivaTuner is doing wonders. Thank you so much for this. Finally, someone actually H E L P E D me.

 

[Narcogen]

Here you go. Bear in mind, Hardware Encoding is completely off the table. Yes, OBS would pick it up perfectly, but the game can't handle it if I do that.

It looks like your problem has been solved, which is great... but I'd like some clarification on what you mean by hardware encoding. My understanding is that for chips that support NVENC, there is dedicated hardware for it on the card. So it should not impact game performance at all. Do you mean that it does?

 

[BK-Morpheus]

As he is already using NVENC, I think by saying "Hardware Encoding is completely off the table" he actually meant that software encoding (x264 = software = CPU encoding) is off the table, as the additional CPU load has too much impact on his game.
NVENC is done on a separate chip/part of the graphics card, so the only Impact is due to OBS scene rendering (GPU load) and the increased use of the PCI-e bandwidth (because OBS needs to access the frame buffer).
So the impact of the NVENC encoder itself is pretty small.

@fentizzle : I would not think about updating from the 1060 3GB to the 6GB version. Maybe wait a little longer (if necessary) and switch to 1070 or 170Ti.

 

[fentizzle]

It looks like your problem has been solved, which is great... but I'd like some clarification on what you mean by hardware encoding. My understanding is that for chips that support NVENC, there is dedicated hardware for it on the card. So it should not impact game performance at all. Do you mean that it does?

Yeah, using NVENC causes the game to drop massive amounts of frames right from the get go, x264 doesn't struggle in the slightest. I end up with about 60% maximum CPU usage from Siege and OBS on superfast preset

 

[Narcogen]

Could you post a log of that happening?

I'm not a dev or anything but from the way I understand NVENC works, that should not be possible. I would be curious to see what the log indicates is going on.

 

[fentizzle]

Could you post a log of that happening?

I'm not a dev or anything but from the way I understand NVENC works, that should not be possible. I would be curious to see what the log indicates is going on.

Would the log show that? I mean, using NVENC allows OBS to record at a solid 60fps, no hitches, stutters or drops. It just makes the game suffer. Most likely because my Siege is set to High process priority but defaults to Normal when I click into the game.

 

[Narcogen]

Process priority relates to CPU, not GPU.

NVENC uses a dedicated hardware video encoder that is not used at all for gaming. If you think using it makes the game suffer, it's possible that something is happening, but it's not directly the result of using NVENC because as I understand it, that is not possible-- it is literally the point of it existing that it doesn't consume any GPU resources that any other software (except video editors) would use, and that because it compresses frames on the card it saves CPU and I/O resources on your machine as the data doesn't need to leave the card in order to be compressed.

 

[Fissshie]

I've had this problem. I didn't have it as badly as you, but I received terrible lag.

All I can suggest is to either make sure:
- Media playback is not on, such as YouTube videos or Twitch streams.
- Minimising OBS

I know that you commented on NVENC, but please try these options with NVENC. It might help your main problem with the ingame frame issue.