Question / Help Obs is not being smooth

[CaptainVSGames]

Before anyone asks, I will provide pictures for my OBS settings and a list of my specs. A video will be provided so that you guys can see me comparing Dxtory, Shadowplay, and OBS.

Specs:
CPU - Intel Core i7-4790K (Desktop CPU)
GPU- Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M 8GB DDR4 (Mobile GPU)
RAM (Random Access Memory)- 32GB DDR3
Display - 1 Laptop Display (1920x1080) 1 Monitor (1920x1080)

Pictures of my OBS Settings

Here is the link to the video (please watch the WHOLE video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8Ekw5F9Gq8

As you can see, the 2nd one (shadowplay) wins. Shadowplay wins but has less quality than dxtory and obs. I lose about 1 fps with shadowplay. Dxtory is in 2nd place, because it is smooth and high quality but takes a lot of computing power. I lose about 30 fps with dxtory. OBS comes in last because it is LAGGING for SOME REASON. A couple months ago OBS was perfectly fine, it was recording at an actual 60 fps and it didn't use up all of my CPU. Now, whenever I record, it is as if I was recording at 30 fps. I messed around with the settings and nothing worked. PLEASE don't direct me to the CRF = (something) page. It never worked for me. Please help me, OBS is a great program and I want to stick with it.

 

[Cryonic]

You really want to record 1080p 60FPS with the default "veryfast" preset with that cpu?
Not gonna happen with the x264 encoder. Thats too much.
My 5820k @ 4,5GHz can do it, because i have 2 more cores with the same performance per core as your CPU. And thats the limit even for my CPU.

There is a guide how to make local recordings with OBS without getting that huge CPU load, search for it.
Settings that you use are designed for livestreaming, where your CPU will compensate for the low bandwith. Locally you can record as fast as your drive can write, so you dont need to push your CPU to the limit.

 

[CaptainVSGames]

You really want to record 1080p 60FPS with the default "veryfast" preset with that cpu?
Not gonna happen with the x264 encoder. Thats too much.
My 5820k @ 4,5GHz can do it, because i have 2 more cores with the same performance per core as your CPU. And thats the limit even for my CPU.

There is a guide how to make local recordings with OBS without getting that huge CPU load, search for it.
Settings that you use are designed for livestreaming, where your CPU will compensate for the low bandwith. Locally you can record as fast as your drive can write, so you dont need to push your CPU to the limit.

Even when I set it to "ultrafast" it still lags stutters. I tried everything.

 

[Cryonic]

Well first: you can try the NVenc. That will use the GPU for recording.
Second: if you still wanna use the x264, select the right settings. It will work. Because the CPU is powerful enough, no matter what you try to record there.

 

[FerretBomb]

A logfile from the Help menu would do a lot more than a collection of screenshots. All of your settings are saved in the logfile, plus it gives us more back-end information about what's going on.

If you're recording locally only, go read the HQ Local Recordings Guide:
https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/how-to-make-high-quality-local-recordings.12600/
Short version, set a custom buffer to 0, and switch from Veryfast to Ultrafast. It'll use significantly more hard drive space, but minimize CPU impact. It's also pretty easy to go back later with the low-compression video created (on the same level of quality as NVENC/Shadowplay, btw) and re-encode it with a multi-pass high quality encoder to bring the file size down.

If you're trying to livestream to YouTube, I'd say you probably need to just dial things back a bit. 1080p@60@VF in realtime is pretty computationally heavy. NVENC could be an option if you have the bandwidth to sling 15mbps at it, but I'd be hesitant to say it'd work well.