OBS Recording low end pc

[Questionnnnn]

Hello there,

i am very new to all of this technology and have some questions about obs recording, i am currently recording my ps3 gameplay with obs. I used to have my recording settings on ‘advanced’ because everyone on youtube and other sources say its the best but recently someone told me that recording gameplay on ‘simple’ is way better. So i tried that and it is indeed bettter, it looks smoother and less laggy.

One of my questions is what settings on simple are the best to use for a low end pc to get that smooth gameplay? I have recorded with encoder: ‘softwareX264 low cpu, bigger file’ and recordingquality: ‘high quality, average file’. These settings are often the best but the file is just so big (video of 10 seconds already like 25mb). And sometimes the CPU is going up to around 30%, and other times around 7%. I’m confused by that because it should stay low right?

Also sometimes if i put the encoder on ‘hardware (QSV)’ the gameplay looks smoother and the CPU is often around 10% on that one. But other times it gets laggy again. The other encoder ‘SoftwareX264’ looks always laggy for some reason so i dont use that one.
I have 3 encoders to choose from: SoftwareX264.
SoftwareX264 low cpu, bigger file.
Hardwardware (QSV).

Is one better than the other or depends this on your laptop/computer ?

Also, maybe a stupid question, is a low CPU usage during recording better then a high usage? I looks like around 5% CPU the gameplay looks smoothest.
I just would like to know if someone can help me picking out the right encoder and recordingquality, and quickly tell me how CPU works during recording (like is low cpu usage during recording smoother then high?).

if someone could help me with this I’d be very very thankful.

Greetings.

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

Is one better than the other or depends this on your laptop/computer ?

Correct, it depends on your computer - GPU encode offload options, CPU, RAM, Disk I/O, etc. All to be balanced with whatever you have, then adding the computationally demanding task of real-time video encoding

> Also, maybe a stupid question, is a low CPU usage during recording better then a high usage?
No, not a stupid question. Many computers will have problems with too high of usage. And modern CPUs, many optimized for battery life, have thermal throttling which can set in if CPU (or GPU ) usage is sustained. So... it depends. In general, if thermal throttling not an issue, then sustaining workload wherever, with peaks in the 80-90% range should be fine (even very short 100% might be ok). I would not target that low of sustained CPU usage, unless thermal throttling a problem

As for what encoding is best... kind of like asking what is best car, bike, truck, motorcycle, pair of shoes, etc .... it depends

So, you start with either what you want to accomplish, or what you have, depending on what is your driving factor. For many, there isn't money for a system upgrade, so you are actually looking at what you can accomplish with what you have (in which case, realistic expectations help, like starting with 30 fps not higher). For under-powered systems, optimizing the OS to reduce resource load is the first place to start. That includes making sure unnecessary background processes/tasks aren't running (not just that you are using them). Using OBS's auto-config wizard is a good place to start. Then use hardware resource monitoring to see where bottlenecks are
Often, using GPU encoding offload will help (when there is CPU contention issues). If you are recording locally, make sure you have the Disk I/O to sustain your video file recording (a SSD is usually plenty [and unlike CPUs and GPUs is usually an easy & inexpensive upgrade. I only recommend HDD for archive storage, not OS or Apps], but some security s/w can cause issues ... shouldn't but is possible)

With a low-end CPU, a key question is what GPU do you have. Then we can answer better. in general, AMD GPU encode offload options with OBS are often regarded as pretty poor. With Intel, you should be researching QuickSync, and for nVidia - NVENC.
Might this help Boost your stream quality — choose the right encoder! | by Andrew Whitehead | Mobcrush Blog Get the most out of your CPU or GPU and stop dropping frames Jul 2, 2020 · 4 min read
and maybe this one https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/best-settings.140188/#post-514693 comment #2

 

[Questionnnnn]

Correct, it depends on your computer - GPU encode offload options, CPU, RAM, Disk I/O, etc. All to be balanced with whatever you have, then adding the computationally demanding task of real-time video encoding

> Also, maybe a stupid question, is a low CPU usage during recording better then a high usage?
No, not a stupid question. Many computers will have problems with too high of usage. And modern CPUs, many optimized for battery life, have thermal throttling which can set in if CPU (or GPU ) usage is sustained. So... it depends. In general, if thermal throttling not an issue, then sustaining workload wherever, with peaks in the 80-90% range should be fine (even very short 100% might be ok). I would not target that low of sustained CPU usage, unless thermal throttling a problem

As for what encoding is best... kind of like asking what is best car, bike, truck, motorcycle, pair of shoes, etc .... it depends

So, you start with either what you want to accomplish, or what you have, depending on what is your driving factor. For many, there isn't money for a system upgrade, so you are actually looking at what you can accomplish with what you have (in which case, realistic expectations help, like starting with 30 fps not higher). For under-powered systems, optimizing the OS to reduce resource load is the first place to start. That includes making sure unnecessary background processes/tasks aren't running (not just that you are using them). Using OBS's auto-config wizard is a good place to start. Then use hardware resource monitoring to see where bottlenecks are
Often, using GPU encoding offload will help (when there is CPU contention issues). If you are recording locally, make sure you have the Disk I/O to sustain your video file recording (a SSD is usually plenty [and unlike CPUs and GPUs is usually an easy & inexpensive upgrade. I only recommend HDD for archive storage, not OS or Apps], but some security s/w can cause issues ... shouldn't but is possible)

With a low-end CPU, a key question is what GPU do you have. Then we can answer better. in general, AMD GPU encode offload options with OBS are often regarded as pretty poor. With Intel, you should be researching QuickSync, and for nVidia - NVENC.
Might this help Boost your stream quality — choose the right encoder! | by Andrew Whitehead | Mobcrush Blog Get the most out of your CPU or GPU and stop dropping frames Jul 2, 2020 · 4 min read
and maybe this one https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/best-settings.140188/#post-514693 comment #2

Thank you so much for your reaction.

I put it on automatic wizard configuration like you said and the recording was very smooth and then i put my recordingquality on ‘big file’ and now its super smooth (files are a little bit bigger but thats okay for me). So the problem was already solved right there with a few clicks.
Thanks again and have a nice day :)

 

[alexhales]

Hello there,

i am very new to all of this technology and have some questions about obs recording, i am currently recording my ps3 gameplay with obs. I used to have my recording settings on ‘advanced’ because everyone on youtube and other sources say its the best but recently someone told me that recording gameplay on ‘simple’ is way better. So i tried that and it is indeed bettter, it looks smoother and less laggy.

One of my questions is what settings on simple are the best to use for a low end pc to get that smooth gameplay? I have recorded with encoder: ‘softwareX264 low cpu, bigger file’ and recordingquality: ‘high quality, average file’. These settings are often the best but the file is just so big (video of 10 seconds already like 25mb). And sometimes the CPU is going up to around 30%, and other times around 7%. I’m confused by that because it should stay low right?

Also sometimes if i put the encoder on ‘hardware (QSV)’ the gameplay looks smoother and the CPU is often around 10% on that one. But other times it gets laggy again. The other encoder ‘SoftwareX264’ looks always laggy for some reason so i dont use that one.
I have 3 encoders to choose from: SoftwareX264.
SoftwareX264 low cpu, bigger file.
Hardwardware (QSV).

Is one better than the other or depends this on your laptop/computer ?

Also, maybe a stupid question, is a low CPU usage during recording better then a high usage? I looks like around 5% CPU the gameplay looks smoothest.
I just would like to know if someone can help me picking out the right encoder and recordingquality, and quickly tell me how CPU works during recording (like is low cpu usage during recording smoother then high?).

if someone could help me with this I’d be very very thankful.

Greetings.

Recording gameplay with OBS can be a bit tricky, especially if you're new to it. Let's break down your questions step by step:

1. Recording Settings: Simple vs. Advanced You've mentioned that you found better results using the "Simple" settings compared to the "Advanced" settings. It's important to note that the "Simple" settings are designed to be more user-friendly and provide good results with minimal customization. On the other hand, the "Advanced" settings offer more control over various parameters but require a better understanding of OBS and encoding.

2. Choosing an Encoder: SoftwareX264, SoftwareX264 Low CPU, Hardware (QSV) The choice of encoder depends on your hardware and its capabilities. Here's a quick rundown of the encoders you've mentioned:

• SoftwareX264: This is a software-based encoder that utilizes your CPU for encoding. It generally provides good quality but might be more demanding on your CPU.
• SoftwareX264 Low CPU, Bigger File: This preset reduces the CPU load but produces larger file sizes. It sacrifices some quality to reduce the strain on your CPU.
• Hardware (QSV): This uses the built-in hardware encoder on Intel processors (Quick Sync Video). It offloads the encoding task from your CPU to the GPU, which can lead to better performance. However, the quality might not be as high as with the software encoder.

3. Recording Quality and File Size Higher recording quality settings will generally result in better video quality but also larger file sizes. If your primary concern is smoother gameplay and you're okay with slightly lower quality, you might want to experiment with lowering the recording quality settings. This can help reduce file sizes and ease the strain on your system.

4. CPU Usage During Recording When recording gameplay, CPU usage can vary depending on the encoder, settings, and the complexity of the game you're playing. In general, lower CPU usage is desirable because it indicates that your system has more processing power available for the game and other tasks, which can contribute to smoother gameplay. However, very low CPU usage might also mean that the encoder isn't utilizing your system's full potential, potentially resulting in lower quality recordings.

5. Choosing the Right Settings Given that you're using a low-end PC, you might want to continue experimenting with different settings to find the balance between quality and performance that works best for your system. You could start by trying the "Hardware (QSV)" encoder with the "High Quality, High File Size" recording quality and see how it performs. If you notice lag or performance issues, you might need to adjust the settings further.

Remember that the "best" settings can vary depending on your specific hardware, the game you're playing, and your personal preferences. It's a good idea to do some trial and error to find the settings that work best for your situation.