PC Recommendation - OBS 4K Recording from PS5 Only

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Lorne.T

Member
I've been a Mac user for many years, so know-nothing about PCs. I'm currently using my MacBook Pro for recording my PS5 with OBS, But I'm not getting satisfactory results, picture wise, so I'm looking to pick up a PC for that purpose only. Costly, I know, but it's what I need to do, so am looking for some help!

I need to record in 4K with great results from a PS5. I'm pretty certain I wont be using the PC to actually play games, currently anyway, and I wont be using it for anything else, as I'm happy with everything I do on my Macs.

My budget currently is around £1500 / $1800, though it could go up slightly, if needed.

I'm loathe to spend that amount, but It's what I want to concentrate on over the next few years, alongside my photography work, so may as well put the investment in.
I'm looking to buy at the end of May, so open to ideas.

If anyone can assist a PC newbie, it would be appreciated!
 
FerretBomb

FerretBomb

Active Member
Really, you're looking for something with an nVidia 20-series GPU or better. NVENC removes most of the 'heavy lifting' of realtime video encoding. Even a low to midrange system past that should be able to cope, if all you're doing is recording a video capture device source. More complicated setups with more sources and effects could run into CPU concerns.

It really might be best to troubleshoot the recording settings you're using though.

1) Use Simple mode, not Advanced.
2) Use CQP or CRF encoding, NOT CBR or VBR. You generally want to use a CQ value between 16 and 22. The lower the number, the better the quality, but the larger the file size will be. 16 is visually lossless. Down to 12 might be used for video that will be edited and re-encoded later, to minimize second-encode artifacting.
3) Ensure that HDR is turned OFF in the PS5. OBS does not support HDR.
4) If you've changed things like color space or color range in Settings->Advanced, change them back.

Really, it might be best to just do a test recording and attach a logfile from the recording session. We could give more pertinent feedback after looking the existing settings over, and seeing what might be causing your quality issues.
 
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Lorne.T

Member
Thanks for the reply.

I think I've done what I can with my OBS settings on Mac.

My CRF has been between 16 and 20

My HDR is off too.

Some games have looked okay but others have been awful.

It's an i9 MacBook, so fairly powerful, but you're stuck with x264.

I'm tempted to get a PC anyway, as it's a tough market out there, so 4K recording may have a chance of being viewed more, though it's not something I seek out personally.

I'll persevere with my Mac for now, but I've got a month or so to decide if a PC is the way to go.
 
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Lorne.T

Member
Anyone else help? My budget has now gone up to around just over £2000 / $2500, with a 3080 graphics card.
 
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alecs

New Member
Lorne.T said:
Anyone else help? My budget has now gone up to around just over £2000 / $2500, with a 3080 graphics card.
Click to expand...

Why 4K? I think that 2K or even 1080p is more than enough for streaming, and other than a powerful PC you need a really strong internet connection to stream 4K video. You should ask on a subreddit like r/buildmeapc and specify that you're using it for streaming
 
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Lorne.T

Member
Thanks for the reply.

4K isn't for streaming. It's for recording for YT.


alecs said:
Why 4K? I think that 2K or even 1080p is more than enough for streaming, and other than a powerful PC you need a really strong internet connection to stream 4K video. You should ask on a subreddit like r/buildmeapc and specify that you're using it for streaming
Click to expand...
 
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Lorne.T

Member
Is there a major difference between a 3070 graphics card and a 3080 for what I need? The 3080 seems to be as rare as PS5's!
 
deFrisselle

deFrisselle

Member
If you are just getting a GPU for the encoding then either one Both have the same encoder Could even get an earlier series card down to the 1660

www.nvidia.com

NVIDIA NVENC Obs Guide

Configure OBS to get the most quality out of your stream.
www.nvidia.com
www.nvidia.com

Available Now: New GeForce-Optimized OBS and RTX Encoder Enables Pro-Quality Broadcasting on a Single PC

Improved encoders, faster framerates, and the new OBS update give GeForce RTX users the performance to stream and game simultaneously at maximum quality on one PC or Max-Q laptop.
www.nvidia.com
 
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Lorne.T

Member
Thanks for the info.


deFrisselle said:
If you are just getting a GPU for the encoding then either one Both have the same encoder Could even get an earlier series card down to the 1660

www.nvidia.com

NVIDIA NVENC Obs Guide

Configure OBS to get the most quality out of your stream.
www.nvidia.com
www.nvidia.com

Available Now: New GeForce-Optimized OBS and RTX Encoder Enables Pro-Quality Broadcasting on a Single PC

Improved encoders, faster framerates, and the new OBS update give GeForce RTX users the performance to stream and game simultaneously at maximum quality on one PC or Max-Q laptop.
www.nvidia.com
Click to expand...
 
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