Question / Help record quality went to heck after changing graphics card (Radeon RX 580)

verso

New Member
I'm wondering if somebody can give me a push in the right direction. Log file of most recent recording attempt: https://obsproject.com/logs/IqkIN_UtmZHBueRo

Explanation:

I had a Radeon RX 480 and have recorded many videos with it using pretty basic recording settings. The quality was perfectly acceptable for the size of the files OBS would generate. My settings were as follows:

Format: MKV (because I would occasionally get game crashes and if it was MP4, I'd just lose everything)
Encoder: H264/AVC (AMD AMF)
Quality Preset: Balanced
Pre-pass: Disabled
Target Bitrate: 15000
Filler Data: Enabled (I think)
Keyframe Interval: 2

Anyway, I always hated that card, because it was stupidly loud and would cause a lot of games to crash and often my computer, as well. I finally replaced it with a Radeon RX 580, which has fairly similar specs (8GB, etc.) and really isn't that different except that it's quiet and actually works. The only thing is that without changing any settings in OBS, videos were extremely choppy. I don't know why. For the record, I did do a clean reinstall of the Radeon drivers and they weren't completely up-to-date previously.

I tried changing just about every setting it was possible to change, watched videos on best OBS recording settings and so forth, and never got a better result. In fact, almost nothing I did ever changed anything at all.

So what I'm doing now is just using Radeon ReLive, which records gameplay flawlessly, though admittedly, at double the sorts of file sizes I was used to (not a huge deal). Honestly, ReLive is probably fine for most things, but there are still features that I like about OBS, like the ability to capture specific game windows (sometimes ReLive just treats games, like Rimworld, as Desktop applications), ability to record in MKV, multiple audio tracks and not just separate mic track, and so forth. So I'd prefer to use OBS if possible, but obviously not if it's dropping 10% of frames.

Is there any way to just get the same quality from OBS that I get from ReLive (I don't care about file size), but actually benefit from the value-added features available through OBS? Can anybody surmise what's going wrong here?
 

R1CH

Forum Admin
Developer
It looks like your GPU is maxed out, so the encoder has no chance to run. Try limiting the FPS of your game in some way, eg vsync or FPS limiter. You can also try using a constant quality / quantizer rate control rather than a set bitrate as this will produce better output, lower numbers are higher quality.
 

verso

New Member
That's too bad. Suppose I could try Vsync. It's just weird, because this was never a problem in the past, and it's stuttering like crazy even on really non-taxing games, like Rimworld.

I've tried the constant quality setting, actually. One of many things I tried that didn't change anything, oddly.

Guess I'll probably just continue to use ReLive, since I get perfect quality recordings. Unless anybody else has any suggestions.
 
D

Deleted member 121471

Things that may help, in addition to what R1CH mentioned:

1) Disable Game DVR/game Mode in your windows 10 settings, under "gaming" category;
2) One capture source per scene collection;
3) Use "indistinguishable" quality preset.

Retest and post again if you still have issues. For reference, I own the same GPU and am familiar with its shortcomings. I wouldn't bother with custom settings unless you're streaming and your CPU can't handle the load.
 

verso

New Member
Thanks.
  1. Looked like it was already off, honestly, but I turned off the Game Bar entirely and now the log reflects it. Unfortunately, it didn't change anything.
  2. Tried it, but no effect.
  3. Tried it, but no effect.
Okay, I guess it's just some weird quirk of this GPU. Found a few reports of people experiencing the same exact problem. Like this one:

https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/can-anyone-explain-this.102736/

Annoying, but I suppose I'll just live without OBS.
 

verso

New Member
Never mind. A solution was actually in that thread I just posted. Enabling OpenCL Transfer. Resolves the issue. Don't really know what that means at the moment, so I guess I need to research it to make sure it won't blow up my computer. Also, haven't tested it extensively, but so far so good.

The positive thing to come out of this is that at the very least, I learned that ReLive is a very decent product, and I may continue using it for when I don't need all the bells and whistles.
 
Last edited:
Top