Recording randomly drops in quality

[fizznt]

Recently I built a new computer (specs: Ryzen 5 7600x, RTX 3080, 32GB ram) and everytime I try recording the quality will randomly drop to about half the normal framerate for a couple of seconds before returning to normal.

I have tried many different solutions and recording setting but for some reason the problem persists even though the game I'm trying to record (The Binding of Isaac: Repentance) should be very easy to record with the specs I have.

I've also provided log files to people on the OBS reddit but it seems like they found no issue.


Note: My log (https://obsproject.com/logs/LiiiNKMPZYecKU0k) now mentions I'm having "Max Audio Buffering" which is weird since my cpu is not near 100% usage and this was not there before while I was still having this problem. I'm also able to provide a part of the recording if needed.

 

[qhobbes]

1. Your audio device has a sample rate that doesn't match the OBS Sample Rate. This can result in audio drift over time or sound distortion. Check your audio devices in Windows settings (both Playback and Recording) and ensure the Default Format (under Advanced) is consistent. 48000 Hz is recommended.
OBS Sample Rate: 48000 Hz
Line (3- Steinberg UR12 ): 44100 Hz
2. Audio buffering hit the maximum value. This is an indicator of very high system load, will affect stream latency, and may even cause individual audio sources to stop working. Keep an eye on CPU usage especially, and close background programs if needed. Occasionally, this can be caused by incorrect device timestamps. Restart OBS to reset buffering.
Source affected (potential cause): Desktop Audio
3. OBS is not running as Administrator. This can lead to OBS not being able to Game Capture certain games. If you are not running into issues, you can ignore this, but it kind of looks like you are.
4. Your GPU is maxed out and OBS can't render and encode scenes fast enough (0.3% of the time). Running a game without vertical sync or a frame rate limiter will frequently cause performance issues with OBS because your GPU will be maxed out. OBS requires a little GPU to render your scene.

Enable V/G-sync or set a reasonable frame rate limit (144, 120, 60, 59) that your GPU can handle without hitting 100% usage.
Set Multipass Mode to Single Pass and disable Psycho Visual Tuning as those use additional GPU.

If that's not enough you may also need to turn down some of the video quality options in the game. If you are experiencing issues in general while using OBS, your GPU may be overloaded for the settings you are trying to use.

Please check our guide for ideas why this may be happening, and steps you can take to correct it: GPU Overload Issues.

If still having issues after making all those changes, post a new log.

 

[fizznt]

Here is another log file: https://obsproject.com/logs/RrYpBFBw66yBbtlu


I've tried doing everything you mentioned and also monitoring my task manager while recording and playing a more intensive game.
My task manager never showed my gpu going over 50% and my cpu was under minimal load the entire time.

I fixed the audio buffer by turning off device timestamps within my audio sources but now I'm getting the message that I have rendering lag and encoder overload which makes no sense to me since I observed no stress on the GPU while recording.

 

[qhobbes]

15:06:48.038: multipass: qres
15:06:48.038: profile: high
15:06:48.038: width: 1920
15:06:48.038: height: 1080
15:06:48.038: b-frames: 2
15:06:48.038: lookahead: true
15:06:48.038: psycho_aq: true

Set Multipass Mode to Single Pass and disable Psycho Visual Tuning and Look-ahead as all 3 of those use additional GPU.
It looks like your Video Capture Device is not working. If so, remove it as a source.