RTX 3070 not suitable for 4k 60 FPS games recording

[RyNDfxTldcUq]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to validate if my thinking and conclusion is correct. Basically that my NVIDIA RTX 3070 is not performant enough to record a 4K video with 60 FPS from games.

I was doing several tests with OBS, and when I record 4K 60 FPS the output video is always stuttering (very choppy) and my GPU usage is at max during the recording. However, I was able to record a smooth video without issues in 4K with 30 FPS and 1080p 60 FPS.

I was trying to record the gameplay of D2R (so not a super demanding game). I tested two cases, recording while the game runs on my machine, and recording the game through NVIDIA GeForce NOW streaming, which is also a GPU demanding however gives my old CPU a bit of rest. In both cases the 4K60 is stuttering a lot.

I always though that 3070 is powerful enough to handle 4K60 recording so it came as a bit of surprise.

Log file, 4K60 recording:

https://obsproject.com/logs/egFH8dJM9tD7c611

Thank you!

 

[rockbottom]

3070 is A-OK but the the 4th gen CPU is a major bottleneck. Way too weak for the 3070 to flex it's stuff.

Rendering lag is overload. Limit your games frame-rate, your CPU is not powerful enough for high frame-rates, 120 is probably wishful thinking. Your audio is lagging & that may be due to CPU as well.

Try these to start.

Disable Game DVR & HAGS.

Fix your mic, it failed

Use Preset P5

 

[koala]

An RTX 3070 is definitely able to encode 4k with nvenc. However, you set the preset too high (p7). Use the default (p5) or set it even lower up to p0.

The lower the preset, the lower the internal encoder resource demand. The description of the preset ("quality") is misleading. Actually, it controls output data size or simply the compression efficiency. For streaming, this actually means quality, because streaming is bitrate constrained. For recording, it just creates slightly bigger files with the same quality. So if you're just recording, and if you're using CQP as rate control, this will not reduce quality and just speed up the encoder.

 

[qhobbes]

If you don't know how to disable HAGS, see these instructions.

1. Audio buffering hit the maximum value. This is an indicator of very high system load and may even cause individual audio sources to stop working. Keep an eye on CPU usage especially, and close background programs if needed. The only programs that should be open are OBS and your game. If you don't need to be online, disconnect your computer from the Internet.
Occasionally, this can be caused by incorrect device timestamps. Restart OBS to reset buffering.

Source affected (potential cause): Desktop Audio
2. Turn off/disconnect your Dell monitor
3. Enable V/G-sync and/or cap your game at 60 FPS. Nothing higher than that.
4. Set all the video quality settings in the game to the lowest value (except resolution).
5. Use Preset 1, Tuning Ultra Low Latency, Multipass Mode Single Pass and disable Look-ahead and Psycho Visual Tuning.

I was able to record 4K @ 25 FPS (from a video source) with my 3rd gen CPU and 600M so it's probably your CPU but try those. If you're able to get 60 FPS recodings, then just slowly raise the settings until you don't.

 

[RyNDfxTldcUq]

Hi everyone!

Thank you very much for all your answers, I just would like to leave it here for anyone else in the future.

It was indeed the preset! Reducing it from P7 to P4 or lower solved the issue. That change reduced significantly the load on my GPU and I was able to record smooth 4K video in 60 FPS!

I was playing also with other settings, I was doing tests with HAGS turned on and off, also with Tunning changed between High Quality and Ultra Low Latency, Multipass Mode between Single Pass and Two Passes (Quarter Resolution). As a result I did not spotted any visual difference between those tests, and the solution for all cases was again the Preset. When Preset was above P4, nevertheless of any other OBS settings or HAGS, that was too much for my GPU and recording was getting choppy.

I understand your concerns about my CPU, it is indeed old. However that was not the problem. The load on my CPU was always around 20%-25% (as mentioned earlier I was using GeForce NOW to play the game).

Thank you for your help!

 

[koala]

Two passes mode with Quarter Resolution instead of Full Resolution is an encoder speed optimization. Quarter resolution is a feature of newer nvenc encoders and reduces resource demand for the 1st pass that is just collecting information. Even less resource demanding (and literally no impact for CQP encoding you use for recording) is single pass mode.

These settings (preset, multipass mode) have a quality impact for streaming (CBR, VBR rate control), but not for recording (CQP rate control).

Also see https://docs.nvidia.com/video-techn...encoder-tuning-info-and-preset-configurations
and https://docs.nvidia.com/video-techn...ncoder-api-prog-guide/index.html#rate-control

 

[DayGeckoArt]

Two passes mode with Quarter Resolution instead of Full Resolution is an encoder speed optimization. Quarter resolution is a feature of newer nvenc encoders and reduces resource demand for the 1st pass that is just collecting information. Even less resource demanding (and literally no impact for CQP encoding you use for recording) is single pass mode.

These settings (preset, multipass mode) have a quality impact for streaming (CBR, VBR rate control), but not for recording (CQP rate control).

Also see https://docs.nvidia.com/video-techn...encoder-tuning-info-and-preset-configurations
and https://docs.nvidia.com/video-techn...ncoder-api-prog-guide/index.html#rate-control

I read somewhere, maybe on these forums, that Nvidia's implementation of multipass encoding is somehow flawed. Do you have any info about this?

 

[Lan Cris]

Hello everyone, sorry for my English, but I would like to ask for help, I've done everything to get a lag-free recording in OBS and I can't, the recording never goes smoothly, it always gets stuck!
Remembering that I make recordings of old games like PES 2013, Fifa 12, GTA Vice City, these are light games.

https://obsproject.com/logs/Ev74nELMwym1jKEU