SSD to speed up video capture?

[Larry Stoter]

Just started using OBS to capture video from an HDMI source via an HDMI splitter and HDMI/USB converter to a MacBook (Mid 2010) running El Capitan - the MacBook is doing nothing else.

I've got it all working but something is limiting the resolution. The status bar indicates that the CPU is running at around 50% capacity. I'm thinking that the limitation is caused by:

1.HDMI splitter - resolution rated at 4k @ 30Hz,
2. Speed of the HDMI/USB converter - rated at a USB out of 1080p @ 30 Hz,
3. Speed of the USB bus - I'm connecting into a USB 2.0 port, nominally a maximum of 480 Mb/s,
4. A SATA HDD (5400 rpm) - no idea really of write speed since although I've run Blackmagic Disk Speed Test I don't understand the results. My interpretation, which may be wrong, is that the write speed is marginal for anything other than NTSC/PAL.

Am I correct in thinking that it is the HDD write speed which is the limiting factor?

I presume this would be improved significantly if I replaced the HDD with a SSD.

Thanks,

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

Yes, a SSD will help disk read/write (video recording) throughput significantly.
However, a 10 yr old CPU will be next bottleneck (then USB or RAM... you're likely to just keep chasing significant bottlenecks). Unless you have a spare SATA SSD laying around, spending money on that old of a system is questionable for support of modern video processing

 

[Larry Stoter]

Yes, a SSD will help disk read/write (video recording) throughput significantly.
However, a 10 yr old CPU will be next bottleneck (then USB or RAM... you're likely to just keep chasing significant bottlenecks). Unless you have a spare SATA SSD laying around, spending money on that old of a system is questionable for support of modern video processing

Thanks :-)

I'm just using the old MacBook to capture the video. I then transfer to a new iMac for any further processing. Currently, the capture video isn't obviously poor resolution but could be better.

I don't have a SATA SSD in my box of bits but I can buy a suitable new SATA SSD for around UK£25 (just under US$35) which is a lot less than a newer, used MacBook.

Which is what I think I'll do :-)

Thanks,

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

Understood. My recommendation would then be - buy from someplace with a generous return policy in case the SSD helps, but doesn't overcome issue with old laptop, and you'd like to return the SSD which works fine, just didn't accomplish what you hoped it would. Good luck