Question / Help Stream pixelation even on slow x264

[RallyX]

Hello everyone,

I am kind of new to streaming and I want to get the best quality possible on Payday 2. I know this is hard because FPS games do require high bitrates to look good. However, I have only 1.5 mbit stable upload.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/6244881735

I currently have a 2 PC setup with NGINX and their specs are the following:


GAMING PC:
------------------------------------------
Processor: i3 6100
RAM: 8GB DDR4
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB

STREAMING PC (Old Alienware M15X):
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Processor: i7 840QM
RAM: 8GB DDR3
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD Mobility 5850



OBS Settings:

GAMING PC:
------------------------------------------
ENCODER: NVENC - Default
BITRATE: 20000 (Connected directly to streaming pc with crossover cable)
Audio Bitrate: 160
Video Output: 720p @ 30 fps



STREAMING PC:
-----------------------------------------
ENCODER: H264
Profile: Main
Compression Preset: slow (No frame drops or high encoding time with 70% CPU Usage)
Bitrate to Twitch: 1300 - 1400 depending on network stability
Audio Bitrate: 64
Video Output: 540p @ 30 fps


Here are two samples on a test channel so you have a better idea of the pixelation:


Payday 2: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/137814813

The issue is not noticeable on other games such as:

Life is Strange: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/137802542


Log of the Gaming PC:
https://gist.github.com/a86629adac10f01f31de367cf5ffdeed

Log of Streaming PC:
https://gist.github.com/eeabbd63b730f741e7263fcb9bca79cb

Thank you very much in advance for your valuable help!!!!

 

[RallyX]

Should I need to downscale to 480p?

 

[xxAssassin349]

At that bitrate, you really shouldn't expect much in terms of quality. Try enabling the low latency mode and increase your bitrate a bit more because both logs don't show any issues with bandwidth. You should also use the fast or medium preset because slow is a lot slower than medium and the quality increase is really low at that low of a bitrate.

 

[writes123]

Perhaps I'm missing something, but why use NVENC to encode on your gaming pc? Also, I agree to try out 480p to see if it helps due to the low upload bitrate. If Slow preset works at 70 CPU use, I would keep that if at all possible. The only other alternative I can think of is to lower your resolution even further since you are capped upload bitrate wise and essentially x264 preset (compression) wise. Also try the Lancoz vs bilinear resize filter?