System Specs for streaming and recording at the same time in OBS

Godwin Olokor

New Member
Please what is the minimum PC spec for streaming and recording at the same time in OBS? I stream at 1280x720, a bitrate of 1900kbps, and record at 1920x1080. But I noticed that my video cracks so I changed my recording to 1280x720 at a bitrate of 5000kbps. My system spec is Corei7 4th Gen, 8GB RAM, and 500GB HDD.
 

Lawrence_SoCal

Active Member
Replace that HDD with a SSD, and that will help immensely. Better yet, have a SSD for OS, swap file, etc, and a separate SSD for recording to... but that is probably overkill (and often not possible/practical in lower-end consumer laptops).
That said, a 4th gen i7 is almost 10 years old, and way out-of-date for modern real-time video encoding. You could get a newer GPU for encoding offload, but probably not worth putting money into an older system like yours.

The issue is that some recording options (like chroma-keying a video camera input) or other plugins can have a huge CPU impact. So... it depends. You system, properly optimized, should be able to handle 720p ok, and maybe even 1080p depending on other workloads (ie, you can't max out the CPU and GPU with a game, then add real-time video encoding with OBS with lots of advanced features and expect that to work.) But a base workload that doesn't strain the PC, an optimized OS and OBS settings, and you might just get 1080p working.

To minimize load on your system,
- record and stream at same setting (so only 1 video encoding stream to process, vs 2)
- don't use Studio Mode as that 2X rendering workload
make sure you've optimized your Operating System but not running stuff that doesn't need to be. What that is? depends on you/your PC specifically
 

Godwin Olokor

New Member
Replace that HDD with a SSD, and that will help immensely. Better yet, have a SSD for OS, swap file, etc, and a separate SSD for recording to... but that is probably overkill (and often not possible/practical in lower-end consumer laptops).
That said, a 4th gen i7 is almost 10 years old, and way out-of-date for modern real-time video encoding. You could get a newer GPU for encoding offload, but probably not worth putting money into an older system like yours.

The issue is that some recording options (like chroma-keying a video camera input) or other plugins can have a huge CPU impact. So... it depends. You system, properly optimized, should be able to handle 720p ok, and maybe even 1080p depending on other workloads (ie, you can't max out the CPU and GPU with a game, then add real-time video encoding with OBS with lots of advanced features and expect that to work.) But a base workload that doesn't strain the PC, an optimized OS and OBS settings, and you might just get 1080p working.

To minimize load on your system,
- record and stream at same setting (so only 1 video encoding stream to process, vs 2)
- don't use Studio Mode as that 2X rendering workload
make sure you've optimized your Operating System but not running stuff that doesn't need to be. What that is? depends on you/your PC specifically
Thanks for the reply Lawrence. I'm actually not gaming. I'm just shooting a speech video which sometimes lasts for 4hrs. I also didn't know studio mode also used system resources. But I really need the preview screen as I usually change screens often so how do I work around that? Also are u saying I should stream using the same resolution and settings as my recording? And that will minimize load? Wow. I'll try that. Cos I intend to go stream and record at 1080p. Thanks for all the info.
 

Lawrence_SoCal

Active Member
Regarding Studio Mode = ~2X rendering work... you don't work around that. Doing 2X the work is 2X the work. a work-around is not doing 2X the work (adjust your workflow so you don't need Studio Mode.. I don't even though my PC can handle it), or get a computer that can handle the extra processing workload *if* using Studio Mode is pushing you into overload.

Streaming & Recording at different settings means more work. yes. There should be an option (in Recording, if I recall, that says something to the effect of 'use same settings as Stream'
 

Borca

New Member
Hi

HAve a similar problem, only that need to buy new laptop.
My older HP Probook 450 G4 (i5-7200 U CPU at 2,5 GHz with 8GB RAM) stopped working - first some keys stopped and now ssd with system died.
I need to buy new laptop. I record and stream hanball games (recording and streaming in same resolution). Previous laptop didt it with no problems - even recoding (10 s action records), I also tried some slowmotion playbacks...
What should I buy - I know SSD for system and recording, maybe 16 GB ram. What about a procesor - HAve in mind that a dont want to give a fortune for it - Have in mind something around 600 to 800 € - Dont mind even buying refurbished one...
Thaks for any suggestion.
Regards
 

Godwin Olokor

New Member
Regarding Studio Mode = ~2X rendering work... you don't work around that. Doing 2X the work is 2X the work. a work-around is not doing 2X the work (adjust your workflow so you don't need Studio Mode.. I don't even though my PC can handle it), or get a computer that can handle the extra processing workload *if* using Studio Mode is pushing you into overload.

Streaming & Recording at different settings means more work. yes. There should be an option (in Recording, if I recall, that says something to the effect of 'use same settings as Stream'
Thanks for your kind replies.
 
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