Question / Help Very low fps (around 8-9 fps) in OBS on my dedicated stream PC with capture card

[Seanzky]

Here is my streaming PC's specs:

• AMD FX-8310
• Asus M5A78L-M/USB3
• G. SKILL AEGIS 16GB (2x 8GB)
• Seagate 320GB
• Seagate 500GB
• Hitachi 500GB
• Thermaltake TR2 500W
• AVerMedia Game Broadcaster HD (C127)
• Acer H236HL
• Logitech z130
• Logitech C615
• Scythe Katana 3 Quiet CPU Cooler
• Evercool SB-F2 Fox-2 System Blower

My gaming PC's main monitor (144MHz) is mirrored by the capture card using a VGA cable since none of my HDMI cable would work --"No signal". It captures my monitor just fine with the VGA cable. In my OBS video settings, the base resolution is 1920x1080 downscaled to 720p using "Lanczos" filter at 60 fps.

When I play a game and preview/stream, the fps is OBS is maxed at 9. When I change the base resolution in the video settings to 1280x720 with no downscale and use "Bilinear" filter, I get at most 22 fps. So I know this is affected by the video settings in OBS. Is there anything else I can change in OBS or my capture card settings (in OBS) so that I wouldn't have to sacrifice my stream's quality and keep it at the 1080p downscaled to 720p using "Lanczos"?

 

[Osiris]

Post a log https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/problem-make-sure-to-post-a-log-and-or-crash-dump-howto.97/

 

[Seanzky]

Here's the log file:

http://gist.github.com/a14e9330550310e4d1c7

 

[dping]

Here's the log file:

http://gist.github.com/a14e9330550310e4d1c7

I dont know a lot about capture cards but is there a place in the AVerMedia software to set the output downscale? one would think that if the downscale output of the C127 needs to be 720@60 to do 60fps, it would need to be set at the adapter, not OBS.

device: AVerMedia HD Capture,
...
1920x1080 - 1920x1080, frameIntervals: 333667-333667
...

if the output of the C127 is 1080 then it will limit the FPS to 30

 

[Seanzky]

I tried changing the output of the capture card via its own software to 720p @ 60fps but in OBS, the video capture source when set to 720p has horizontal lines all over.

UPDATE: I tried no downscaling and left it at 1080p. The fps jumped to 14-15 except on the Twitch website, the stream never loads probably because my upload can't keep up with the 1080p feed?

 

[dping]

I tried changing the output of the capture card via its own software to 720p @ 60fps but in OBS, the video capture source when set to 720p has horizontal lines all over.

UPDATE: I tried no downscaling and left it at 1080p. The fps jumped to 14-15 except on the Twitch website, the stream never loads probably because my upload can't keep up with the 1080p feed?

When you change the source (the C127 output to 720@60), have your OBS closed and when you open it back up, change the source to 720p (no downscaling). not sure how OBS handles changing resolutions with it still running. then you might have to right-click inside the obs preview window and strech to full screen.

setting it to 1080p has nothing to do with the bitrate since that is set within OBS. the stream probably doesn't load for another reason.

 

[Seanzky]

I changed the video settings to 720p with no downscaling and now I get a steady 60 fps previewing (no encoding while preview mode) and steady 20 fps while live streaming.

I'm about to return this capture card and just turn my streaming PC into a Linux box.

 

[Seanzky]

I'm pretty convinced now that it's the capture card I bought. I've noticed most streamers use the Live Gamer HD rather than the Game Broadcaster HD, which is the one I bought. None of these streamers (gamers) seem to have the same problem I have. I don't think Game Broadcaster HD can truly handle 1080p @30fps or 720p @60fps. One thing is for certain, I'm not giving up OBS. I'd rather tinker with Linux.

 

[Sapiens]

The C127 does not downscale, be sure not to set a lower resolution for the card than what it's receiving. The resolution you set it to in its source properties should match its input. It also doesn't support 144Hz input, so sending a supported resolution at 60 FPS would be worth testing.

 

[dping]

The C127 does not downscale, be sure not to set a lower resolution for the card than what it's receiving. The resolution you set it to in its source properties should match its input. It also doesn't support 144Hz input, so sending a supported resolution at 60 FPS would be worth testing.

he has the output from his gaming pc cloned and set to 60 hz. The downscaling is done at the c127not obs. Is that not correct? That is the only way to get 720@60 output

EDIT: I see what you are saying now. So hes cant clone like he's trying to...

Any suggestions to get his video at 720p? Extend instead if clone then set the output of the extended capture display to 720@60. Use a second obs on the gaming pc to preview without encoding?

 

[Seanzky]

I tried the RTMP-nginx thing and I lost patience trying to get it to work. The concept is simple but the guide (https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/guide-two-pc-configuration-without-capturecard.6757/) was kind of confusing for me. I've decided to just stick to the original plan and give the Live Gamer HD card a try... whenever that comes in the mail.

Sigh. I really didn't expect capture cards to be this complicated.

Also, I stopped using Windows' "Screen resolution" thing and used Nvidia's Control Panel instead and I managed to keep my main monitor 144hz and the capture card 60hz. I just can't pinpoint what causes the fps in OBS to be so low. I removed the C127 card and ran OBS > Preview stream (this is without the capture source) and it was still 9 fps. Weird.

 

[dping]

I tried the RTMP-nginx thing and I lost patience trying to get it to work. The concept is simple but the guide (https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/guide-two-pc-configuration-without-capturecard.6757/) was kind of confusing for me. I've decided to just stick to the original plan and give the Live Gamer HD card a try... whenever that comes in the mail.

Sigh. I really didn't expect capture cards to be this complicated.

Also, I stopped using Windows' "Screen resolution" thing and used Nvidia's Control Panel instead and I managed to keep my main monitor 144hz and the capture card 60hz. I just can't pinpoint what causes the fps in OBS to be so low. I removed the C127 card and ran OBS > Preview stream (this is without the capture source) and it was still 9 fps. Weird.

with your preview without encode showing 60fps with the capture card. I was curious of this. I just can't figure out why, when you encode, do the fps drop. give what I said above a try.

Instead of cloning, extend the monitor (capture screen) set it to 720@60. use a second instance of OBS on your gaming PC to "clone" the game to the OBS capture window and set the preview to full screen on your "capture" monitor. hit preview(but don't encode) then on your streaming rig, setup the capture card 720@60 and preview while encoding.

 

[Seanzky]

That's a work around that I'm afraid won't work. If I extend to the capture card "monitor" rather than clone my main monitor to it, I will never get to see whatever I send there and I like that my mouse cursor stops edge to edge with me being able to see it at all times. I might give Linux a try again if my other capture card takes too long to get here.

 

[Seanzky]

I decided to just stick with Linux. Everything is way better than a capture card could ever accomplish. Thanks for trying to troubleshoot this with me, everyone!