Question / Help Video Lag Even When Not Recording or Streaming

[bytes]

Hello,

I don't have any logs on me currently, as I'm not on my home machine. However I thought maybe I could still get some input on the issue I'm having.

Basically the problem is that when capturing a game, the video is laggy/choppy to the point where it is unwatchable. This occurs in the OBS preview window when I'm not even recording or streaming (however of course, it gets worse when I start doing one of the two). I understand that it may be as simple as my machine just may not have the proper resources to do what I'm attempting to do - however I question that because of the hardware that I have. While my machine is not a high-tier streaming rig, it does have an Intel Core i5-4690k, a GeForce GTX 1070 FTW, and a total of 8GB of memory. In my opinion, that should be sufficient for the games I'm having OBS capture.

I have tried putting all games on the lowest settings possible, used both the x264 and new NVENC encoder (though I don't think that has an impact on the performance unless I'm streaming or recording), put the resolution and FPS as low as 720p/30fps in game and OBS. Confirmed to not have any unnecessary applications or processes running in the background that could consume memory or CPU. And a handful of other things.

Games I've been attempting to capture on the lowest settings include Division, Destiny, and even indie titles like Deep Diving Simulator. Also maybe an important note, that the game runs perfectly with no issues.

As mentioned above, I do not have any logs handy at the moment, but I know when I have done some recording, I get the following error with upwards of 30%:

Video stopped, number of skipped frames due to encoding lag: XX/XXXX (XX%)

But again, the lag and choppy frames occur even when I'm not recording or streaming. Just by having OBS capture the game.

Does anyone have any insight as to some things I could try? Or more information I can provide? Do the logs contain any relevant information when I'm not recording or streaming and just capturing the game in OBS?

Thanks for any help one might have!

 

[orboe]

The logs only hold important information from recording or streaming. It is best to do so for about five minutes before ending the process.

That being said, it would be very helpful to see the logs so we can see all the settings along with the quantity of dropped frames.

I do have a few suggestions of things you can look at through while I wait to see a log.

But first, a question. Do you mean that OBS is lagging when nothing else is running on the pc or when the game is running along side OBS?

Gpu usage above 90% will cause windows to de-prioritize other programs.

reference that that information.
https://www.geforce.com/whats-new/guides/broadcasting-guide

Does the recording/stream still lag if you disable preview in OBS?

 

[bytes]

Thanks for the reply. I will do some testing and will upload my logs shortly. I just wasn't sure they would be of any benefit since the issue occurs even when not recording/streaming.

To answer your question and clarify on the OBS lagging - essentially the only two applications I will have running is OBS and the game I am attempting to capture (of course there are many background processes for the OS to run, but for simplicity sake), and that is all. For testing purposes I have all other devices and even sources completely removed. I will have OBS set to capture the game, I believe using the option to "capture any full screen application" if I'm remembering correctly. This puts the preview of the game in OBS. So at that time I have OBS and the game running along side each other. But that is all. The game runs perfectly smooth with no hiccups whatsoever. But OBS on the other hand, the preview window shows nothing but laggy/choppy/dropped (or whatever else they're called) frames. Then this is worsened when attempting to record or stream.

But again, I will provide logs shortly.

 

[orboe]

The other thing that would be useful to see is the task manager open in the "performance" tab along side OBS. Like this.