What encoder should I use

[OwenC137]

So I've just started getting into streaming more often and at the moment I use the AMD Radeon software to stream so I don't really have to worry about the settings as it applies them for me. However I would like to start using OBS so I can add different elements to my stream like Alerts, Emote Wall etc.

I ran the Auto-Configuration Wizard on OBS for it to find the best settings for my pc and it chose Software (x264) over Hardware (AMD) witch I've read is better. Should I stay with what OBS chose or should I switch it to Hardware ?

Also will I see performance issues with running OBS and A Game due to only having 8GB of ram, seems like a stupid question but I figured I better find out before doing anything.

PC Specs:
CPU: Ryzen 7 5800X
GPU: RX 5700 XT
RAM: 8GB

 

[FerretBomb]

I'd probably stick with software. You have a fairly strong CPU, and the AMD AMF hardware encoder is an absolute garbage fire.

AMF uses game-rendering resources for encoding, so you'll get lower in-game framerate and more stutters. AMF regularly mis-reports feature levels, leading to crashes when the encoder tries to use a feature the card says it has, but doesn't actually support. Speaking of support, the primary OBS dev for the AMF plugin dropped it and walked away due to AMD providing zero assistance... and referring him to himself when he tried to get clarification on some issues, or some help maintaining the encoder. The quality it outputs is also absolutely terrible.
It's really, truly awful. If you have no other choice it CAN work just to get you streaming. But it's definitely a fall-back option, and AMD's lack of any kind of care or support for it is a big reason that nVidia cards are the primary choice for streaming at this point. NVENC is quick, comparable quality to x264 Slow (so really good), can handle two 4k60 video streams at once, and has no in-game performance impact as the video encoder is a separate part of the GPU that normally sits idle unless you're specifically encoding video.

8GB of RAM isn't really an issue. It's pretty tight by modern standards and 16GB would of course be a preferred minimum, but it should be livable so long as you don't have a ton of stuff running at the same time.

 

[deFrisselle]

Well, your CPU has the horsepower for the encoding with all those threads You could really use more RAM
You will have performance issues no matter what due to having only 8 Gb of RAM 16 would be good but 32 would be much better

 

[OwenC137]

Well, your CPU has the horsepower for the encoding with all those threads You could really use more RAM
You will have performance issues no matter what due to having only 8 Gb of RAM 16 would be good but 32 would be much better

Just seen this thanks for the reply. I have upgraded to 32gb of ram already :) so should be good