Question / Help What is the best capture device for weak laptops?

[Herolordman]

I know that some devices are more CPU taxing than others (some do more work on the card itself, while others just let the CPU do the work), so I was wondering what the best capture device was for a laptop with poor specs. My girlfriend wants to stream through OBS rather than the built-in stream support of the PS4 since it is very limited in options, but she has a pretty weak laptop. What should she get? A Hauppauge?

 

[WilliamBarrows]

What specs does the laptop have? I don't know PS4 capture cards much, but I think I'll be able to tell you how good a stream you can expect to get.

 

[Herolordman]

These are her specs

• Intel Core i5-2450M (2.50 GHz, 3 MB L3 Cache, up to 3.10 GHz) | Windows 10
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD | 6GB PC3-10600 DDR3 1333MHz SDRAM SODIMM Memory
• 15.6" HD WXGA (1366 X 768) LED Backlight w/ Camera | Industry Standard Touchpad
• 500GB, 5400RPM Serial ATA 2.5" Hard Drive | DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer

 

[WilliamBarrows]

Thanks for going into such detail for the specs!

Your CPU looks good. I tend to say the minimum requirement for a low-end stream is about 3ghz total, and that CPU has 2 2.5ghz processors, each of which is hyperthreaded so they're used more efficiently. That's a total of 5ghz so she should be able to do at the very least 360p30fps for the stream, maybe even 540p30fps or 720p30fps at the most.

What I'm more worried about are the OS and the graphics card. Windows 10 still has some compatibility quirks because it's new, and integrated GPUs sometimes don't work too great for OBS. Are you sure the laptop has only the Intel GPU, or does it have a second one?

To make sure the laptop's GPU can even run OBS, I'd suggest downloading and installing it (making sure you run the 64bit version), then doing a test recording of the laptop's display (using the display capture source). If this works, doing the same thing with a capture card should work too.

Also, how good is her internet connection? And tell her to buy a LAN cable and connect the laptop to the internet like that, streaming over wireless is nearly always worse than over a cable.

 

[deetari]

Most USB capture devices do the bulk of the work on hardware and don't stress the CPU too much (though OBS still has to encode whatever video it receives). Notable exceptions are the USB 3.0 devices, like the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle, which often tout higher image fidelity and the ability to record in lossless formats. Some of the AverMedia capture devices are popular with streamers, but I've never used one before so I can't really comment on their quality.


For what it's worth it's actually possible to even use things like the Shuttle on systems like the mid-tier Surface Pro 3, which only has a 1.9GHz i5 processor. I've tried it with a webcam and PS3, and OBS (haven't tried OBS-MP) works fine at 60fps, 480p, with the veryfast preset. It even works at 720p, but tends to overheat because of the bad airflow.


That said, the 2450M has an older generation of integrated graphics, and I'm not sure what the difference is there.

 

[AndehX]

one of Avermedia's external devices will be perfect for you. Live Gamer Portable, or Live Gamer Extreme (if your laptop has USB3.0)

 

[dodgepong]

Most USB capture devices do the bulk of the work on hardware and don't stress the CPU too much

I know you tried to clarify it, but this sentence is extremely misleading. Capture cards do not alleviate load from your computer in any way whatsoever, and the OP's question doesn't even really make sense in that context. Adding a capture card to OBS adds the same load as adding a webcam to OBS. OBS will still perform poorly on bad hardware regardless of what capture card you pick, so the answer to the OP's question is "It doesn't matter."

 

[fatmatrow]

I run OBS Studio on an intel I5 3230m 2.6 ghz and an elgato hd60, using quicksync I can run 720@60 streaming to twitch with fairly good quality without killing my processor. I do recommend a laptop cooler.

 

[deetari]

I know you tried to clarify it, but this sentence is extremely misleading. Capture cards do not alleviate load from your computer in any way whatsoever, and the OP's question doesn't even really make sense in that context. Adding a capture card to OBS adds the same load as adding a webcam to OBS. OBS will still perform poorly on bad hardware regardless of what capture card you pick, so the answer to the OP's question is "It doesn't matter."

Ah, yeah, you're completely right. Sorry about that. :(

 

[DoAGoldeneye]

Unfortunately the i5-2xxx series didn't have quick sync yet (I know, I have a i7-2630QM). So you really need to do all you can to let the capture card do the heavy lifting.

If you want more than 360p30 I recommend using an Elgato HD(60) and using the software that came with the device to stream without adding anything special. You won't be able to add anything to the video (webcam, follower updates...) but you'll be able to add your microphone and pc audio.

On the other hand, plenty of streamers use the PS4's builtin streaming (check out this past broadcast of Josh757). If you don't have the resources to use OBS, probably best stick to that... At least until you can afford a better PC/Laptop...