Question / Help What is the current top 1080p/60fps OBS compatible card?

C

CohhCarnage

New Member
Heya guys,

So I'm a full time Twitch streamer that is looking for the "golden card" with OBS. I've tried a variety of cards and all of them have had issues with OBS. I've tweaked and messed around with each of them with mixed results. I'm looking for a solid card, internal or external, that I can pick up that just WORKS. Any advice here is really appreciated. Here is what I've tried so far:

Avermedia Live Gamer HD: Solid card, did everything I needed it to, but no 60fps. This is what spurred the initial upgrade.

Avermedia ExtremeCap U3: Gorgeous video, but has chronic sound popping issues, even when using the WaveOut function (this did make the crackling worse, but it's still very much there). Also, and this is the one making me leave this card entirely, there is a chronic "Screen freeze" issue that I can't shake. I've tried two ExtremeCap U3's (different cables and units entirely) and reinstalled everything; still freezes randomly every 5min-5hours. Totally random and requires a complete stream restart to fix (stop OBS, unplug USB, plug it back in, then fire up the stream). When you have 6,000 people watching you on a new game, this fix is unacceptable.

BlackMagic Intensity Pro: A solid card, but the main purpose of this card is to bring in video from my gaming computer to my streaming computer. I could only get the Intensity Pro to properly read the video out if I run my gaming machine in 720p, which distorted the image greatly for me and caused some multimonitor issues. Maybe there is a proven working BlackMagic card that can do this in 1080?

El Gato HD60: Still in the box, haven't opened this guy yet. Got it on a recommendation but later found out the guy was using Xsplit. After researching this tonight, looks like the HD60 is plagued with audio issues in OBS and even fixes only last X hours before the problem arises, so not going to be able to use this one.

So yeah, hopefully someone can suggest a solid option for me to get this working. I'd prefer an External USB 3.0 card if possible for simplicity sake but do have a 16x PCIE slot available if needed (currently holding the BlackMagic Intensity Pro for console streaming). Price is not really an option here as this is for my job; I'll make it work.

Thanks in advance for any advice here. I just need to get a reliable,e stable option that will perform as needed!

Cohh
 
FerretBomb

FerretBomb

Active Member
Micomsoft SC-512N1-L/DVI.
Really, it's THE best capture card for livestreamers on the market at the moment.

1080@60 true capture, with 20-50ms delay (meaning able to play most games on the OBS preview window), and passthrough functionality if you need even less (for tight rhythm games).

Captures anything from 1080p down to 240i (which most other cards can't, and need to if you want to play anything older than a Dreamcast). HDMI, DVI, Component, VGA, S-Video, Composite, even SCART if you have an adapter, and the newest drivers claim RGB input is working (though I haven't tested this personally). Captures audio as well, so no need to split out audio from HDMI or DVI inputs (as you do with the 'professional' cards like the Datapath Vision cards), or screw around with re-sync'ing.

Down sides. $300 plus shipping. Japan only (solarisjapan will let you order from the US). No English support from the manufacturer. Drivers they include are stupid-old.
Up sides. Worth every penny. Shipping is quick. Sizable English community that generally will sort out issues damn quick. There are alternate drivers available that work like a dream.

Swiftor picked one up a couple months back on advisement, and last I heard from him, he's still loving it. I use one of these for all of my console gameplay, or any games that have trouble with native OBS capture. If mine broke? I would be ordering a new one within 5 minutes, zero hesitation.
 
Vaughn Whiskey

Vaughn Whiskey

Member
FerretBomb said:
Micomsoft SC-512N1-L/DVI.
Really, it's THE best capture card for livestreamers on the market at the moment.

1080@60 true capture, with 20-50ms delay (meaning able to play most games on the OBS preview window), and passthrough functionality if you need even less (for tight rhythm games).

Captures anything from 1080p down to 240i (which most other cards can't, and need to if you want to play anything older than a Dreamcast). HDMI, DVI, Component, VGA, S-Video, Composite, even SCART if you have an adapter, and the newest drivers claim RGB input is working (though I haven't tested this personally). Captures audio as well, so no need to split out audio from HDMI or DVI inputs (as you do with the 'professional' cards like the Datapath Vision cards), or screw around with re-sync'ing.

Down sides. $300 plus shipping. Japan only (solarisjapan will let you order from the US). No English support from the manufacturer. Drivers they include are stupid-old.
Up sides. Worth every penny. Shipping is quick. Sizable English community that generally will sort out issues damn quick. There are alternate drivers available that work like a dream.

Swiftor picked one up a couple months back on advisement, and last I heard from him, he's still loving it. I use one of these for all of my console gameplay, or any games that have trouble with native OBS capture. If mine broke? I would be ordering a new one within 5 minutes, zero hesitation.
Click to expand...

I looked over this one before i got my Avermedia from your post on Reddit sir and because I live in Canada, the total was way over 500+ with shipping, customs & duties, taxes and environment fees (ughh Canada). Crazy right. Do they ever get imported to the USA or anything or strictly Japan?

I love my Avermedia, it does what I need it to do but I am assuming most partners want a 60fps card because they have access to transcodes.

I owned a Elgato but hated having to sync everything and then my friend bought a HD60 and had more trouble then i had with my old Roxio.

I heard good things about the XCapture-1 but I can't seem to find any local or Canada stores that carry it. Real bummer. Sorry for just rambling lol

Vaughn
 
Boildown

Boildown

Active Member
You can check Ebay for capture cards too, perhaps that way your environmental import fees won't apply. I don't see any low price Datapath cards that will work for this at the moment, haven't checked for the Micomsoft ones. But they appear randomly on Ebay, often massively discounted.

I got a Datapath card capable of 1080p120 used on Ebay, ironically from a seller in Calgary (I live in the US) for a really nice price. As mentioned, the "downside" of the Datapath solution is that you need to send audio separately. In practice this means stringing an additional cable to the line-in on a sound card on the streaming computer. Not much of a downside if you ask me, I've never had a problem with it.

Have you considered not using a capture card at all, and using the network stream technique: https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/guide-two-pc-configuration-without-capturecard.6757 ?
 
FerretBomb

FerretBomb

Active Member
Vaughn Whiskey said:
I looked over this one before i got my Avermedia from your post on Reddit sir and because I live in Canada, the total was way over 500+ with shipping, customs & duties, taxes and environment fees (ughh Canada). Crazy right. Do they ever get imported to the USA or anything or strictly Japan?

I love my Avermedia, it does what I need it to do but I am assuming most partners want a 60fps card because they have access to transcodes.

I owned a Elgato but hated having to sync everything and then my friend bought a HD60 and had more trouble then i had with my old Roxio.

I heard good things about the XCapture-1 but I can't seem to find any local or Canada stores that carry it. Real bummer. Sorry for just rambling lol

Vaughn
Click to expand...
There's one place in the US that sells the base card under a different name, but it does NOT have the passthrough daughtercard, and is even more expensive:
http://buy.advantech.com/DVP 7012HE/DVP 7012HE/model-DVP-7012HE.htm?country=USA&token=635420585449112528
From everything I can see, it's the identical card and even has the expansion headers for the passthrough daughtercard on the PCB still. (Edit: Haha, just looked at the pictures again, and it still has both 512 and N1-L DVI silkscreened onto the card, though they've photoshopped all of the chips blank)

I use 60fps capture for a few reasons, actually. One, because I can play on the OBS preview window (there IS a difference between playing at 30 vs 60). Two, because a lot of older consoles (like the SNES) use blitting for transparency... capturing 30fps, the sprites just disappear or stay solid. Three, because it prevents frame-dupe/jamming issues where the console is running at 30 and the cap card can occasionally dupe a frame or miss a frame depending on the timing, causing inexplicable hitching issues that only happen now and then. Four, because I want the final frame-mixdown to be handled in OBS itself, NOT by the cap card. So I'll capture at 1080@60, even if I'm only streaming 720@30. Results in best quality.

The XCAPTURE-1 is a USB 3.0 version of the same card, though it's been reported to have some weird issues now and then... could just be USB 3.0 being flaky as hell still though. I'd still recommend using the internal card if at all possible.

Boildown said:
You can check Ebay for capture cards too, perhaps that way your environmental import fees won't apply. I don't see any low price Datapath cards that will work for this at the moment, haven't checked for the Micomsoft ones. But they appear randomly on Ebay, often massively discounted.

I got a Datapath card capable of 1080p120 used on Ebay, ironically from a seller in Calgary (I live in the US) for a really nice price. As mentioned, the "downside" of the Datapath solution is that you need to send audio separately. In practice this means stringing an additional cable to the line-in on a sound card on the streaming computer. Not much of a downside if you ask me, I've never had a problem with it.

Have you considered not using a capture card at all, and using the network stream technique: https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/guide-two-pc-configuration-without-capturecard.6757 ?
Click to expand...
I had a problem with mine because breaking the audio out of an HDMI signal in the first place without a stereo receiver can be a pain in the ass. I recently got an HDMI matrix switch with RCA-out on one of the outputs, but until then? I'd have been stuck plugging in the AV cable on my PS3, and screwing up my X360 cable to still have HDMI out and be able to plug it in (by removing the outer casing, it'll still fit... barely).

Now I'm curious which one you grabbed; The DVI-DL? I managed to grab an E2 for $cheap. Biggest advantage is that I can now go to an HDMI camcorder setup when I'm ready to step past the c920 level.

All that said, the network/nginx technique is STRONGLY advised if possible.
 
Boildown

Boildown

Active Member
Yeah, the DVI-DL. I anticipate moving to 1440p some day, should be able to handle it easily. But lately been considering those 21:9 aspect ratio monitors instead. I really need to try the network model though, I can probably resell the DL for more than I paid if successful. :P
 
scarface12

scarface12

New Member
Boildown said:
Is that the person you think I bought it from? Um... that wasn't their Ebay username nor was that anywhere in the auction details.
Click to expand...

Yes, he's a really good guy. I figure there's a high likelihood of that since he's from Calgary and sold his Vision DVI-DL at an under-market price about 8-10 months ago. Those cards aren't exactly common in the consumer market. Just to quell my curiosity, I guess I could just skype him and verify your address or something.

Um, I think this is his, um, twitch page: http://www.twitch.tv/unph4zed

Um. ;)
 
Boildown

Boildown

Active Member
scarface12 said:
Yes, he's a really good guy. I figure there's a high likelihood of that since he's from Calgary and sold his Vision DVI-DL at an under-market price about 8-10 months ago. Those cards aren't exactly common in the consumer market. Just to quell my curiosity, I guess I could just skype him and verify your address or something.

Um, I think this is his, um, twitch page: http://www.twitch.tv/unph4zed

Um. ;)
Click to expand...

I have no interest in helping you verify my RL address, no matter how curious you are. Anyways, I found some evidence that proves it wasn't him; it was someone else. And I'll leave it at that.
 
S

snn47

New Member
From what I found the xcapture or Blackmagic require a NEC/Renesas USB 3.0 controller for the USB3.0 in order to work.

Does any owner of the xcapture use these cture cards sucessfully with an expresscard NEC/Renesas USB 3.0 controller?

Unlike my older 8560p HP notebook, which still had NEC/Renesas USB 3.0 controller, the new zBook now have USB 3.0 integrated in the intel chipset. Therefor the only option would be expresscard NEC/Renesas USB 3.0 controller, but I wonders if using an expresscard will generate additional problems.
 
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