Which is more efficient: OBS recording vs using capture card?

[timchoi]

I am streaming YouTube using OBS and recording with an external capture card.

But recently the capture board broke and I am using OBS's recording function to replace it.

When recording and streaming using OBS at the same time, isn't the overhead on the PC too heavy?

I wonder if it is efficient to use OBS for streaming and capture card for recording.

Thank you for your help.

 

[koala]

Today, there are very efficient direct capture methods available than in the Pre Windows 7 days.

Using game capture and display capture vastly more efficient than using a capture card to capture the same thing. The internal captures, combined with one of the hardware encoders on the GPU, just reference the frame buffer data from the GPU. They are not even copying any data. Even if you use x264, it's only a memory transfer within the GPU, which is very efficient with that. In comparison to that, the data from a capture card has to be funneled through the USB or pci-express bus, through a Windows API, then uploaded to GPU memory for composition. This is vastly more work than just referencing or copying data from the GPU frame buffers.

Use a capture card to capture external devices such as game consoles.

 

[timchoi]

Today, there are very efficient direct capture methods available than in the Pre Windows 7 days.

Using game capture and display capture vastly more efficient than using a capture card to capture the same thing. The internal captures, combined with one of the hardware encoders on the GPU, just reference the frame buffer data from the GPU. They are not even copying any data. Even if you use x264, it's only a memory transfer within the GPU, which is very efficient with that. In comparison to that, the data from a capture card has to be funneled through the USB or pci-express bus, through a Windows API, then uploaded to GPU memory for composition. This is vastly more work than just referencing or copying data from the GPU frame buffers.

Use a capture card to capture external devices such as game consoles.

Thanks for your reply.

In conclusion, Is it more efficient to use OBS's recording function?