Question / Help x264 Encoder slower than NVENC?

[tsj9834]

I have been testing setting, trying to find the best ones and found that NVENC is faster than x264. I also have been having trouble getting my screen to show(if someone could help with that too that would be a bonus). When I record I get a "Encoder is overloaded" at the bottom left of the OBS studio with the x264 at 74% cpu usage. Here are my computer specs:

Here are the setting I use for x264(1080p 60fps):

Then I have the NVENC settings:

I read somewhere that x264 is always faster, but to me it seems like NVENC is faster.
Also note that my computer is fan cooled(though I want to upgrade that soon) and the graphics card has 4GB(from MSI).

 

[c3r1c3]

NVENC runs on your GPU, not your CPU, so you will have (much) lower CPU usage when using NVENC. That said NVENC is bad at typical (read: under 10Mbps) streaming bitrates.

As to the amount of CPU used, you have a weak CPU, so if you don't tune your settings (both in OBS and in whatever you're playing/recording), then you might have issues with x264, which as you now know runs on the CPU. The quality is much higher for x264 at streaming bitrates compared to NVENC.

If you're not streaming, but rather just recording, then set your bitrate really high and use NVENC. If you're streaming, try to do what you can to use x264, like setting your fps to 30, using the Resolution Downscale setting, etc.

 

[Mroczny_Gustaw]

x264 is always slowest and most demanding. hardware encoders like nvenc, qsv and vce are fatser but have lower quality at same bitarte as x264. its always tradeoff
your cpu may be too slow for x264 and games. use nvenc for recording with settings as in my picture and always use vsync in game

for streaming refer to my signature and read info tab

ps. currently nvenc in studio can cause fps drops in game while recording. shadowplay may be better solution