How to reduce ingame lag while using OBS

[Walrus Beard]

I struggled with this problem for a long time, and seemingly no one was having the same issue because I couldn't seem to find a solution. Then after a back and forth discussion with some Steam users, I found a few things that seemed to work pretty well.

Before: Monster Hunter World ran at almost 60 FPS most of the time at 2560 x 1440 resolution max details on my 1080 Ti Core i5 4690k setup, but as soon as I started OBS, it was an all out brawl between those two programs fighting for what little CPU power remained. This happened when I wasn't even streaming or recording resulting in severe frame rate loss. To stay around 30 FPS I actually had to lower my resolution to 1080P (annoying on a 2k monitor) and set graphics to prioritize frame rate.

After: I can now stream Monster Hunter World and have ingame frame rates at a more or less constant 45-50 FPS at 2560 x 1440 with no graphical compromises. It's not 60FPS, but it's a lot better than what I had.

What I did: So I did two things. First of all I changed my encoder in OBS to quicksync. This dedicates the encoding duties to the integrated GPU in the CPU which would otherwise sit there useless. The CPU is then freed up to dedicate more resources to the game. This was suggested by Steam user Echoa.

The second thing I did was install a mod. I will link it below. This mod prevents the execution of vast amounts of useless code which suck up a lot of CPU cycles. Credit for this suggestion to Steam User Seamus. I hope this helps some people.

https://www.nexusmods.com/monsterhunterworld/mods/3473?tab=description

[「レイヴン ソウル」]

Come on bro you need obs to operate at veryfast or Ultrafast setup(If you are streaming in one computer) and go on with highbitrate if you were streaming at 2K. This will be better if you have another computer to stream on or a capture card for monitor to NOT stress the cpu/gpu capture...

[「レイヴン ソウル」]

It's useless to have a gaming computer capturing a stream, CPU can't handle that, that's why Frame rate goes down. The faster the encoder is the less CPU usage on obs and if slower the encoder more CPU usage is, the more compile the graphics are..(well can't explain well on slower encoder but it will become beautiful the stream are) so I suggest you to have another computer to have stream and connect the both computer so search in the internet on how to stream 2 computer on obs but it will better if you have capture card.

[Walrus Beard]

Yeah I know a second computer would be an ideal solution, but I can't swing that right now. Also, I'm not streaming at 2k. The stream itself is 720P at 4500 bitrate. what I am talking about is having the game itself run at the settings you want while getting as many FPS as possible on the screen you are looking at, which is helpful if you have a 6 year old CPU like I do. Also most games don't cause me any issues at all streaming and gaming on the same PC. Monster Hunter World is very badly optimized. For many many games if they are properly optimized, streaming and gaming on the same PC doesn't present any issues.

[「レイヴン ソウル」]

Yeah it sucks. It might be bad optimize right now but still right now if you were streaming at 720p at 4500 bitrate I suggest to you the encoder to be veryfast or ultrafast encoding settings. But it will become ♥♥♥♥♥♥ graphics if you want low graphics with 60fps on. Well are you streaming in Twitch? if it is, well you'll need second computer for that but its so expensive right now with coronavirus..

[Filithy]

I have a 4670k also, you are just hitting the max for our generation of CPU, time to upgrade

[Walrus Beard]

Originally posted by Filithy:

I have a 4670k also, you are just hitting the max for our generation of CPU, time to upgrade

I would love to upgrade, but it is so freaking hard just to get the fan and heatsink assembly on to the CPU. I have no confidence in myself whatsoever to remove it without breaking something. By the time I upgrade it will probably make more sense to build a whole new rig.

[Abi Normal]

Originally posted by Snarfblatt:

Originally posted by Filithy:

I have a 4670k also, you are just hitting the max for our generation of CPU, time to upgrade

I would love to upgrade, but it is so freaking hard just to get the fan and heatsink assembly on to the CPU. I have no confidence in myself whatsoever to remove it without breaking something. By the time I upgrade it will probably make more sense to build a whole new rig.

Considering LGA1150 is a dead socket and your 4670k is on the "tock" end of their "tick-tock" iteration you really don't have a whole of options as far as CPU upgrades are concerned.

[Walrus Beard]

Originally posted by Abi Normal:

Originally posted by Snarfblatt:

I would love to upgrade, but it is so freaking hard just to get the fan and heatsink assembly on to the CPU. I have no confidence in myself whatsoever to remove it without breaking something. By the time I upgrade it will probably make more sense to build a whole new rig.

Considering LGA1150 is a dead socket and your 4670k is on the "tock" end of their "tick-tock" iteration you really don't have a whole of options as far as CPU upgrades are concerned.

Well I would assume I could buy other older CPUs from around the same time period that have more processing power.

[Abi Normal]

Originally posted by Snarfblatt:

Originally posted by Abi Normal:

Considering LGA1150 is a dead socket and your 4670k is on the "tock" end of their "tick-tock" iteration you really don't have a whole of options as far as CPU upgrades are concerned.

Well I would assume I could buy other older CPUs from around the same time period that have more processing power.

Which means either a 4770k or 4790k to just double your thread count. Nothing to sneeze at, but still a fairly stop gap solution in the grand scheme of things. Prices going for $120~ range (+/- $30) on ebay. Chips are still roughly $330+ new on amazon/newegg, and with that kind of pricing saving up for a new cpu/mobo/ram set is starting to look like the more cost efficient option, especially with longevity in mind.

[「レイヴン ソウル」]

Originally posted by Snarfblatt:

Originally posted by Abi Normal:

Considering LGA1150 is a dead socket and your 4670k is on the "tock" end of their "tick-tock" iteration you really don't have a whole of options as far as CPU upgrades are concerned.

Well I would assume I could buy other older CPUs from around the same time period that have more processing power.

You should go for upgrade try using AMD Ryzen chipsets and motherboards you should get some better and cost efficient.

[DaPhuuLz]

my PC spec are Ryzen 5 2600x, 16GB Ram, RTX 2060

i run the game on 2771x1559 DSR just so i can enable DLSS. it didn't impact my framerate much. (i got 47-60fps no matter how big or small the resolutions)
i didn't have much lagging when using OBS streaming (NVENC Encoder with the Nvidia AI features) though, i only stream 720p 60fps.

My in-game settings are full texture (tho i switch to Hi-Res for screenshots sometimes) Mid on most other options. LOD on High. Motion blur, Vignette Off.
i also use Nvidia Filters to boost the game colors and adjust some lighting balance of the game.

here is one of the clips https://clips.twitch.tv/FragileSoftP

PS. BTW the same setting is struggling so hard to stream a game like Kenshi

[Cyrus]

i stream the game a lot My set up is all high-ultra at 1080P, with a 1080P stream on youtube. Bitrate of 5500

I can play the game at constant 55-63 FPS.

RX 5700
16GB
Ryzen 7-2700x
500GB SSD

my encoder is my GPU thou. I set the encoder to use hardware optimization.