The objective of this guide is to help you understand how to use the NVIDIA encoder, NVENC, in OBS.
Note: we have simplified some of the concepts to make this guide accessible to a wider audience.
Encoding is all about compressing images. The smaller the size of the image, the less we must compress it and the more quality it keeps. While the same applies for framerate, a viewer can really notice a drop in FPS but not so much in resolution, so we will always try to stream at 60 FPS.
GeForce RTX GPUs have dedicated hardware encoders (NVENC), letting you capture and stream content without impacting GPU or CPU performance. Newer generations of RTX GPU include support for newer, more efficient codecs. The benefit of a more efficient codec can be thought of in one of two ways:
Relative Compression efficiency of codecs
H.264 |
HEVC |
AV1 |
1.0x |
1.15x |
1.40x |
RTX GPU Series |
H.264 |
HEVC |
AV1 |
RTX 20 Series |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
RTX 30 Series |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
RTX 40 Series |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Streaming platforms may not support all codecs. The following table lists codec support for popular streaming services.
Streaming Platform |
H.264 |
HEVC |
AV1 |
Facebook Gaming |
Yes |
No |
No |
Twitch |
Yes |
No |
No |
YouTube |
Yes |
Beta |
Beta |
How to determine your Bitrate
First, run a speed test to determine your upload speed (e.g. Speed Test). We want to use around 75% of your upload speed, as the game and other programs such as Discord will also fight for bandwidth.
Then, we will determine the resolution and FPS that we can use for such bitrate. Most streaming sites have recommendations (Twitch, Youtube, Facebook Gaming) on what to use. These are ours:
|
Resolution |
|||
Upload Speed |
Bitrate |
H.264 |
HEVC |
AV1 |
4 Mbps |
3 Mbps |
576p |
720p |
720p |
5 Mbps |
4 Mbps |
720p |
720p |
1080p |
8 Mbps |
6 Mbps |
720p |
1080p |
1080p |
10 Mbps |
8 Mbps |
1080p |
1080p |
1440p |
12 Mbps |
10 Mbps |
1080p |
1440p |
1440p |
15 Mbps |
12 Mbps |
1080p |
1440p |
4K |
20 Mbps |
15 Mbps |
1080p |
4k |
4K |
25 Mbps |
20 Mbps |
4k |
4k |
4K |
50 Mbps |
40 Mbps |
4k |
4k |
4K |
These are our recommended settings for OBS Studio 29.1 and up. To access the settings, click on the Settings button on the bottom right.
Select the streaming platform you wish to connect to. You will have the option of signing into your service with your login credentials. Another method is to enter your “Stream Key”
Instructions on how to find your stream key can be found on YouTube, Twitch, or Facebook Gaming.
If you want an easy, out of the box configuration, then do the following:
There are 2 other things you want to configure to ensure a smooth stream:
If for some reason Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling does not do the trick, OBS added an option in OBS 24.0.3 to prioritize OBS Studio over everything else. Just run OBS as Admin, and your stream will be silky smooth.
If you don't want to run OBS in Admin mode, you can also limit your GPU usage to be below the 95% threshold. To do this, you can:
And there you have it! We hope this helps you improve your stream quality and reach your goals. Leave us a comment if this worked for you or if you’d like us to update the guide with other info. Happy streaming!
If you want to customize all settings, here are our in-depth recommendations.
Streaming Settings
Recording Settings
NVIDIA Broadcast transforms your gamer den into a home broadcast studio, upgrading standard webcams and microphones into premium, smart devices through the power of AI. Improve the video and audio quality of your livestream through AI capabilities such as virtual background or webcam auto frame, and microphone noise removal. With dedicated AI processors called Tensor Cores on GeForce RTX GPUs, the AI networks are able to run high-quality effects in real-time.
NVIDIA Broadcast features include:
When not broadcasting, these features can also enhance your video conference calls and voice chats, making NVIDIA Broadcast a perfect AI companion for broadcasters and gamers alike.
NVIDIA Broadcast is compatible with a wide range of broadcasting, video conferencing and voice chat apps. These include OBS Studio, Streamlabs, Xsplit, Discord, Skype, Zoom, Webex, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and more.