CPU Usage - Gaming/Streaming

13900k, 5.5 ghz all core
64gb 6000mhz RAM
RTX 4090 FE
Nvenc Encoder
5140x1400 Gaming
3840x720 Streaming
Windows 11 updated
OBS updated

Any CPU heavy game I need to cap my frame rate or I get massive encoder lag/FPS drop. CS2, Fortnite and MW2 require me to cap my in game fps to 120 hz to stop the encoding drops. CPU usage doesn't appear to balance between cores very well with several sitting with 0% CPU usage in task manager. Is there a way to limit different processes to different cores?

HunterAP•10/23/23, 12:51 AM

Can you post an OBS log where the lag ocurred

moufOP•10/23/23, 5:22 AM

https://obsproject.com/tools/analyzer?log_url=https%3A%2F%2Fobsproject.com%2Flogs%2FEXYZyz29a4QNShKp

Analyzer | OBS

OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) is free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. Stream to Twitch, YouTube and many other providers or record your own videos with high quality H264 / AAC encoding.

moufOP•10/23/23, 5:24 AM

that's one from earlier tonight. That's with FPS capped at 120 in MW2 and still dropping like crazy randomly. Stop the stream and reset and it is fine the rest of the night.

HunterAP•10/23/23, 5:55 AM

The log and the analyzer show that your lag is not from rendering or encoding lag - it's from dropped frames. Those are due to issues with your network connection to whatever services you're streaming to.

HunterAP•10/23/23, 5:57 AM

If stopping the stream and starting it again fixes the issue, then it sounds like your connection to the streaming service is initially unstable, and stopping & starting it up again seems to try to get you a better route to the stream service's servers

HunterAP•10/23/23, 5:57 AM

Next time this happens, try monitoring your CPU, GPU ,and network adapter in Task Manager, or preferably in a tool like HWInfo64 or HWMonitor

HunterAP•10/23/23, 5:59 AM

Otherwise as the log analyzer suggests, you probably want to move the game capture to it's own scene and nest it in your main scene, and do the same for the monitor capture

HHunterAP Otherwise as the log analyzer suggests, you probably want to move the game captu...

moufOP•10/23/23, 11:50 AM

I'll uncap my frame rate tonight and upload a new log. Also can you explain why nesting the game capture/display capture changes anything. I'm fairly green when it comes to OBS.

MEE6•10/23/23, 11:50 AM

GG @_mouf, you just advanced to level 4 !

HunterAP•10/23/23, 2:22 PM

I don't know the exact technical reasons but if OBE says that don't play well together then I'd trust them

moufOP•10/25/23, 2:06 AM

https://obsproject.com/logs/PqIaasI1HMfDxNTL

moufOP•10/25/23, 2:06 AM

unlimited FPS in MW2. tops out around 180

moufOP•10/25/23, 2:07 AM

says encoder lag and wants a faster preset but it's all the way down to P4....

HunterAP•10/25/23, 2:10 AM

That log has no mention of render or encoder lag

moufOP•10/25/23, 2:11 AM

do I need to stop the stream for it to update the log?

HunterAP•10/25/23, 2:12 AM

It should update the whole time but may as well try stopping the stream and grabbign the newest log

moufOP•10/25/23, 2:14 AM

https://obsproject.com/logs/9SlPismYIM7aBcOk

moufOP•10/25/23, 2:14 AM

ended stream and fired back up

HunterAP•10/25/23, 2:19 AM

Now it's updated
You only have 2.7% frames lost to render lag and another 2.7% due to encoding lag
This is a single PC setup correct?

moufOP•10/25/23, 2:20 AM

yeah single PC. yeah it only drops if i unlock the ingame FPS. so I unlocked to get the drops and then relocked it down to 120

DiamondRyce•10/25/23, 3:09 AM

you are using nvenc for everything. and doing 4k stream? thats why theres very little cpu usage besides the game.

DiamondRyce•10/25/23, 3:09 AM

i would utilize your igpu for the stream. keep the nvenc for recordings, replay buffer etc

DiamondRyce•10/25/23, 3:10 AM

once you go towards 1440p or 4k gaming your gpu usage goes higher while cpu isnt used as much

moufOP•10/25/23, 5:17 AM

isn't the nvenc chip seperate from the rasterization? I thought they were independent operations? Hence the AV1 and NVENC being different chips? So you are suggesting I use QuickSync and not Nvenc for streaming?

HunterAP•10/25/23, 5:37 AM

Nvidia utilizes part of the GPU that's used for gaming to assist in encoding. This comes up when you use psycho-visual tuning and presets P6 / P7
Even then, OBS also uses that part of the GPU for rendering the opreview. You can disable the preview to lower that usage, but obviously you can't see what you're streaming

HunterAP•10/25/23, 5:37 AM

Moving the encoding work the the QuickSync chip on your CPU will offload that work

HHunterAP Moving the encoding work the the QuickSync chip on your CPU will offload that wo...

moufOP•10/25/23, 5:42 AM

Interesting..... Maybe I'm still missing something but why is the 40 series nvenc encoder always talked about as being improved if I should just use quicksync.

So is visual tuning off and P5 a better option than anything QuickSync?

HunterAP•10/25/23, 5:49 AM

The hardware H264 encoder on the Nvidia 40 series is the single best one out there
Thing is, Intel surprisingly is a close second in recent years

HunterAP•10/25/23, 5:50 AM

You can certainly try P5 with the psycho-visual tuning turned off, but as you've seen the biggest issue is that the 3090, as powerful as it is, can't handle things like MWII. I'm surprised you're getting issues in CS2 and Fortnite though

DiamondRyce•10/25/23, 6:09 AM

*4090 but yes the issues seems very bad for those frames

HunterAP•10/25/23, 6:12 AM

TYPO ON MY END

DiamondRyce•10/25/23, 6:24 AM

Was the caps lock on as well /s

HunterAP•10/25/23, 6:26 AM

Yes lol

Mmouf Interesting..... Maybe I'm still missing something but why is the 40 series nven...

DiamondRyce•10/25/23, 6:28 AM

I think a redistribution of the load is warranted here especially if you want to utilize the cpu more. However you decide that its up to you. Utilize your igpu since it has two video codec engines as well. So maybe for the stream and your vertical plugin? Idk

DiamondRyce•10/25/23, 6:29 AM

The focus is lessen the gpu load. As like you did with limiting the framerate to 120

moufOP•10/25/23, 11:45 AM

Appreciate the insight everyone. The vertical plugin is only used to make clips no active streaming. I'll switch to quicksync for the main stream, uncap my FPS and give it a go.

AMD(rare) User•10/25/23, 12:41 PM

Using p7 for the av1 recording is probably a total waste

AMD(rare) User•10/25/23, 12:42 PM

I'd drop that to p1 or p2, and also use cqp vs cbr for it

AMD(rare) User•10/25/23, 12:42 PM

And p1/2 is what I believe you'd need to use to take advantage of the dual nvenc properly anyways

HunterAP•10/25/23, 1:45 PM

I didn't even see that they were doing multiple encodes at once, and at AV1 with P7. That explains everything
Multiple encodes using settings that utilize the 3D engine of the GPU will cause the GPU to overload for sure

HHunterAP I didn't even see that they were doing multiple encodes at once, and at AV1 with...

AMD(rare) User•10/25/23, 3:32 PM

Read the log, not the analysis of said log

AMD(rare) User•10/25/23, 3:32 PM

ISLY

DiamondRyce•10/25/23, 3:34 PM

I skimmed it last night. Clearly i missed the AV1 parts

DDiamondRyce I skimmed it last night. Clearly i missed the AV1 parts

AMD(rare) User•10/25/23, 3:35 PM

moufOP•10/25/23, 6:52 PM

I'll have to take a peek at my settings again. What part did I screw up? Lol

HunterAP•10/25/23, 6:58 PM

You're using the Vertical plugin for OBS to have two other encode sessions using AV1 NVENC, both are at P7
For AV1 you can afford to drop them all the way down to P1

AMD(rare) User•10/25/23, 6:59 PM

For h264 and h265 you can afford to drop to p1 as well(at least for recording)

AMD(rare) User•10/25/23, 7:00 PM

Because us9ng cqp for recording will maintain the quality

moufOP•10/25/23, 9:15 PM

Vertical is only for clips using the replay buffer. No live streaming with it. I was under the impression AV1 was higher quality with a smaller performance hit?

My main stream 3840x1080 I was using nvenc going to ReStream.

So I should be setting both to P1? Or should I switch the main stream to QuickSync and leave everything else?

HunterAP•10/25/23, 9:25 PM

First set both your encode sessions with the vertical plugin to P1 with psycho-visual tuning and lookahead both turned off, and use CQP instead of CBR (for AV1 CQP can be like 22)
If you're still getting some lag, try using quicksync