My OBS Settings for Streaming

OBS settings can vary between setup to setup. Here I will share my configuration for my two PC setup using a capture card and cloning my display.

There are alternatives if you prefer to avoid hardware based solutions. Look into an NDI configuration.

The Problem #

Having a two PC setup for streaming helps to reduce the encoding compute required to transcode a 1080p 60fps stream to Twitch. Even if you have a capture card encoding is still done on a CPU if you’re using the x264 encoder, so you’ll still need a pretty beefy CPU on your streaming PC. The split setup I have allows me to have higher game quality and stream quality instead of having a single PC do both jobs.

(Other platforms allow for different bit rates, but I currently only stream on Twitch, so these settings will be focused around that platform.)

Using a Capture Card #

Using a capture card allows you to “capture” audio and video sources from devices that output to HDMI. This allows you to stream content from your PC, Nintendo Switch, Playstation, XBox, even other cameras! Anything with an standard HDMI output may be compatible.

Equipment #

You can find a diagram of my setup via my equipment page that may be easier to visualize this setup.

I rely on HDMI audio and cloning my desktop so I can still utilize a high refresh rate on my monitor while OBS outputs at 60fps. I have seen more advanced audio setups using voice meter or PCIe sound cards, but for the sake of simplicity (and my wallet), I will be sticking to HDMI audio throughput.

Hardware: #

• El Gato 4k capture card
• Gaming PC GPU
• Streaming PC GPU
• HDMI Cable
• Display Port Cable

OBS Configurations: #

Because I use a GPU on my streaming PC for encoding, I am able to change my OBS encoder from the default x264 encoder. This has helped slightly with OBS encoder overloading issues.

Streaming Output:

Recording Output:

Audio Output:

Replay Buffer Output:

Video Output: