CPU usage maxes out using OBS / Fraps makes the framerate drop like a rock

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Cliff Terios

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Jun 13, 2015
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Hey what's up guys,

I've got a couple problems I hope you can help me solve.

First off, OBS makes my CPU usage spike from 5 to 100%. I've done some testing because I recognized while playing a video game (about 40% CPU usage on the game alone) so I used OBS without even running a game, simply recording my desktop. Also, it doesn't matter wether I stream or record using OBS, the CPU spike happens every time disregarding of which programs are running. Also set the game on high priority, problem remains.

Also, Fraps makes my Framerate drop like a god damn rock. I fall from 110 on ultra graphics in Dirty Bomb down to 45 FPS as soon as I start recording footage. It generally halves my FPS and I've done a little bit of research, reading that Fraps usually does that but nobody ever proposed a functioning solution (if there even is any?).

My question is wether I can fix any of these problems without replacing my hardware or not. The CPU doesn't max out on any other action I perform, only exception being when I render two videos at once and even then it never goes past 98%. Other than that, post-production, graphical work, rendering and playing games all don't scratch my CPU at all. Temperature is also completely fine.

My current hardware:
- M5A99X Evo R2.0 Mainboard
- AMD FX-8350 Octa Core CPU
- XFX Radeon R9 270X GPU
- 16 GB RAM (dual channel)


Thanks in advance,
Cliff
 
Solution
dsr07mm
There is no solution for fraps. Problem with fraps is that its doing uncompressed videos which mean clean as hell, but with that your CPU is tortured including HDD. You can probably get 720p recording with Fraps if you play game in 1280x720 aswel since cpu/hdd usage will be much lower, but for 1080p Fraps is basically crap, even on SSD.

Now with OBS, I assume you are recording and not streaming. For recording you need to use veryfast preset (faster preset - lower quality but lower cpu utilization, slower preset - higher quality no pixels but its killing cpu), and dont worry you are recording so veryfast is more then great and its not making difference even against slower preset.

Now key for FPS beside that is bitrate, you wanna record...
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dsr07mm

dsr07mm

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Aug 26, 2013
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There is no solution for fraps. Problem with fraps is that its doing uncompressed videos which mean clean as hell, but with that your CPU is tortured including HDD. You can probably get 720p recording with Fraps if you play game in 1280x720 aswel since cpu/hdd usage will be much lower, but for 1080p Fraps is basically crap, even on SSD.

Now with OBS, I assume you are recording and not streaming. For recording you need to use veryfast preset (faster preset - lower quality but lower cpu utilization, slower preset - higher quality no pixels but its killing cpu), and dont worry you are recording so veryfast is more then great and its not making difference even against slower preset.

Now key for FPS beside that is bitrate, you wanna record at around ~15,000 bitrate, both bitrate and buffer, CBR enabled. When you are streaming you are doing that at 3,000 bitrate so cpu usage on destkop is only 9% on my i7 4770k, when I start recording with 15,000 bitrate cpu usage is going around 15-20% which is again normal. OBS doesnt kill your HDD that much because its recording videos already compressed into h264 which is more then great in my case. So basically try finding bitrate starting by 15,000 for new AAA games since you wanna avoid pixels or even less for older games. And dont change from veryfast preset.
 
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Cliff Terios

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Jun 13, 2015
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(Fucking great just had a really long reply to this and it didn't actually send 10/10)

To sum things up I typed down previously: I got nearly the same settings. 3.500 for streaming, 16.000 for recording. I have forgotten to mention a few other problems I get with OBS (which happened just as of recently).
- FPS drop (not as bad as Fraps)
- VERY inconsistent FPS
- Gameplay doesn't run smooth
- Hitching / 1-Second-Freezing in the recording while gameplay is fine

Tried your settings too but no difference.
 
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Cliff Terios

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Sorry but how do I set OBS to only use the cores 6&7? I can't seem to find it.

Yeah I've used raptr before but GVR only gives me good results for plays.tv- as soon as I try to work with the base data, the video looks like absolute ass. The streaming function from AMD is also not exactly.. Good, as of now.

I only have one HDD..
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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find obs in task manager /processes
click set affinity , tick your last 2 cores only.

unfortunately with only a 270x & single hard drive youre going to have a problem with fraps recording,the uncompressed video eats stoarge & disk usage - with only a single drive youre going to struggle.
I do agree on raptr recording,have you tried msi afterburners recording feature which to be is a good compromise & has a lot more flexibility when it comes to encoding options.

 
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Cliff Terios

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I actually haven't. Do I have access to that when using an XFX GPU though? It sounds like an msi exclusive. However, I'll try to record with OBS running only on core 6&7 soon, I'm currently uploading my latest videos to YouTube. I'll come back and give feedback on wether it worked or not- Thanks in advance!
 
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madmatt30

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afterburner works with any gpu mate,brand or card series.


 
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dsr07mm

dsr07mm

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Did you try downscaling to 1280x720 at 1.50 ? 1080p is kinda impossible to record with any software without huge drops in fps and shuttering. That's why there are capture cards or ShadowPlay for Nvidia as alternative.

I dont see recording on core 6 & 7 to help at all in my case. Also even with 2 HDD's you will have same drops, SSD might be helpful for long recordings but that is pretty much only solution and drops will be there no matter what.

Dont expect 1080p videos to record with success on AAA games, I get shuttering even on some old games. I recorded with Fraps for my youtube channel until 2 years ago, but I was locking games on 30fps and I did record at 720p30fps, then after I upgraded to i7 4770k I used OBS with 20,000 bitrate in 720p60fps. But now if I try to record Witcher 3/FC4/Unity I get drops with 10-20fps and terrible shuttering no matter what, so thanks god that I have ShadowPlay available.
 
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mstuff101

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Jul 19, 2015
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For some reason Shadowplay won't record the Witcher for me. I tried using OBS but the FPS took a nosedive and now I can't record this game at all.
 
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