OBS on a low-end PC: a stable 720p, 30 FPS stream

Prepare before you start

Follow the numbered actions in order and compare your screen or recording with each expected result. Menu names can differ between application versions. Arrows show the order of settings and choices, not a claim that every account offers the same controls.

A dictionary without difficult abbreviations

Step by step · 1–4

1. Action

   Open: Statistics → OBS → View → Stats.

   ✓ After this step you will see

   After this step you will see: Baseline.

2. Action

   Check: Network → Network ↓.

   ✓ After this step you will see

   After this step you will see: Upload video.

3. Action

   Check: Rendering → Rendering ↑.

   ✓ After this step you will see

   After this step you will see: GPU.

4. Action

   Check: Encoding → Encoding ↑.

   ✓ After this step you will see

   After this step you will see: Encoder.

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Step by step · 5–8

5. Action

   Open: Settings → OBS → Settings → Video.

   ✓ After this step you will see

   After this step you will see: Output.

6. Action

   Select or set: Output → 1280 × 720 / 30 FPS.

   ✓ After this step you will see

   After this step you will see: Load.

7. Action

   Select or set: Encoder → H.264 / NVENC / QSV / AMF.

   ✓ After this step you will see

   After this step you will see: Hardware.

8. Action

   Select or set: Bitrate → Platform → Sources and licenses.

   ✓ After this step you will see

   After this step you will see: Upload video.

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Step by step · 9–12

9. Action

   Select or set: Game FPS → 60 / 90 / 120 FPS.

   ✓ After this step you will see

   After this step you will see: GPU.

10. Action

    Close: Control panel · Load → Control panel · ×1.

    ✓ After this step you will see

    After this step you will see: Load.

11. Action

    Test: Recording → 5 min.

    ✓ After this step you will see

    After this step you will see: Viewer output.

12. Action

    Compare: Statistics → Baseline.

    ✓ After this step you will see

    After this step you will see: One change at a time.

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Settings · Context

Quick setup · Short test

Keep your existing canvas and scenes, but set the scaled output to 1280 × 720 and frame rate to 30. Run the same game and a five-minute recording. Compare increases in rendering and encoding lag. Limit FPS inside the game so it does not consume all GPU capacity.

If only network-dropped frames increase, a camera filter is unlikely to fix the cause. Match bitrate to platform guidance and sustained upload capacity with headroom. If just one viewer buffers, also investigate their playback before lowering quality for everyone.

1. Check: Rendering → Rendering ↑.
2. Select or set: Output → 1280 × 720 / 30 FPS.
3. Select or set: Game FPS → 60 / 90 / 120 FPS.
4. Compare: Statistics → Baseline.

Before you go live

Keep your existing configuration and original source file first. Change one parameter at a time. Check a short recording or the actual viewer output, rather than relying only on the editor. Restore the recorded baseline if the result gets worse.

1. One change at a time → Baseline.
2. Viewer output → Short test.
3. Results → Backup.

Frequently asked questions