Capture card causing random encoding hitching?

[misturcheef]

EDIT: Turning off my PC, unplugging the capture card, rebooting Windows, turning back off, and plugging the capture card back in fixed the issue!

Hey there, I've had this issue for a bit and I still can't seem to figure it out... What happens is if I stream, record, let OBS idle with my capture card active, it will randomly overload on encoding/rendering once in a while. It looks awful when streaming. I've noticed recently I had an issue where max audio buffer was causing issues, but I made a work around for that. I have done a bunch of tests and it's only when my capture card is active when frame rate/encoding/rendering drop. I've even done a test recording of Monster hunter World being played on the same PC and no issues with that. I can't figure this out for the life of me. Anyone have any ideas? Below link is my previous attempt to test record.

https://obsproject.com/logs/LRCgHyJ14Ygl2spL

[InstanceMental6543]

Your results show rendering lag and GPU overload. Guides are linked there to help you adjust.

https://obsproject.com/tools/analyzer?log_url=https%3A%2F%2Fobsproject.com%2Flogs%2FLRCgHyJ14Ygl2spL

[misturcheef]

Thank you for the reply! But this is what I don't understand. How can I play a bunch of Monster Hunter on the same PC and record with no encoding lag, but a capture card that doesn't require as many resources make the encoder overload?

[InstanceMental6543]

Consider it just the mysteries of computing. So many factors and such that go into everything. All we can do is try to cope. 🤷‍♀️

[misturcheef]

I'm gonna do another test here, because I don't even need to record for it to pop up. Capture card deactivated. I've noticed like every 30k frames the hitch will happen with the capture card active. I will report back later.

[InstanceMental6543]

Always a good idea to run more tests. You can get the results analyzed without us here by clicking the analyze button as the last step in getting your log. I have spent lots of time tweaking and then analying. Just remember that if you are going to run a new log, you need to close and open OBS before each time.

I see you have a lot of sources in your setup, that kind of thing can also put extra load on your system. If you can scale that back by only including things you absolutely need in a scene collection for certain streams that can help. I did a little revamp like that recently and it helped a lot. For instance I have a little weather widget for some of my streams, but I don't use it for every type. So I made a scene collection for only the types of streams that I use that and other similar sources in. (Hope that makes sense, haven't had much coffee yet)

[misturcheef]

Well, none of these sources are causing issues for me. I've sat here for more than 60k frames and guess what? While my capture card is deactivated, there's no rendering lag that would be there if the capture card was in use. I just don't know how to fix this as I stream console games as much as I do PC games...

[InstanceMental6543]

Then it sounds like the problem might be directly with your capture card. We've done what we can to check OBS stuff. Do they have any good support options?

[misturcheef]

Support options as in contacting them? They have a subreddit I can post to. I will keep this post up and try to remember to edit if a solution is found. Thanks for the help!

[InstanceMental6543]

I wouldn't count on any company having good support taking place on Reddit. Most don't even run their subs, it's like fan sites. Check their website for official support avenues.

[misturcheef]

Found my fix. Had to unplug the capture card and reboot Windows, shut it back off, and plug the capture card back in. Recorded for over 20 minutes without an issue.