Record PC gameplay with ELGATO or SOFTWARE?

[Mike3k24]

Hey everyone so I just helped my friend build his new gaming PC ( http://pcpartpicker.com/list/YDzWZ8 ). He says he wants to record his gameplay, and he has an elgato. He is asking if he can record his computer gameplay with the elgato? He's never recorded with it before because he just got it. But he said is it better to record his PC gameplay with an elgato or software like fraps, bandicam, action, ect? Is the quality better? Are the files gigantic? And does it lag his real time gameplay?

 

[Bakua]

From what I've seen, Elgato and most other recorders drop performance during gameplay. I would use Shadowplay, doesn't affect performance and records 60fps gameplay.

 

[James Mason]

Your friend has an okayish computer. It wouldn't hurt to try both methods, BUT if he only has the 1 hard drive, it's gonna be pretty bad performance either way.
Recording is very hard drive intensive, and doesn't leave much room for reading the data the game needs.
A 2nd hard drive will be necessary either way in my opinion.

Quality wise the Elgato may be better than what his computer can do, but you have to compare both. And not all elgatos are made equal. I believe both with methods will reduce your FPS somewhat in game, but the Elgato less so, as it's doing most of the processing.

You can try OBS since it's free:
https://obsproject.com/
And here's how to set it up for local recordings, start at the recommended crf 15, and lower the number for higher quality and higher file size recordings, or raise it for slightly lower quality and smaller file sizes.
https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/how-to-make-high-quality-local-recordings.16/
And to set it up for twitch:
http://help.twitch.tv/customer/portal/articles/1262922-open-broadcaster-software

If you have an Nvidia GPU, you can use that to reduce the load on your CPU:
To set it up for recordings:
1. go to settings
2. go to encoding
3. click the Nvidia NVENC button
4. Make sure Use CBR is turned on
5. Make sure Enable CBR Padding is turned off
6. Set your Max Bitrate (Kb/s) to your upload max upload speed. You'll want like 8000 or more though, this affects the visual quality of the video partly. (1mbps = 1000 kbps, www.speedtest.net)
7. go to Video and set the FPS to 60
8. Go to Advanced
9. Turn Use Multithreaded Optimizations on
10. Set NVENC Preset to High Quality
11. Set Encoding Profile to Main
12. Turn Use CFR on.

To capture your game:
1. Right click in the white area of the Scenes: box and choose add scene, name it after the game you're gonna play.
2. Start the game you're gonna play.
3. right click in the Sources: box and choose Game Capture (for full screen games) or Window Capture (for windowed games whether borderless or not) or Monitor (to capture whatever is display one your monitor including your desktop/webbrowser/OBS)
4. Start recording.

To add a webcam:
1. Right click in the Sources: box and choose Video Capture Device.
2. Choose your webcam from the dropdown list at the top. Press Okay.
3. Click Preview Stream
4. Click the Video Capture in the sources list, go to Order and choose Move to Top.
5. Press the Edit Scene button

 

[Mike3k24]

James Mason, He said thanks for the suggestions but he wants one that he can just press record and he's done. He said he likes bandicam and action. But he doesn't own any of these. I don't know how to tell him that they cost a lot to purchase. If he buys one of those two, will they make his frames drop while recording? And will it be bad?

 

[James Mason]

James Mason, He said thanks for the suggestions but he wants one that he can just press record and he's done. He said he likes bandicam and action. But he doesn't own any of these. I don't know how to tell him that they cost a lot to purchase. If he buys one of those two, will they make his frames drop while recording? And will it be bad?

Yes all software will cause frames to drop, how much depends on the hardware and what you're recording.
And all the software will also require an fairly equal amount of setup, my guide for it is pretty comprehensive to get you ready to record.

The elgato will probably be the least amount of setup, as it just records whatever your GPU is putting out.

 

[Mike3k24]

James Mason, He said thanks for the suggestions but he wants one that he can just press record and he's done. He said he likes bandicam and action. But he doesn't own any of these. I don't know how to tell him that they cost a lot to purchase. If he buys one of those two, will they make his frames drop while recording? And will it be bad?

Yes all software will cause frames to drop, how much depends on the hardware and what you're recording.
And all the software will also require an fairly equal amount of setup, my guide for it is pretty comprehensive to get you ready to record.

The elgato will probably be the least amount of setup, as it just records whatever your GPU is putting out.

Okay makes sense. So do you recommend him recording with his elgato?

 

[James Mason]

James Mason, He said thanks for the suggestions but he wants one that he can just press record and he's done. He said he likes bandicam and action. But he doesn't own any of these. I don't know how to tell him that they cost a lot to purchase. If he buys one of those two, will they make his frames drop while recording? And will it be bad?

Yes all software will cause frames to drop, how much depends on the hardware and what you're recording.
And all the software will also require an fairly equal amount of setup, my guide for it is pretty comprehensive to get you ready to record.

The elgato will probably be the least amount of setup, as it just records whatever your GPU is putting out.

Okay makes sense. So do you recommend him recording with his elgato?

He can try both and then decide.