Do you encounter frame drops on OBS?
With the rise of game streaming, platforms like Twitch flourished. Not to mention the applications used to record your display, such as OBS Studio and Streamlabs.
OBS Studio is a free, open-source software used by many streamers to cast their screens on streaming services like Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook Gaming. It was released in 2012 and has attracted a lot of attention ever since streaming and vlogging became a thing.
While OBS is one of the best streaming services you can use, it’s not perfect, and you may encounter issues while using it.
One of the most common problems on OBS is frame drops.
When this occurs, your stream will look choppy and laggy, which is not pleasing for your viewers.
Usually, this issue is caused by improper configurations on OBS Studio. However, it can also be due to incompatible hardware, corrupted graphics drivers, slow network connections, or third-party applications.
Today, we’ll show you what to do if you experience frame drops on OBS Studio while streaming.
Let’s get started!
1. Close Unnecessary Applications.
Streaming and playing simultaneously is no easy task for your computer. This is why most streamers use high-end systems to handle the load of their streams while maintaining high FPS on games.
Some streamers even have a separate system dedicated to the stream.
If you’re having problems with your streams, check if unnecessary applications are running on your computer. As much as possible, the only programs that should be running on your computer are stream-related and your game.
2. Restart Your System.
Before tweaking your system, try to restart your computer first if you encounter frame drops on OBS. This should refresh your system cache and eliminate temporary bugs and glitches on your computer.
Here’s how you can restart your Windows PC:
- First, open the Start Menu on your Taskbar.
- After that, click on the Power Options tab.
- Lastly, choose Restart.
Resume your stream after restarting your system to check if the problem is solved.
3. Check Your Network Connection.
Slow or unstable networks could also cause frame drops on your stream. You might be looking at OBS, but the issue is caused by your network. To confirm this, run a test on your network using Fast.com to measure its current upload and download bandwidth.
If the test confirms that your network is the problem, restart your modem or router to re-establish the connection with your ISP.
Once done, re-run the test to check if the problem is solved. If not, contact your service provider and ask them to fix the issue.
4. Switch to a Wired Connection.
When streaming your games online, it’s always recommended to use a wired connection. This reduces delays on your network and is much more stable than any high-end wireless modem or router.
Before streaming, bring out your good old LAN cable and connect your computer directly to your router.
5. Update Your Drivers.
If the issue is really from OBS, the first thing you can do is update your display drivers. Since OBS uses your graphics card to record your display, your video card must be working properly to avoid issues.
See the guide below to update your display drivers on Windows:
- On your keyboard, press the Windows + X keys to open the Quick Menu.
- After that, click on Device Manager to launch it.
- Now, expand the Display Adapters tab and right-click on your video card.
- Finally, choose the Update Driver option.
Restart your system after the update and check if you’ll still encounter frame drops on OBS.
6. Lower Your Stream Bitrate.
Bitrate is the quality of video or audio being transferred to your stream. If you’re using a mid-level rig and a slow connection, we recommend lowering your stream bitrate to reduce the load on your system and network.
Here’s what you need to do:
- First, open OBS Studio on your PC.
- Now, go to the Settings and open the Output tab.
- Lastly, look for Video Bitrate and lower it.
Save the changes and resume your stream to check if the problem is solved.
That ends our guide for fixing frame drops on OBS Studio. For your questions and other concerns, please drop a comment below, and we’ll do our best to answer them.
If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂
