Game Recording Software for PC: Settings Guide for Lossless YouTube Uploads

I used OBS for the first time to capture my gaming footage. When I finally made it onto YouTube, my uploaded video looked like someone put a layer of Vaseline over everything I did. Even though I shot at 60 frames per second (fps) with a local bitrate of 50 megabits-per-second (Mbps), the video still looked fuzzy after I finished uploading it. The hardware wasn't the issue. All the issues were above that line, i.e., before you click "upload."

The settings that are causing compression can be fixed by making about 5-6 specific selections. Below is what actually matters.

Pick the right encoder before anything else

All of the setting cascades throughout your entire recording system are based upon which encoder you select first. Therefore, if you make an incorrect selection with regard to the encoder, there is nothing else you may do in order to "save" yourself from making this mistake.

For example, if you have a new generation NVIDIA Graphics Card, you should utilize NVENC. NVENC uses dedicated silicon within your video card's GPU to record video. Since OBS is utilizing these specific resources on your video card while you are gaming, your gameplay experience remains unaffected by what OBS is processing in the background. On the contrary, when you use a software encoder, like x264, it will consume a great deal of your CPU's power, and consequently tank your frame rate in nearly every situation where either the CPU is taxed heavily during gameplay (i.e., CPU-bound) or in massive-scale environments (i.e., huge-scale Fortnite battles) or high-traffic MMO zones.

The second thing to consider after selecting the NVENC encoder is to also select the codec option available above it. When utilizing the H.265 (HEVC) codec over H.264, you may be able to obtain approximately 30% better compression ratio at similar image quality levels. This equates to being able to generate smaller files for similar image quality, or being able to achieve higher image quality at identical file sizes. At present (in 2026), I am unaware of any compelling reasons why one would not desire to utilize HEVC for local recording unless they were editing their video content in a piece of software that currently does not provide HEVC compatibility.

To configure OBS to use both NVENC and HEVC for local recording:

OBS: Settings > Output > Output Mode: Advanced > Recording tab > Encoder: NVIDIA NVENC HEVC. If HEVC is not listed in the drop-down menu for choosing encoders, then I recommend checking your graphics driver's version. Most likely that is your answer.

CBR is for streaming. CRF is for recording.

Two methods of controlling your bitrate for both local recording and live streams exist within our community. The first is Constant Bitrate (CBR) which allows you to know exactly how much data you'll be sending per second. This makes it perfect for live streaming (for Twitch's ingest purposes you want as steady an output as possible), while the second method (Constant Rate Factor or "CRF") varies the amount of data sent per second based on the image quality. Image quality remains constant with varying file sizes depending on the complexity of what was recorded. OBS uses CRF for local recordings. When using OBS, you choose a quality setting, and then OBS encodes your video at whatever bitrate is necessary to achieve that quality setting. NVENC has a very similar feature known as CQP, however CQP does the exact same thing as CRF. If you're unsure where to start, begin by trying a CQP setting of 20. Use 18 for games like driving simulations (which have lots of foliage and motion), or use 23 if you need to save disk space, and do not mind accepting slightly less clear images during extremely busy/complex moments.

The 1440p record-and-upload trick

If you have a monitor that can display at 1440p or greater there is an additional way to work and create content for YouTube by creating your video at 1440p (or higher) and allowing your viewer to receive the best possible down-scaled version of your video based on their viewing setting. This is possible due to how YouTube uses bitrate budgets per resolution. When a user uploads a video at 1080p, the same video has a much smaller bitrate than if the exact same video was uploaded as a 1440p video. By forcing YouTube to use a larger bitrate when you provide it with a 1440p file, the viewer who has chosen to view in 1080p receives a better down-scale quality than if you had provided a native 1080p upload. It isn't magic, it simply utilizes the encoding ladder used by YouTube.

In order to take advantage of this method using OBS, you want to ensure both the Canvas Resolution and the Output Resolution are set to match your monitors native resolution (usually 2560 x 1440) DO NOT down-sample in OBS. After creating your original 1440p video, upload that video directly to YouTube and allow YouTube to do all of the resizing once your viewers begin playing back the video.

Caution: Your file size will be dramatically increased compared to native 1080p uploads and you will likely struggle with editing your 1440p timeline unless you have a very capable video editing system. If you find yourself struggling with the performance of your current system while working with a 1440p timeline, this trick quickly becomes worthless.

Setups beyond a single PC

When dual-PC pays off (and when it doesn't)

In addition to using one computer to play games and stream them live, there exists another option: a dual-computer set up where you have a separate machine for the computer that plays the game (or streams the game), while also having a separate computer for encoding/ capturing. This is a very effective method for recording games which require high amounts of processing power or high quality videos from the perspective of performance and maintaining frame rates.

However, an overwhelming majority of people will never use such a system. In fact, unless you're doing some sort of advanced type of gaming or creating extremely long gaming videos (such as tutorials) at 240 fps and cannot afford to lose even a single frame of video, then you probably don't need such a system.

When does a dual-PC setup pay off? You are streaming and recording at the same time, your game already maxes out your CPU, or you are playing at 240 fps and refusing to drop a single frame.

When is it overkill? Recording a single-player game at 60 fps with NVENC running on a spare GPU encoder. NVENC's overhead is minimal enough that most users do not need a second machine.

Elgato 4K Pro PCIe capture card for dual-PC gameplay recording

If you do go dual-PC, you will need a capture card. The two go-to choices are the Elgato 4K Pro and the AVerMedia Live Gamer 4K. Both take HDMI out of the gaming PC and present it as a video source on the streaming PC. For more options at different price points, see our best capture card for streaming roundup.

AVerMedia Live Gamer 4K GC573 capture card

An intermediate alternative: run NVIDIA ShadowPlay alongside OBS. ShadowPlay is a free, minimal-performance-impact way to create duplicate recordings of your session in case OBS fails to finalize the file properly.

I've lost several days worth of potential footage because I didn't realize my recordings were incomplete until it was too late. If I had just had ShadowPlay running in the background during those situations, I could have saved myself hours of watching failed footage.

Automatic clip tools

Manually searching through hours of recorded sessions looking for specific highlight moments (kills, multi-kills, round wins) isn't the best way to capture the moments you really want. Several automated clip tools fix this, including Plays (previously known as Plays.tv) and Outplayed (running on Overwolf). These programs continuously record in the background and automatically cut segments when certain in-game events occur.

The event detection for major competitive titles like League of Legends, Valorant, and Fortnite works well enough to catch most significant moments.

Since these tools use less aggressive encoders to keep overhead low, they produce lower-quality clips than OBS. For TikTok and Twitter-style short-form content this is fine. For longer-form uploads to your main YouTube channel, it is not.

I personally use both. For main-channel content I use OBS exclusively. I run Outplayed in the background during competitive sessions so I don't miss the occasional clutch I hadn't planned to record.

Pre-recording checklist and first dry run

Run the following before any session you intend to actually use. Most of the stories about wasting three hours of footage trace back to one of these items.

  • Encoder configured to NVENC HEVC (or your hardware equivalent)
  • CQP or bitrate matches your quality target
  • Output resolution and frame rate correspond to what you want (not what OBS reset itself to after the last update)
  • All audio sources share a common sample rate (48 kHz is standard, and mismatches cause drift)
  • Mic and game audio levels checked, no clipping
  • Disk capacity accounts for the session length (HEVC at CQP 20 burns about 1GB per minute at 1440p60)
  • Recording to an NVMe SSD, not an older spinning HDD
  • Background apps closed (Discord overlay, browser, anything that wants the GPU)
  • GPU drivers current (HEVC support has changed between driver versions)
  • 30-second test clip recorded and played back before the real session starts

This test clip is the one people skip. It catches the killer problems: muted mic, wrong scene, encoder silently fell back to software mode.

Frequently asked questions

Is NVENC HEVC really better than NVENC H.264 for local recording?

Yes. At the same level of visual quality, HEVC achieves about 30% better compression, smaller files without losing fidelity. The only reason to stick with H.264 is if your editor doesn't decode HEVC efficiently.

What CQP value should I use for gameplay?

CQP 20 is the right starting point. Drop to 18 for driving sims or detail-heavy games. Push to 23 if disk space is tight and you can live with slightly more compression on busy frames.

Why does my upload look worse than my local file?

YouTube re-encodes uploads at a target bitrate based on resolution. A 1080p upload gets compressed harder than a 1440p one. Record and upload at 1440p so viewers get a cleaner downscale even when watching at 1080p.

Do I need a dual-PC setup to record gameplay?

Probably not. NVENC's overhead is low enough that a single machine handles most cases. A dual-PC rig is worth it when you stream and record simultaneously with a maxed-out CPU, or when you genuinely can't drop a frame at 240 fps.

Is there a free backup for OBS in case it crashes?

Run NVIDIA ShadowPlay alongside OBS. ShadowPlay records locally with very little performance impact, so if OBS fails to finalize a file you still have the session.

How much disk space does HEVC at CQP 20 use?

Roughly 1GB per minute at 1440p60. A two-hour session lands around 120GB. Record to an NVMe SSD so disk speed doesn't bottleneck the encoder.

Once the checklist passes, do the dry run: launch OBS, switch to Advanced output mode, set NVENC HEVC with CQP 20, and record 30 seconds of whatever game you play. Upload unlisted at 1440p and check it the next morning after YouTube finishes processing.

If it still looks fuzzy, the encoder isn't the problem. Check that your game is actually outputting at the resolution OBS is trying to capture. That mismatch wastes more troubleshooting time than anything else.

For deeper OBS configuration, see our guides to the best OBS Studio settings for recording and the best video editing software for YouTube videos once you have your raw files in hand.