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GeForce-Optimized OBS with NVENC enables better single PC streaming

Nvidia is looking to raise the bar for single-PC streamers with a new GeForce-Optimized version of OBS.

Josh Hawkins

January 7, 2019 12:45 PM

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OBS, or the Open Broadcaster Software has been one of the most popular streaming applications for quite a while now, offering great features in a free, easy to use application. Up until now, many professional streamers have been making use of dual PC setups, which allow them to provide higher quality content without bottle-necking their system due to running both OBS (or other broadcasting software) on top of the game and other things. Now, though, Nvidia and OBS are partnering up to bring that same kind of performance to streamers in a single-PC setup.

Announced this year at CES, Nvidia and OBS have teamed up to create a Geforce-Optimized version of OBS with an RTX Encoder that will allow professional-quality broadcasting from a single-PC setup. Basically, the new RTX cards have Nvidia’s NVENC technology, which features an independent portion of the GPU focused solely on encoding video. This takes away the performance hit that your CPU would need to use to encode video, allowing you to lift quite a bit of the strain that comes from streaming on a single-PC setup.

Of course, having the NVENC technology is only half of the equation, and Nvidia has teamed up with OBS to provide a more stable, better optimized version of the open-source software that will allow it to give increased performance and improved support for Nvidia cards in the GeForce RTX series, including the newly announced RTX 2060 and even the new Geforce RTX Max-Q laptops that will go on sale soon.

With the new update—which is slated to drop sometime near the end of January—Nvidia RTX users will be able to receive higher FPS in games thanks to the updates that Nvidia and OBS have made. On top of this, older cards with the NVENC technology will also receive some speedups and optimizations, granting better video encoding all around for those with 700 series or newer Nvidia GPUs.

This is a massive leap forward for OBS and Nvidia and will make getting into professional quality streaming even easier as you won’t need to purchase multiple computers or worry about setting up advanced audio hardware to get things running smoothly. Without the need to purchase addition content for a professional setup, streamers should find it easier to provide the same high-quality content as more established streamers when they are just starting out, making the live-streaming industry even easier to get a start in.

For more news from this year’s tradeshow, make sure you check out our CES 2019 home page.

Josh Hawkins

Guides Editor

Joshua holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and has been exploring the world of video games for as long as he can remember. He enjoys everything from large-scale RPGs to small, bite-size indie gems and everything in between.