When you set up OBS to stream or record gameplay, the biggest quality-and-performance decision is which encoder does the heavy lifting: your GPU’s dedicated NVENC hardware, or the CPU-based x264 software encoder. The right choice depends on whether you have a spare CPU headroom, a modern GPU, and how much the encode should steal from your game.
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Top 3 picks at a glance
What each encoder does
NVENC (hardware)
NVENC is a dedicated silicon block on NVIDIA GPUs (AMD and Intel have equivalents in AMF and QuickSync). It encodes video with almost no impact on your game’s frame rate because it runs on a separate part of the chip. Recent-generation NVENC produces excellent quality that rivals CPU encoding at streaming bitrates.
x264 (software)
x264 runs on your CPU cores. At slower presets it can produce slightly better image quality per bitrate than older hardware encoders, but it consumes significant CPU time — which can drop your in-game FPS unless you have a high-core-count chip or a dedicated second streaming PC.
Performance and quality at a glance
| Encoder | Game FPS impact | Quality at 6,000 kbps 1080p60 | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVENC (recent gen) | Very low (2–5%) | Excellent | Single-PC streamers |
| NVENC (older gen) | Very low | Good | Budget single-PC |
| x264 “veryfast” | Moderate | Good | Strong CPU, spare cores |
| x264 “medium/slow” | High | Very good | Two-PC or non-gaming encode |
Which should you pick?
Single gaming PC
Use NVENC. On any reasonably modern NVIDIA GPU it offloads the encode entirely, keeping your game smooth while delivering quality that most viewers can’t distinguish from CPU encoding at Twitch-friendly bitrates. This is the default recommendation for the vast majority of streamers.
Two-PC setup or CPU-only
If you run a dedicated streaming PC that isn’t also gaming, x264 at “medium” or “slow” squeezes maximum quality from every kilobit. Without a GPU encoder available, x264 “veryfast” is the fallback — just watch your CPU usage so the game doesn’t stutter.
Bitrate matters more than encoder
At platform-capped bitrates (many services cap around 6,000–8,000 kbps for non-partners), the gap between a modern hardware encoder and x264 is small. Fast motion — particle effects, quick camera pans — stresses any encoder, so prioritize a clean bitrate and sensible resolution/FPS over agonizing about the encoder brand.
FAQ
Will NVENC lower my in-game frame rate?
Barely. Because NVENC uses a separate hardware block, the hit is typically a low single-digit percentage — far less than software x264, which competes with your game for CPU cores. On a single gaming PC, NVENC is almost always the smoother choice.
Is x264 still worth using in 2026?
Only in specific cases: a dedicated encoding PC, or squeezing the best possible quality at a fixed bitrate when you have CPU headroom to spare. For everyone gaming and streaming on one machine, modern hardware encoders have closed the quality gap enough that x264’s cost usually isn’t worth it.
Recording vs streaming
The encoder math changes when you’re recording locally instead of streaming live. Local recording isn’t capped by your upload speed, so you can use a much higher bitrate — 20,000–50,000 kbps or a quality-based mode — and the quality gap between hardware and software encoding shrinks to nothing that matters. For recording, NVENC’s near-zero performance cost makes it the obvious pick: you keep your frame rate and still get archival-quality footage you can edit later.
Match the encoder to your GPU generation
Not all hardware encoders are equal. Older GPUs use earlier NVENC blocks that look noticeably softer than recent generations, which rival CPU x264 “medium.” If you’re on a several-generations-old card and quality is critical, x264 on a strong CPU may still edge it out. On any current-generation GPU, that’s no longer true — the hardware encoder is excellent. Also remember that Intel’s QuickSync and AMD’s AMF have improved dramatically, so you’re not locked to NVIDIA to get good hardware encoding. Whatever you choose, run a short test recording of a fast, particle-heavy scene and inspect it frame by frame; motion-heavy footage exposes encoder weaknesses that a static menu screen never will, and it’s the fairest way to judge whether your settings hold up under real gameplay.
Bottom line
Stream on one PC? Choose NVENC (or QuickSync/AMF on non-NVIDIA GPUs) and forget about it — you keep your frames and viewers get great quality. Reserve x264 “medium/slow” for a two-PC rig where a spare CPU can chase that last bit of image quality. Then spend your energy dialing in bitrate, resolution, and scene setup, which affect the stream far more.
