My normal CPU usage is usually at ~4% (with sc2 minimized) and everytime I start-up Xsplit my CPU usage shoots to ~75-100% and lags greatly when I try to play sc2. Is there any way to get my CPU usage to ~50% or lower while using Xsplit?

Here are my specs:

Processor: Quad core i5 750@ 2.67 GHz
Video: NVIDIA Geforce 9800 GT
Ram: 6gb ddr3
Resolution: 16:10
Output resolution: 4:3
windows 7 64-bit

koadyawn

United States8 Posts

August 04 2011 07:01 GMT

Ive also tried setting up to different affinities which didnt really do much :\

Amui

Canada10567 Posts

August 04 2011 07:15 GMT

lower whatever resolution you are streaming at, because xplit shouldn't use 70-100% on a quad unless you've overdone it.

Boblhead

United States2577 Posts

August 04 2011 07:30 GMT

Try to set your output resolution to something 16: 9
Turn your quality to 5
Your audio bitrate is terrible, you can handle 128k

you have to realize that streaming takes up alot of CPU usage, you are playing a cpu intensive game and your encoding your screen at the same time. You will have to compromise with lower settings.

turn off physics for sc2, turn off all the CPU intensive settings to see if this helps.

i5 750 will be able to stream higher settings, but you must overclock if you want a higher quality stream, and overall smoother gameplay.

if setting your xsplit to its own 2 cores didn't help then I would say try to make due with what you have.

Jago

Finland390 Posts

August 04 2011 09:59 GMT

On August 04 2011 16:15 Amui wrote:
lower whatever resolution you are streaming at, because xplit shouldn't use 70-100% on a quad unless you've overdone it.

Actually, what resolution you are streaming at doesn't matter anywhere near as much as what resolution you are providing the source at when gaming.

If you are gaming at say, 1080p and stream at 720p or 480p, there is obviously a difference in how much the CPU is taxed, but not a whole lot.
If you are streaming at 720p, but the source (the game) is at 1440p v 1080p, there is an enormous difference.

koadyawn

United States8 Posts

August 04 2011 10:08 GMT

What should the normal CPU usage % be when streaming sc2?

Does monitor size matter? I have a 30" btw

I set my output resolution to 768x432 (16: 9), turned quality to 5. (should I also be changing my monitor resolution to 16: 9 as well?) I have textures etc. all on low/off and even while Im still in the lobby in sc2 my CPU usage will normally be around ~70% still.

I setup the SC2 affinity for cores 0,1 and xsplit to 2,3 and didnt see much of a difference, or maybe I did it wrong.

Just having Xsplit open while sc2 in minimized still uses about ~55% CPU

JingleHell

United States11308 Posts

August 04 2011 13:15 GMT

If xsplit is rescaling the video, it's going to take extra CPU. I'm getting the impression you didn't read the sticky for people having streaming problems though, so I'm just going to suggest you do that.

Buddhist

United States658 Posts

August 04 2011 13:24 GMT

Streaming is rendering, so it's going to take a very large amount of CPU. I can just barely stream 1440x900 at 15 fps using a 3.415ghz quad core (AMD phenom II x4 965).

If you want to scale your output resolution down, scale down to 50%. Anything from 51-99% will not actually boost performance, because the scaling itself will take extra processing power. Cutting it exactly in half, though, will make a big difference.

koadyawn

United States8 Posts

August 04 2011 14:08 GMT

Is it even possible to get my CPU usage while streaming in the low ~50% with my computer specs?

Ive read the stickies and messed around the my resolution a lot but perhaps Im doing it wrong.

Jago

Finland390 Posts

August 04 2011 15:22 GMT

#10

On August 04 2011 19:08 koadyawn wrote:
What should the normal CPU usage % be when streaming sc2?

Does monitor size matter? I have a 30" btw

I set my output resolution to 768x432 (16: 9), turned quality to 5. (should I also be changing my monitor resolution to 16: 9 as well?) I have textures etc. all on low/off and even while Im still in the lobby in sc2 my CPU usage will normally be around ~70% still.

I setup the SC2 affinity for cores 0,1 and xsplit to 2,3 and didnt see much of a difference, or maybe I did it wrong.

Just having Xsplit open while sc2 in minimized still uses about ~55% CPU

Your monitor size doesn't matter, the resolution you use in-game maters (a lot) and the resolution you stream in (a fair bit, but less than the game resoltution). I previously had a 1680x1050 monitor and had no trouble streaming in 720p, even without any overclocking on an i5 750 CPU.

Now I have a 2560x1440 monitor and on the same computer, 720p streaming is now flat out impossible (in-game fps becomes a slideshow when I try) if I am using the native 2560x1440 resolution to play the game. I have to either play at a much lower non-native resolution to stream in 720p or alternatively I play in the native resolution, but stream at 480p in very low quality settings. Overclocking the i5 750 to 3,6 Ghz did help, but still not enough for a fully playable experience.

Jago

Finland390 Posts

August 04 2011 15:27 GMT

#11

Since you actually have the same CPU as I do, I can comment a bit more: what desktop/in-game resolution are you using? I found that without CPU overclocking, I could use 1680x1050 in-game resolution and stream in 720p in reasonable quality. To do 1920x1080, you will absolutely have to overclock your CPU to get anything remotely close to acceptable performance.

If you game in 2560x1440, no amount of overclocking will save you with an i5 750, this resolution demands massive amount of CPU power to process the stream encoding (regardless of what resolution you actually stream in).

Wabbit

United States1028 Posts

August 04 2011 15:37 GMT

#12

"It's not the size that matters mate... it's how you use it"
(translation: even if your monitor was 15", what matters is the resolution, as others have said. Is it 1920x1080 or is it more? If more, there's your issue right there)

Either way, you may want to set the output resolution to the same aspect ratio as your monitor's resolution (change the output's ratio to match the monitor, not the monitor to match the output).

koadyawn

United States8 Posts

August 05 2011 09:42 GMT

#13

Hey Jago thanks for the info, I found it a bit helpful mainly since I have a similar monitor resolution as you. I stream SC2 in game resolution at 1920x1200 and just tried lowering the resolution which did help a little but it is still using ~60% cpu. I've tried streaming at 480p even though it doesnt lag as much the quality is so poor that theres no point in streaming like that.

My monitors resolution is at 2560x1600 (16: 10) and I set the resolution in Xsplit to 800x600 (4: 3). In game.

I hear overclocking could be dangerous to your computer so not sure if I want to do that, maybe getting a smaller monitor would be better? Like say 22" with 1920x1080?

ImbaTosS

United Kingdom1688 Posts

August 05 2011 10:01 GMT

#14

It depends for overall PC performance what resolution you're playing at, and you can easily lower the resolution in the game options. Getting a worse monitor would just suck.

So lower the game resolution a few notches from full HD, stream at as low resolution as possible whilst still offering good quality, and see how it goes. Can't emphasise enough that monitor size/max resolution makes no difference. It's all in the settings.