Intel Quicksync or Nvidia NVEnc for me in Twitch?

[NinjaJc01]

For best performance, should I be using Intel QuickSync, or Nvidia NVEnc while I stream?

I have: 

i7-4770 (Non K)

8GB DDR3 (If it matters)

And a GTX 970.

Does either affect the performance of my CPU or GPU while I am encoding? (I understand that NVEnc uses an ASIC within the card, and Quicksync uses the iGPU)

[zMeul]

you get a small penalty even if you use the video engine with NVENC

[NinjaJc01]

Just now, zMeul said:

you get a small penalty even if you use the video engine with NVENC

So a small performance hit if I use NVEnc? Similar for Quicksync?

[zMeul]

Just now, NinjaJc01 said:

So a small performance hit if I use NVEnc? Similar for Quicksync?

for QS I haven't tested, but since it's a separate entity on the CPU, it'd say no

[NinjaJc01]

Just now, zMeul said:

for QS I haven't tested, but since it's a separate entity on the CPU, it'd say no

So is NVEnc...

Nvidia NVENC is the name given to Nvidia's ASIC IP block that performs video encoding. It was introduced with the Kepler-based GeForce 600 series in March 2012, as a product feature that offloads H264 video encoding from the host CPU.

 

[zMeul]

Just now, NinjaJc01 said:

So is NVEnc...

the video engine in a nVidia GPU shares a whole lot of resources to function - from bandwith to VRAM

the same holds true for a Intel iGPU but on a different smaller level - the iGPU is a separate entity just like a video card

[Zodiark1593]

The performance hit between the two should be similar, perhaps more so for Quicksync if the CPU is being fully utilized. Use whichever gives you the best quality at your target bandwidth.

[NinjaJc01]

Just now, zMeul said:

the video engine in a nVidia GPU shares a whole lot of resources to function - from bandwith to VRAM

the same holds true for a Intel iGPU but on a different smaller level - the iGPU is a separate entity just like a video card

So Quicksync would use more system memory?

So NVEnc might be better since I only have 8GB of RAM?

[zMeul]

1 minute ago, Zodiark1593 said:

The performance hit between the two should be similar, perhaps more so for Quicksync if the CPU is being fully utilized. Use whichever gives you the best quality at your target bandwidth.

QS doesn't use the CPU, uses the iGPU - not the same thing

[NinjaJc01]

1 minute ago, Zodiark1593 said:

The performance hit between the two should be similar, perhaps more so for Quicksync if the CPU is being fully utilized. Use whichever gives you the best quality at your target bandwidth.

As I'm streaming at a ridiculous bandwidth, how do I tell which is higher quality?

[GangstaRas]

In my experience, NVENC is the better performer in terms of performance but quality wise at low bitrates, Quicksync is better. I find that Quicksync tends to borrow your dedicated GPU's power for some odd reason, and its that that makes it perform slightly worse than NVENC

[zMeul]

1 minute ago, NinjaJc01 said:

So Quicksync would use more system memory?

So NVEnc might be better since I only have 8GB of RAM?

I'm gonna stop what I'm doing and specifically do a test for you

 

will be back in maybe 15-20min

[Zodiark1593]

2 minutes ago, zMeul said:

QS doesn't use the CPU, uses the iGPU - not the same thing

While true, the potential concern is the additional heat from running the iGP, particularly if you're running an overclocked system. While a minor concern, if your cpu cooling is fairly borderline, then one you should factor.

[NinjaJc01]

Just now, zMeul said:

QS doesn't use the CPU, uses the iGPU - not the same thing

But both methods use something that isn't the main processing unit, an ASIC for NVEnc, and the iGPU for Quicksync.

[AlwaysFSX]

QuickSync use the CPU but a very minimal amount, if your games pin it at 100% you will notice stuttering in the video. You should not have that problem. QuickSync also doesn't hog memory in the slightest.

 

In your case, you have a 970, use NVENC, the quality is better for streaming.

[NinjaJc01]

1 minute ago, GangstaRas said:

In my experience, NVENC is the better performer in terms of performance but quality wise at low bitrates, Quicksync is better. I find that Quicksync tends to borrow your dedicated GPU's power for some odd reason, and its that that makes it perform slightly worse than NVENC

So since I stream at a high bitrate (Advantages of being the only gamer in the house on 50-100Mb/s broadband, with great upload speeds), NVENC would likely be the best?

[NinjaJc01]

3 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

While true, the potential concern is the additional heat from running the iGP, particularly if you're running an overclocked system. While a minor concern, if your cpu cooling is fairly borderline, then one you should factor.

It's a non K CPU, that currently runs at a max of about 65 degrees C max while using Quicksync and playing any game.

[GangstaRas]

1 minute ago, NinjaJc01 said:

So since I stream at a high bitrate (Advantages of being the only gamer in the house on 50-100Mb/s broadband, with great upload speeds), NVENC would likely be the best?

Yep, NVENC would be your best option then as long as the bitrate is higher than around 15 Mbps, you're golden

[Zodiark1593]

2 minutes ago, NinjaJc01 said:

As I'm streaming at a ridiculous bandwidth, how do I tell which is higher quality?

If the video is indistinguishable due to sheer bandwidth, you'd probably have to look at frames individually to pick out differences.

 

While reducing bandwidth until degradation becomes unacceptable is an option, I doubt it is one you'd consider. Given these factors, you don't seem to have anything to lose picking between the two.

 

I personally have had better quality using Quicksync on my 4590 than NVENC on my GTX 960, however, my bandwidth was much lower. This was with PCSX2, performance impact was negligible.

[NinjaJc01]

1 minute ago, GangstaRas said:

Yep, NVENC would be your best option then as long as the bitrate is higher than around 15 Mbps, you're golden

15Mbps for twitch?

https://help.twitch.tv/customer/portal/articles/1262922-open-broadcaster-software

Check the encoding settings. 15Mbps is about 5x what you need, at least 3x

[GangstaRas]

2 minutes ago, NinjaJc01 said:

15Mbps for twitch?

https://help.twitch.tv/customer/portal/articles/1262922-open-broadcaster-software

Check the encoding settings. 15Mbps is about 5x what you need, at least 3x

Hmm, those bitrates are pretty low. When I did my testing back in the day 2.5 to 3 Mbps range looked better on QuickSync than it did with NVENC, less artifacts were present. What you can do is do a trial recording at that bitrate and see if you like it. I personally preferred Quicksync at those levels of bitrates though

[Enderman]

7 minutes ago, GangstaRas said:

Yep, NVENC would be your best option then as long as the bitrate is higher than around 15 Mbps, you're golden

For streaming to twitch the video bitrate should be set exactly at 3.5MBps and nothing higher.

[NinjaJc01]

1 minute ago, Enderman said:

For streaming to twitch the video bitrate should be set exactly at 3.5MBps and nothing higher.

So NVEnc or Quicksync at that point for performance? I don't care that much about quality, it's not like I am a big channel or I stream a lot.

[Enderman]

Just now, NinjaJc01 said:

So NVEnc or Quicksync at that point for performance? I don't care that much about quality, it's not like I am a big channel or I stream a lot.

I always use GPU.

[NinjaJc01]

1 minute ago, Enderman said:

I always use GPU.

I'll wait for @zMeul's test, assuming it wasn't sarcasm.