Thread: PCIe Capture Card Recommendations

I've been using a external capture card but I had to rig the audio because I don't have HDMI audio on my monitor. Unfortunately the way I have it rigged closes a circuit via the audio channel and causes crazy static (like in a car system when you have your phone/iPod charging and plugged into the auxiliary audio port).
To get it to work properly I'll need to drop an additional $200-$300 which is silly when I can just return this one to Amazon and get an internal capture card instead.

What PCIe capture cards do you use and what are the pros and cons?

I'm looking at the avermedia C985.

What are you capturing/recording?

If it's PC gameplay I have found little/no need for external hardware. Dxtory, fraps, bandicam, nvidia/amd shadowplay all do a great job and have minimal impact on cpu resources causing limit fps hits. In Arma 3 I lose 3fps recording in 1080p lossless.

Yeah it's all PC. I got the external so I could use it later for other stuff but I can get the external later.

FRAPS is resource heavy so I won't use it.

I've heard of a few other people using shadow play but I don't know much about it, I'll research it.

Which are you using?

So it looks like I can run VCE (AMD shadow play). I'll try that out.

Oh wait. GVR is actually a closer comparison to shadowplay. I'll try that first.

Are you running 1080p? If you are running 1080p or lower, I recommend getting the AverMedia LiveGamer HD.

AVerMedia C985 Live Gamer HD - Capture & Share Your PC Game Footages - Newegg.com

As long as you are running HDMI In and HDMI out, it works fine. Where I had trouble was trying to run VGA through a power converted HDMI box. It just wouldn't pick up the signal, so I bought a second Avermedia card that has native VGA input.

The Livegamer HD is a pass through card, so you can pass any sort of HDMI signal to it and capture the video (and audio with the correct cables). The quality is superior than running Shadowplay, but Shadowplay can record at extremely high resolutions, while the Livegamer HD will only go up to 1080p. The Livegamer HD also has an on board processor, so it does not take away power from your CPU to record like FRAPS does, while allowing for the highest quality.

Avermedia makes some great products from consumer grade devices for gaming, all the way up to professional equipment. You should check them out for sure.

Originally Posted by HeavyG

Are you running 1080p? If you are running 1080p or lower, I recommend getting the AverMedia LiveGamer HD.

AVerMedia C985 Live Gamer HD - Capture & Share Your PC Game Footages - Newegg.com

As long as you are running HDMI In and HDMI out, it works fine. Where I had trouble was trying to run VGA through a power converted HDMI box. It just wouldn't pick up the signal, so I bought a second Avermedia card that has native VGA input.

The Livegamer HD is a pass through card, so you can pass any sort of HDMI signal to it and capture the video (and audio with the correct cables). The quality is superior than running Shadowplay, but Shadowplay can record at extremely high resolutions, while the Livegamer HD will only go up to 1080p. The Livegamer HD also has an on board processor, so it does not take away power from your CPU to record like FRAPS does, while allowing for the highest quality.

Avermedia makes some great products from consumer grade devices for gaming, all the way up to professional equipment. You should check them out for sure.

That's the exact card I'm considering buying if the AMD "shadowplay" doesn't perform like I want it to. I'm running a 7800 series's Radeon which is near the bottom of the "can run VCE" cards so I may get a frame rate drop that's too extreme to be playable.


Thanks for the detailed feedback.

So, here's the rundown on VCE: Raptr's GVR is functionally equivalent to shadowplay. It works pretty well and has virtually no framerate impact at 720p (which is pretty acceptable). If you want to record entire rounds, I'm going to point you to the VCE branch of OBS. Jackun, the developer, has tricked out the version of OBS with all sorts of goodies, allowing you to make custom recordings including buffers like the GVR uses. If you want, I can walk you through the usage and setting up of it.

Originally Posted by Allane

So, here's the rundown on VCE: Raptr's GVR is functionally equivalent to shadowplay. It works pretty well and has virtually no framerate impact at 720p (which is pretty acceptable). If you want to record entire rounds, I'm going to point you to the VCE branch of OBS. Jackun, the developer, has tricked out the version of OBS with all sorts of goodies, allowing you to make custom recordings including buffers like the GVR uses. If you want, I can walk you through the usage and setting up of it.

I would only want to capture full rounds if I was in a a scrim/match. I'm looking for more of record buffer that I can go back and snag the good stuff and have it render out that clip while it builds a new buffer.
I've read that the OBS version is glitchy and difficult to configure. Why do you prefer it to the Raptr version?

I like Dxtory alot. I separate out my audio channels so I can edit the vids better after the fact. The ability to record in lossless is a big appeal for me also. But really I end up uploading to youtube and they butcher whatever quality you have anyways.