How Background Recording Software Affects FPS

What Is Background Recording Software in Gaming

Background recording software is a software which actually records our screen while we are playing games or doing any other stuff. It records and captures the screen silently without making any kind of a objection or noise. The question arises that why should we do not on the manual recording button? Actually the reason behind this is these tools record in the background and save the clips when a selected shortcut key is tapped. If we have to manually start and stop the recording, it will add more workload to the GPU which would result in input lagging, screen tearing, reduced resolution and delayed response and after all FPS will be lowered.

Windows Game Bar, Nvidia ShadowPlay, OBS Replay Buffer, these are the most viral and mostly used background recording softwares. As we know that this feature is convenient, but on the other side, this also uses some resources of the CPU, GPU, RAM, disk, storage, and etc. Hunting these resources will also result in lowering the FPS and other problems. Not for all the recorders, the result is lowering in FPS. The impact of every software depends on its build and compatibility with the software as well as hardware. Some of the softwares use hardware or software encoding to record the screen. On the low-end PC, the FPS drop due to this background recording is more clearly visible than on the mid-range and high-end gaming PC. You should understand the capturing methodology of each software before using any software to get a good, balanced, and an enhanced gaming environment.

How Background Recording Uses CPU, GPU, and RAM

Background recordings affect the resolution as well as the performance, but it mainly affects the FPS because such softwares are allowed to share resources with our game. Resources like the CPU is used for processing the frames, audio, and compressing if the software is using software encoding. And if it is using the hardware encoding, then the GPU will be used and like NVENC or AMD VCE these softwares reduce the CPU load but still have some impact on the game. RAM is used as a buffer memory to temporarily store the data, the recorded videos, before they are transferred to the permanent storage.

As we know that if the RAM is limited and it is all filled up, then the system will start stuttering, input lagging, reduced resolution, delayed responses, and other such problems will occur. And on the system which have limited resources, these softwares result in lowering and unstabling the frames per second rate. On powerful, fully professional designed gaming PCs, this software impact is lower but still noticeable, and on the low-end PCs, it is clearly noticeable. The key factor to get our enhanced gameplay while recording is to efficiently optimize the recording software according to its compatibility with our hardware and software.

Windows Game Bar /NVIDIA ShadowPlay /OBS Replay Buffer Background Recording Softwares Comparison

First of all, we will talk about the Windows Gamebar background recording software. It is basically a built-in software to record the screen, especially on Windows. It is by-default, opened by the system. It is a recording feature which continuously records the gameplay or whatever you are recording silently and saves the clip instantly. It is basically optimized for the compatibility with the Windows version and it is not the fully efficient recording software till now. Gamebar recording software uses the CPU resources, GPU encoding and others. On low-end or mid-range PCs, it can create a noticeable FPS drop, and on high-end PCs, it is performing very good.

Ways Background Recording Impacts FPS Performance

1. Uses CPU resources for frame processing

2. Consumes GPU power for video encoding

3. Increases RAM usage for buffering

4. Adds disk write load during gameplay

5. Causes FPS drops on low-end systems

6. Can introduce stuttering and frame pacing issues

7. Reduces performance in CPU-heavy games

8. Affects GPU-bound games at high resolutions

9. Runs silently and impacts FPS without notice

Secondly, if we talk about the Nvidia’s ShadowPlay background recording software, it is usually known for its very little or no impact on the FPS as compared to the other recording tools. It basically uses the hardware encoder, which is designed in such a way that it silently records the hardware and does not add more workload on the system. Because of this one feature, it is widely liked by the gamers. ShadowPlay background recording software has minimal CPU usage and results in stable FPS, especially on the Nvidia’s GPU. The company promises its minimal consumption of the resources, but still it has some effect on the system due to which the slightly lagging problems occur.

Lastly, if we talk about the OBS replay buffer and its effect on games, then it is very similar to the background recording, but it is not like the ShadowPlay recording software because it gives users the full control over the recording. It has the option to enable the software encoding or hardware encoding. If it is used for the software encoding, it heavily impacts the CPU and makes a significant drop in FPS. And if the hardware encoding is enabled, the impact is comparatively lower, but still it is there. One drawback of using OBS replay buffer is that it heavily consumes the RAM as compared to the other recording softwares.

Final Opinion

As I am in this field from so many years, let me give you an honest opinion according to my experience. Being in this field, I have tested almost all the recording software. The most friendly one, which I feel, is the NVIDIA ShadowPlay background recording software. It can be because I am using a NVIDIA’s GPU, maybe of this reason.

While the OBS replay buffer reduces so much FPS, and if we talk about the Windows game bar, as it is developed for the compatibility, so in terms of performance, it is quite weaker. That’s why I am preferring NVIDIA’s ShadowPlay bar background recording software. If your system is compatible with it, you must go with it, otherwise you can choose any other option.

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