Best Streamlabs OBS Settings

Video

When talking about the best stream settings for Streamlabs OBS, you first of all need to configure your video settings in the Video tab. The reason for this is that based on the resolution and the FPS you select for your stream, your actual streaming settings (in the Output tab) will change. As shown in the screenshot you should leave the Base Resolution at your default monitor resolution and set the Output Resolution based on how good your PC is and what kind of games you are streaming. If you plan on playing slower-paced games then you can set your Output resolution to 1080P (1920×1080). If you however are playing fast-paced games like Overwatch, Apex Legends, or CS:GO, then you should set the Output Resolution to 900P (1600×900). The reason for this is that on 1080P fast gameplay looks worse since a lot of pixelation happens on stream. This is mainly due to the bitrate cap that Twitch implements (6000kbps when a good 1080P stream would need 10000 kbps). The Downscale Filter set to Bicubic is a middle ground where you get enough image clarity without sacrificing too much in-game FPS. The framerate should be set to 60 FPS unless you are on a super budget PC or a bad network, then you should probably be streaming at 720P 30 FPS. There is also a trick where for FPS Type you select integer FPS Value so you can stream at 120 FPS making the stream extra smooth for people with high refresh rate monitors. This should only be done if you have a super beefy PC, or are running a dual PC streaming setup because you are technically doubling the resources you need to stream. This is the first half of the best Streamlabs OBS settings you need to know for sure.

Output

So to actually get the best Streamlabs OBS settings you also have to properly configure the Output tab since these are technically THE settings that will shape the way your stream looks. First of all, make sure you have set your Output Mode to Advanced so you can fully see all of the important settings for your stream. The next important bit is selecting NVENC new for your Encoder. This will allow you to use your Nvidia GPU for most of the streaming load making it very easy to maintain high FPS in games as well. This is exclusively available for Nvidia GPUs and if you do not have this setting you are stuck with the x264 CPU encoder. This is a lot worse for single PC streamers since this means that your in-game FPS will have to suffer (CPU has to process the in-game frames and the streaming). Assuming the best-case scenario where you do have Nvenc we can proceed to the next settings (if you need to use x264 just follow the Twitch guidelines offered here). For Rate Control select CBR and next under Bitrate input the rate that your internet connection supports. To find the best value for yourself use Speedtest.net and look at your Upload value. If you have more than 6 Mbps then you can set your bitrate to 6000 and forget about it. If you have lower upload speeds then select your bitrate according to it (5Mbps = 5000 bitrate, etc). All of the other settings you simply copy from the following screenshot. There are sensible explanations as to why these settings are the best but it would take us another 2 pages to explain them in detail, so just take our word for it (ex: Quality instead of Max Quality for more FPS in games, no look-ahead for fast paced games, etc). As you might have also noticed, in the screenshot above the Bitrate value is 7800 which exceeds the Twitch cap of 6000 kbps. Well, the truth is that the 6000 cap is a soft cap, and if you untick the Enforce streaming service encoder settings and punch in values above 6000, your stream might still work just fine. The outcome will largely depend on how congested is the Twitch server you are connected to, so if you are connected to a high-traffic server your stream will just spew errors if you have above 6000 kbps bitrate. However, if you are lucky to have a low traffic server you can experiment with higher bitrates even if you are not a Twitch Partner. After a lot of experimentation, it seems that in most cases you can punch in 7800 kbps and Twitch will take it and give you better quality streams with no qualms.

Secret Sauce

With this, you know all of the best Streamlabs OBS settings. Out of everything we would like to emphasize the importance of higher than 6000 kbps (7800 is the sweet spot so Twitch does not mess with you) bitrate and the possibility to stream at 120FPS instead of 60. These are settings that not many people know about, but which will SIGNIFICANTLY increase the production value of your stream. Higher bitrate = higher quality stream, and higher FPS means a smoother experience ( for those that have a high refresh-rate monitor).