Best OBS Studio Settings for Streaming and Recording

OBS Studio's default settings aren't optimized for streaming or recording. The right configuration depends on your hardware, your internet speed, and where you're broadcasting. This guide gives you the specific numbers to use for Twitch and YouTube streaming in 2026, plus separate optimized settings for local recording.

Best OBS Settings for Twitch Streaming

These settings work for most streamers with a modern NVIDIA GPU (GTX 10-series or newer) and at least 10 Mbps upload speed.

Important: Set Output Mode to Advanced in Settings > Output to access all these options. Simple mode hides the encoder-specific settings.

Streaming Settings Explained

Encoder: NVENC vs x264 vs AMF

If you have an NVIDIA GPU (GTX 10-series or newer), always use NVENC. It encodes video using a dedicated chip on the GPU — separate from the cores that render your game — so it has near-zero impact on your frame rate. Modern NVENC (RTX 20+) produces quality comparable to x264's "medium" preset while using no CPU resources.

• NVIDIA GPU: Use NVENC H.264
• AMD GPU: Use AMF H.264 (or HEVC on RDNA 2+)
• No dedicated GPU / Intel: Use x264 (CPU encoding) or Quick Sync (Intel)
• macOS: Use Apple VT H264 Hardware Encoder

For more on how GPU encoding works and which cards support the best encoding, see our GPU streaming guide.

Bitrate

Bitrate controls how much data per second your stream uses. Higher bitrate = better image quality, but your internet and the platform's limits are the ceiling.

Twitch caps video bitrate at 6000 Kbps plus up to 320 Kbps for audio, totaling 6320 Kbps maximum. Going higher won't help — Twitch will reject the excess data. YouTube allows higher bitrates (up to 51,000 Kbps for 4K60), so YouTube streamers can push bitrate much higher if their upload speed allows it.

Rule of thumb: Your streaming bitrate should not exceed 80% of your actual upload speed. If your upload is 8 Mbps, keep your bitrate at or below 6400 Kbps.

Resolution and Frame Rate

1080p 60fps is the standard for Twitch streaming in 2026. If your hardware or internet can't handle it cleanly, dropping to 720p 60fps is a better compromise than 1080p 30fps — viewers generally prefer smooth motion over slightly sharper pixels.

Set your Base (Canvas) Resolution to match your monitor (usually 1920x1080 or 2560x1440). Set your Output (Scaled) Resolution to what you want to stream at — usually 1920x1080 for Twitch. If your base is 1440p, OBS will downscale to 1080p using the Lanczos filter, which actually looks sharper than native 1080p in many cases.

Audio

Set audio bitrate to 160 Kbps for streaming. This is the sweet spot — 128 Kbps sounds noticeably compressed, while 320 Kbps provides no audible improvement on a stream but wastes bitrate that could go to video. For recording (where file size is less constrained), use 320 Kbps.

Sample rate should be 48 kHz (Settings > Audio). This matches what most streaming platforms expect. Avoid 44.1 kHz — it can cause resampling artifacts.

NVENC Advanced Settings

These settings matter more than most guides suggest:

• Preset P6: Slower (Better Quality) — Uses more encoder resources for better quality at the same bitrate. P6 is the recommended balance. P7 (Slowest) provides marginal improvement but may strain older GPUs.
• Look-ahead: On — Lets the encoder dynamically use B-frames, improving quality in scenes with mixed motion and stillness.
• Psycho Visual Tuning: On — Enables Rate Distortion Optimization, which significantly improves how bitrate is distributed across the frame. This makes the biggest visible difference in fast-motion content like gaming.
• Multipass Mode: Two Passes (Quarter Resolution) — The encoder makes a quick first pass to analyze the scene, then encodes optimally on the second pass. Minimal performance cost, noticeable quality improvement.

Twitch Enhanced Broadcasting

Enhanced Broadcasting is a feature developed by Twitch, OBS, and NVIDIA that lets you stream multiple resolutions simultaneously (e.g., 1080p, 720p, and 480p) from a single OBS instance. This means all your viewers get transcoding options — even if you're not a Twitch Partner or Affiliate.

How to enable it

1. Update OBS Studio to the latest version
2. Go to Settings > Stream and log into your Twitch account
3. Under Multi-track Video, check Enable Enhanced Broadcasting
4. Set bandwidth and tracks to Auto (OBS will optimize based on your hardware and upload speed)

Requirements

• An NVIDIA RTX GPU (uses the dedicated NVENC encoder for multi-resolution encoding)
• OBS Studio (latest version with Enhanced Broadcasting support)
• A Twitch account linked in OBS

Enhanced Broadcasting also supports AV1 encoding on RTX 40/50 series GPUs, which delivers approximately 40% better quality at the same bitrate compared to H.264. As AV1 support expands on Twitch, this will become increasingly valuable. For now, H.264 remains the default and most compatible codec for standard streaming.

Best OBS Settings for Recording

Recording settings are fundamentally different from streaming settings because you're not constrained by upload speed or platform bitrate limits. The key difference: use CQP instead of CBR.

Why CQP instead of CBR for recording?

CBR (Constant Bitrate) sends the same amount of data every second regardless of what's on screen. This is required for streaming because platforms need a predictable data flow. But for recording, it wastes space on static scenes and starves complex scenes.

CQP (Constant Quantization Parameter) maintains consistent visual quality instead of consistent file size. It uses more data for complex scenes and less for simple ones. The result: better-looking video at a smaller average file size.

CQ Level explained

Lower CQ numbers = higher quality = larger files. Here's what each range looks like in practice:

• CQ 15-16: Visually lossless. Best for footage you'll edit and re-encode. Large files (~2-4 GB per 10 minutes at 1080p60).
• CQ 18-20: Excellent quality. The sweet spot for most recording. Good balance of quality and file size (~1-2 GB per 10 minutes).
• CQ 22-23: Good quality. Suitable for content going directly to YouTube (YouTube re-compresses everything anyway, so going below CQ 22 for YouTube uploads provides no visible improvement).

Why record to MKV, not MP4?

MKV files are crash-proof. If OBS crashes, your PC crashes, or you lose power during recording, an MKV file remains playable up to the point of the crash. An MP4 file in the same situation will be corrupted and unrecoverable.

Record to MKV, then when you're done, go to File > Remux Recordings in OBS to convert it to MP4. This takes seconds and produces an identical file.

Why Look-ahead and Psycho Visual Tuning are OFF for recording

These features use GPU CUDA cores (not the dedicated encoder) and can introduce visual artifacts or instability in some configurations when recording at high quality. For streaming where bitrate is limited, they help optimize that limited bandwidth. For recording where CQP provides ample quality, they're unnecessary and can cause issues.

Stream and Record Simultaneously

OBS can stream and record at the same time with separate quality settings. This is useful for streaming at Twitch's 6000 Kbps limit while recording a high-quality local file for YouTube uploads.

1. Go to Settings > Output > Recording
2. Set the recording encoder and settings independently from your streaming settings
3. Use CQP for recording (as described above) while streaming uses CBR
4. Click both Start Streaming and Start Recording when you go live

If you have an RTX 5070 Ti, 5080, or 5090 with dual NVENC encoders, one encoder handles the stream while the other handles the recording with zero performance impact on either task.

Frequently Asked Questions

What bitrate should I use for Twitch?

6000 Kbps for 1080p60 streaming. This is Twitch's maximum for video bitrate. If your upload speed is under 10 Mbps, drop to 4000-4500 Kbps at 720p60 instead.

Should I stream at 1080p or 720p?

1080p60 if your hardware and internet support it. If you need to choose between 1080p30 and 720p60, pick 720p60 — smooth motion looks better than extra resolution for most gaming content. In 2026, most viewers have the bandwidth to handle 1080p, and Twitch Enhanced Broadcasting provides automatic transcoding to lower resolutions for viewers who need it.

Why does my stream look blurry or pixelated?

Usually caused by insufficient bitrate for your resolution. Fast-paced games with lots of particle effects, foliage, and movement need more bitrate to look clean. Solutions: increase bitrate (up to Twitch's 6000 Kbps cap), reduce output resolution to 720p, or enable Enhanced Broadcasting for multi-resolution output.

Should I use x264 instead of NVENC?

In 2026, generally no. NVENC on RTX 20-series and newer produces quality comparable to x264 "medium" with zero CPU impact. x264 "slow" or "slower" presets can still produce slightly better quality, but they require a powerful CPU (8+ cores) dedicated mostly to encoding. Unless you have a dedicated streaming PC or a high-core-count CPU with headroom to spare, NVENC is the better choice.

What's the best recording format for YouTube uploads?

Record in MKV at CQ 20-22 using NVENC H.264 or HEVC. After recording, remux to MP4 (File > Remux Recordings in OBS). YouTube re-compresses all uploads anyway, so recording below CQ 20 provides no visible benefit on the final YouTube video but creates much larger files.