PC Graphics Card Upgrade Help Please

[muusicman]

Hi all,
I have a gaming PC I had built in 2014 by Origin PC. It’s a Genesis. At the time it was a pretty powerful gaming PC. However, that was in 2014. I recently had brand new RAM installed and I maxed it out. I think there is 64 gb in it now. The hard drive I had installed is a Crucial MX500 2TB 3D NAND SATA 2.5 Inch Internal SSD. It says up to 560MB/s.

My motherboard is Gigabyte X79-UP4. I realize that’s probably an older one. I’m trying to decide if I could get a better graphics card that will work with this motherboard or… would it be better to get a better motherboard and a graphics card to match it? I do a lot of video recording. I want my quality of video to be the best it can be.

Please let me know, thanks 😀

[Alwyn]

Video "recording" doesn't require anything special. A crummy XP machine from the early 2000s would do.

Video "quality" won't be affected by the speed of the system, but the encoding time it takes will.

What you need your graphics card for is editing and encoding. If you're using any filters such as AVISynth eg QTGMC or noise reduction such as Neat Video, you need the fastest CPU and best GPU you can afford. Speed also depends on the software you are using because not all programs are optimised to use the GPU.

New GPUs will be throttled back to the PCIe standard of your board. Your board is Gen 3, by the looks, and the latest cards are Gen 4.

You could of course buy a new card, if t doesn't perform as you would like, you'd be up for a new board and CPU (and probably RAM) and possibly power supply.

You can benchmark your current components with new components; search Google for GPU and CPU comparisons.

[muusicman]

My Current graphics card is 2GB NVIDIA GTX 750Ti

The issue I’m having is not the recording itself. It’s the quality once I play it. Doesn’t really look HD. My graphics card is the Current graphics card is 2GB NVIDIA GTX 750Ti

I looked at the settings of the device I’m using for my source. It says it’s using 1080P. Once it’s recorded using the capture device I do, it does not look to be HD. It’s pretty pixelated. Maybe it’s the capture device? I’m using the Hauppauge HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition. I just don’t understand what I’m doing wrong.

[jagabo]

The Hauppauge capture device doesn't use enough bitrate. Hence the loss of detail and blockiness when there is a lot of motion or noise.

[muusicman]

So, a new capture device is in order? That’ll fix the issue??

[jagabo]

For analysis, upload a short sample that shows your problem. Don't re-encode it. Straight from the PVR2.

[realspeed]

I upped my graphic card to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti which sorted out problems the 560 version caused .

[muusicman]

For analysis, upload a short sample that shows your problem. Don't re-encode it. Straight from the PVR2.

I don’t even know what re encoding is. Anyway. How do I upload a sample?

[jagabo]

For analysis, upload a short sample that shows your problem. Don't re-encode it. Straight from the PVR2.

I don’t even know what re encoding is. Anyway. How do I upload a sample?

Record a 30 second sample that clearly shows the problem. Upload that recording just as the PVR2 produced it (MP4? TS?). Don't load it into an editor and edit it. Don't upload it to youtube (where it will be re-encoded at a lower bitrate and further messed up).

What exactly are you recording? 1080p gameplay with a FPS? Something like that?

[muusicman]

I record TV shows from my DVR to the PC so I can save them on an external hard drive. I use my TV provider. I had DirecTV and I had it hooked up to my capture device via component cables. Now however I use a tv service provided by my ISP. The box it works with only has an HDMI input. No analog whatsoever. I never had this issue when I was using the component cables. Now with HDMI I do. It’s weird!!

[usually_quiet]

I record TV shows from my DVR to the PC so I can save them on an external hard drive. I use my TV provider. I had DirecTV and I had it hooked up to my capture device via component cables. Now however I use a tv service provided by my ISP. The box it works with only has an HDMI input. No analog whatsoever. I never had this issue when I was using the component cables. Now with HDMI I do. It’s weird!!

Try dropping the set top box's output to 720p60 and record it at 720p60 to see if the quality of your recordings improves.

The Hauppauge HD-PVR 2 can't record 1080p60 video at it's full 60 frames per second. It can only record 1080p60 video at 30 frames per second. It discards every other frame to do this, which results in lower quality recordings.

[muusicman]

If I were to get a new Capture Device I’d be ok? I’m thinking about a Elgato HD60 S. If I got that would that fix the issue? It’s so weird it does this. I have a box that I record with right now hooked to the Hauppauge. It works where as if I use a Roku that’s where I am running into the issue. You may or may not have heard of the set top box I use for TV. My town just got Fiber Internet. The ISP has a TV company too. All streaming. The box is called Amino Amigo Set-top Box. The picture isn’t too clear but that’s why I use apps.

[usually_quiet]

If I were to get a new Capture Device I’d be ok? I’m thinking about a Elgato HD60 S. If I got that would that fix the issue? It’s so weird it does this. I have a box that I record with right now hooked to the Hauppauge. It works where as if I use a Roku that’s where I am running into the issue. You may or may not have heard of the set top box I use for TV. My town just got Fiber Internet. The ISP has a TV company too. All streaming. The box is called Amino Amigo Set-top Box. The picture isn’t too clear but that’s why I use apps.

Which device is the DVR? The Amigo Amino? Something else?

There is no way to say if a different capture device would significantly improve your recordings. It depends on what is causing your problem and that that is still unknown.

In theory the problem could be the the video that you are attempting to record is not great quality. Maybe your provider doesn't allocate enough bitrate or maybe the video is not natively 1080p, just upscaled low-res video.

[muusicman]

I changed my roku to 720 at 60 fps. Just now. You think that might help?

[muusicman]

And yes the Amino Amigo is the DVR. It was supplied to me by my ISP who I have my TV through now as well.

[usually_quiet]

I changed my roku to 720 at 60 fps. Just now. You think that might help?

I can't guarantee any improvement but if the Roku was previously set up to output video to your TV at 1080p60, it is worth a try.

And yes the Amino Amigo is the DVR. It was supplied to me by my ISP who I have my TV through now as well.

Does the DVR feature store its recordings in the cloud, or locally on a USB stick or USB hard drive attached to the Amino Amigo 7x? If they are stored locally, the recordings will be the same as the original stream. If they are stored in the cloud, they might not be the same quality.

[muusicman]

It’s cloud storage.

[muusicman]

Essentially what I’m after is video quality as good as streaming apps… Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock etc…. What do you think I’d need to do to get my PC to record that good of quality? New capture device or would I need to upgrade parts in the PC itself?

[usually_quiet]

Essentially what I’m after is video quality as good as streaming apps… Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock etc…. What do you think I’d need to do to get my PC to record that good of quality? New capture device or would I need to upgrade parts in the PC itself?

I don't think that the cause of your problems has been identified yet so it's too soon to to recommend a new capture device or PC upgrades.

You still haven't uploaded a sample video showing the problem for jagabo to examine. Also, you haven't said whether video recorded at 720p was better quality than those recorded at 1080p.

In addition, you have several other threads going that are related in some way to this one. Didn't someone replying to one of these other threads suggest that you get an HDMI splitter with the ability to strip HDCP to help you capture from HDMI? If you got one, did it help?

[muusicman]

Yes to everything. I have an HDMI Splitter. I just captured a video on my phone that shows what I’m talking about too. Not sure how to upload it.

[jagabo]

Not sure how to upload it.

Look below the edit box when you post here. Notice the Upload Files/Manage Attachments button. 500 MB max

[usually_quiet]

Yes to everything.

Just to be sure that I understand what you mean... When you used your Hauppauge HD-PVR 2 to capture the 720p output from your Roku, the resulting video looked better than the video that you captured from the Roku's 1080p output using the HD-PVR 2.

I just captured a video on my phone that shows what I’m talking about too. Not sure how to upload it.

I am pretty sure jagabo asked for short sample of actual 1080p video that you captured with your Hauppauge HD-PVR 2 -- video that has the defects that bother you. Do you have such a sample? A sample captured by the HD-PVR 2 will tell him more than recording the TV screen with your smart phone's camera.

I don't know how to upload video directly from a phone.

[muusicman]

https://youtu.be/1KSAIbA_ivs

Sample video of how it’s acting. Please help!!!

[realspeed]

if you go to Australia you will be able to record it upside down.

[jagabo]

https://youtu.be/1KSAIbA_ivs

Sample video of how it’s acting. Please help!!!

That is three steps removed from your original recording. First you are decompressing the original recording. Second you are filming your monitor with a phone. Third you are uploading to Youtube which reencodes the video. Each one of those steps degrades the recording. It's of no use at all.

Do what you were asked to do. Upload an original recording made with the PVR2.

[muusicman]

I guess I’d need to use a pc for that. I was simply showing what my result looks like after about an hour of recording. It doesn’t act like that right away. It takes a while. The quick video I did with my phone just shows how it acts after about an hour. Was hoping just by seeing that video you could tell me what was going on. I understand what you’re saying though.

[muusicman]

One more thing. I said the quality that looks like that takes like an hour for that to show. When I first begun a recording it records perfectly. The longer it records though passed like 30 minutes or so it starts to get worse and worse until finally about an hour in it looks like that. It’s acted up before and then I cleaned it out. Fans and all. We usually gently blow the dust out and then again gently vacuum it up. I remember one time that fixed the issue. I’m wondering if the fans on my graphics card are just dirty.

[jagabo]

Then use a program like AviDemux to trim a short piece of one of your long recordings. Set Video and Audio output to COPY. Set the Output Format the same as your source (MP4, TS, ?). Use the A/B markers to select a region, then File -> Save. Upload the resulting file to this site. Or some other file transfer site. Not to a video sharing site like youtube.

Oh, and upload a short video that doesn't have the problem. So we have something to compare it too.

[muusicman]

Then use a program like AviDemux to trim a short piece of one of your long recordings. Set Video and Audio output to COPY. Set the Output Format the same as your source (MP4, TS, ?). Use the A/B markers to select a region, then File -> Save. Upload the resulting file to this site. Or some other file transfer site. Not to a video sharing site like youtube.

Oh, and upload a short video that doesn't have the problem. So we have something to compare it too.

Will do… however, I have very little on my PC and would rather keep it that way. What I’ll do is just record a 30 second clip. One while it’s messing up and then I’ll restart the software and record another one because when I restart the software it always records normal again for a while. I won’t use anything other than my capture software to record. That way it’s the same for me as for you all that see it.

[muusicman]

Update. Have Gad the capture software running for over an hour now. Not recording… just running. Wanted to see if it would do it if it wasn’t recording. So far so good. Just hit the record button so I’ll let to record for an hour and check back. Another thing I did, I moved my HDMI Splitter from the standard USB it was it as it’s just powering it and moved it to a 3.0 port. I have 2 in the back and 4 in the front on top of the case.