XSplit Workshop: A Guide to Hardware Encoders
With a variety of hardware encoders now available, it can be a bit confusing to know if you have the appropriate components to use these encoders, and how they are used with XSplit products. The following guide will give details on each hardware encoder and how they each interacts with XSplit products. As of now XSplit has support for all publicly and commonly available HW encoders counting Nvidia NVENC, Intel Quick Sync, AMD VCE and of course AVerMedia’s Liver Gamer HD (C985) and Game Broadcaster (C127). All hardware encoders are available for use with a free XSplit license.
As a side note, hardware encoders enable users to record high quality videos with virtually no performance hit. For streaming however, it is recommended to use x264 as this will generally provide much better quality for the same bit rate versus hardware encoders. In the event of an undesired performance hit when streaming using x264, hardware encoders are available at the expense of some image quality (and larger filesizes).
Intel Quick Sync hardware encoder
Quick Sync is Intel’s hardware implementation of H.264 and is available on most Intel® Core™ processors starting from second generation Sandy Bridge processors. On laptops with Intel processors and a single discrete graphics card, Intel Quick Sync will always be enabled and ready. On desktops, it may require additional settings. Below is a short video that can be used to check if Quick Sync is available and how to activate it on desktops.
Hardware requirements: Intel CPU, Sandy Bridge compatible motherboard with x68 or z67 chipset, or newer. p67 chipsets are not compatible. Also, always install the latest Intel HD3xxx or HD4xxxx GPU driver from Intel’s driver page.
Intel Quick Sync support
XSplit Gamecaster
Supported for local recordings and live streaming
XSplit Broadcaster
v.2.x only
NVIDIA NVENC hardware encoder
NVENC (aka NVidia ENCoder) is Nvidia’s hardware implementation of H.264 and is available with all Nvidia GPUs starting from Kepler (GTX 650+).
Hardware requirements: NVIDIA GPU (see list above), latest GeForce drivers (min. v. 334)
Nvidia NVENC support
XSplit Gamecaster
Supported for local recordings and live streaming
XSplit Broadcaster
v2.x and above only
AMD VCE hardware encoder
VCE (Video Codec Engine) is AMD’s hardware implementation of H.264 and is available in Trinity APUs, Tahiti XT GPUs (79XX, 7870 XT), Cape Verde GPUs (77XX) and the newer RX 200 series GPUs.
Hardware requirements: AMD APU/GPU (see list above), latest Radeon drivers and Catalyst Control Center
AMD VCE support
XSplit Gamecaster
Supported for local recordings and live streaming. 30 FPS is the maximum supported frame rate
XSplit Broadcaster
Supported for local recordings in the latest 1.3 version. Supported for streaming in v2.x only. 1080p30FPS and 720p60FPS are supported
Avermedia H.264 hardware encoder
Avermedia’s H.264 hardware encoder is available on the Live Gamer HD and Live Gamer HD Lite.
Hardware requirements: AVerMedia capture card (see list above), latest drivers. Note the capture cards cannot function as capture card and encoder at the same time. You need two cards to capture and encode in pure hardware, or combine capture mode with another available HW encoder.
AVerMedia support
XSplit Gamecaster
Supported for local recordings and live streaming
XSplit Broadcaster
Supported for local recordings and live streaming to supported platforms