The best capture cards for PC gamers in 2023

Which is the perfect seize card for PC avid gamers? Grabbing the fitting seize card is one of the best ways to make sure a top quality stay stream, because it interprets gameplay right into a language higher suited to Twitch and YouTube.

Whereas the best graphics cards from Nvidia and AMD can report your PC’s gameplay straight, these strategies typically include a efficiency tax that lowers your sport’s body charge and makes your stream stutter. Utilizing probably the greatest seize playing cards lowers the overhead in your {hardware} and helps you boost fps. It’s additionally the one method you’ll get all the advantages of the best gaming PC when live-streaming from consoles – however selecting the best one will be troublesome, and that’s why we’ve these suggestions for you.

The very best seize playing cards for recording and livestreaming right this moment:

1. Elgato HD60 S+

The finest seize card is the Elgato HD60 S+.

Elgato HD60 S+ specs:

Execs:

• Superb 4K HDR playthrough
• Simple-to-use software program

Cons:

• 4K Seize software program provides no HDR preview or playback
• Struggles with greater framerates

Elgato’s HD60 S+ is the perfect seize card for 1080p streaming at 60fps. Whereas it data gameplay in HD, it nonetheless means that you can see the picture at the next decision because of its passthrough supporting 4K, 60fps, HDR10, and nil latency – which is good should you’re utilizing it with the best gaming monitor.

Although it does wrestle a bit bit in terms of capturing greater framerates, it provides completely unbelievable 4K HDR playthrough. In the meantime, its native software program is tremendous simple to make use of and ideally suited for anybody simply entering into capturing their gameplay.

It’s an exterior mannequin that connects to your recording gadget through USB, supported by an app that makes it tremendous simple to arrange together with your favourite streaming software program, corresponding to OBS or XSplit. It’s a unbelievable all-rounder and that’s why it will get our high suggestion.

Streaming a aggressive sport corresponding to CS:GO or Dota 2? You’ll need the aptitude of a excessive refresh charge passthrough. This mannequin can deal with passthrough and recording of 4K decision at 60Hz, 1440p at as much as 144Hz, or 1080p at 240Hz, preserving gameplay as easy as butter for you and your viewers.

It’s an inside seize card that slots right into a PCIe x4 slot, so be sure to’ve acquired one spare on the best gaming motherboard. Oh, and there’s RGB lighting, which gained’t enhance streaming high quality, but it surely’ll look rattling good as it really works its magic.

Value preserving in thoughts that you just’ll want a reasonably highly effective setup with a view to use this with none points. For those who’re utilizing an older PC, or a finances choice, you then may wish to take into consideration upgrading should you’re set on utilizing the AverMedia Stay Gamer 4K- although should you’re already taking part in 4K video games in your PC, it’ll in all probability be superb.

This mannequin is in contrast to every other on this record, letting you seize as much as 4 HDMI inputs concurrently, both pushing 1080p at 60fps or 4K at 30fps. You possibly can use a DSLR digital camera to seize your face at a greater high quality than the best webcams, whereas streaming your gameplay, and have a secondary cam to seize your mouse all processed by a single gadget.

It doesn’t have passthrough, although, so that you’ll must view the sign by Elgato’s personal software program fairly than on a separate monitor. On high of that, it does value a bit greater than a number of different seize playing cards, however contemplating the standard of footage that it could possibly seize, you very a lot get what you pay for. There’s not so much to criticize right here.

You possibly can mix all inputs both as a single image inside Elgato’s software program or ship them as separate inputs to your favourite streaming software program, corresponding to OBS. It’ll additionally combine with Elagto’s Stream Deck for simple switching between enter views.

There’s additionally the choice to plug within the best gaming microphone with a 3.5mm connection, and an audio out jack to attach the best gaming headset and hearken to the audio from the gadget you’re recording.

How we examined the perfect seize playing cards

We’ve tried these seize playing cards in real-life eventualities, calling upon skilled tech freelancers with information of streaming and gaming to touch upon their efficiency, design, and worth for cash in full opinions.

The place a evaluation is lacking, we’ve had a complete have a look at the specs, taken into consideration tons of of consumer opinions from main retailers, and used our personal experience to fill within the gaps and make a suggestion. It’s not at all times doable to evaluation each single seize card, however we’re working with producers to check as many merchandise as doable to be able to belief our recommendation on the newest streaming gear, and make your best option. For extra in regards to the course of that goes into creating these lists, learn our how we test web page. You probably have every other queries, learn some FAQ under:

What’s a seize card?

Seize playing cards are units that aid you report gameplay and stream on Twitch, YouTube, or every other platform. They’re not fairly plug-and-play, on condition that there’s software program to arrange and tinker with, however they streamline the method and make encoding simpler so there’s much less of a efficiency hit in your system.

Which seize card must you select?

The very best seize playing cards come from established manufacturers within the area like Elgato and Avermedia, however that doesn’t imply you might want to pay a premium value. The little guys can usually shock you in terms of gaming {hardware}, however there’s a cause Elgato and Avermedia seem prominently on our record, and that’s as a result of they’re tried-and-tested units, backed by feature-packed software program that’s well-supported and incessantly up to date.

The seize card you select must work together with your total setup. Examine the specs to make sure it’s appropriate together with your pc’s working system and fave streaming platform, in addition to any video enhancing software program. Seize playing cards sometimes have enter ports to attach completely different video sources, and these embrace DisplayPort, HDMI DVI, or VGA. If you wish to seize gameplay from a console, you’ll want a card with HDMI or part video inputs. Examine that the output will hook up with your pc, often through Thunderbolt on a Mac machine or USB.

To maintain your streams trying and really feel easy (immediately or lag) you’ll need a seize card with specs corresponding to low latency and excessive body charge assist.

Do you want a seize card to stream?

The brief reply is not any, however seize playing cards are an incredible assist. Nvidia Shadowplay and AMD’s Radeon ReLive software program are each good at capturing shorter snippets of your gameplay, and you’ll stream straight by OBS or Xsplit, however a seize card usually offers a cleaner picture and smoother gameplay it doesn’t matter what gadget you’re rocking. They’re particularly useful units when attempting to stream from a number of PC setups and consoles, too.

What manufacturers make seize playing cards?

There are various manufacturers on the market making high quality seize playing cards – a few of them particular to gaming and others designed for basic video manufacturing. Listed here are a few of the hottest manufacturers:

• Elgato: An offshoot of standard gaming gear model Corsair, Elgato is understood for its high-quality streaming merchandise, which embrace seize playing cards. It provides playing cards for a spread of budgets, together with the Elgato HD60 X with native Xbox and PS5 assist, and the Elgato 4K60 S+ with full 4K assist.
• Razer: One other well-loved gaming {hardware} producer, Razer has seize playing cards optimized for sport streaming, such because the Razer Ripsaw HD which provides good ease of use.
• Hauppauge: Hauppauge producers seize playing cards for avid gamers, streamers, and content material creators. We’d advocate particular gaming editions just like the HD PVR2 Gaming Version, which include cables for Xbox and PlayStation consoles, and allow you to share your clips on YouTube in just some clicks.

For extra streaming gear to finish your setup, take a look at our information to the best gaming microphone and the best webcams.