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CanMyPcPlay
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Can My PC Run OBS Studio?

Streaming & recordingOpen source

Free, open-source software for live streaming and screen recording.

OBS Studio System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

CPU
Any modern dual-core processorIntel Core i5-4460 specs →
GPU
DirectX 11 capable graphicsIntel UHD Graphics 630 (integrated) specs →
VRAM
Not stated
RAM
4 GB
Storage
1 GB
OS
Windows 10 64-bit or later
DirectX
Version 11
Network
Not stated

Recommended Requirements

CPU
Six-core processor or better for software (x264) encodingIntel Core i5-12400F specs →AMD Ryzen 5 5600X specs →
GPU
GPU with a dedicated hardware encoder (NVIDIA NVENC, AMD AMF or Intel Quick Sync)NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 8GB specs →AMD Radeon RX 6600 specs →
VRAM
Not stated
RAM
16 GB
Storage
20 GB · SSD required
OS
Windows 10 64-bit or later
DirectX
Version 11
Network
Not stated
Transcribed from the publisher — not yet re-checkedSource: OBS Project

Application details

Vendor
OBS Project
Licence
Open source
Last verified
Not yet verified

About OBS Studio

OBS Studio’s cost depends almost entirely on the encoder you choose. Hardware encoding (NVENC on NVIDIA, AMF on AMD, Quick Sync on Intel) offloads the work to dedicated silicon and has minimal impact on game performance; x264 software encoding is heavy on the CPU and directly competes with whatever you are capturing.

Official site ↗

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a second PC to stream?
No. A GPU with a hardware encoder handles streaming with a small, predictable performance cost — typically a few percent. Dual-PC setups are mainly useful for software x264 encoding at high quality presets, which is genuinely CPU-expensive.

What PC do I need for OBS Studio?

For a comfortable experience, the publisher's recommended specification asks for the following. This is their figure, not our estimate.

Graphics card
GPU with a dedicated hardware encoder (NVIDIA NVENC, AMD AMF or Intel Quick Sync)
Processor
Six-core processor or better for software (x264) encoding
Memory
16 GB RAM
Storage
20 GB
Operating system
Windows 10 64-bit or later

Not sure how your parts compare? Run the check above or read what these tiers mean.

Can my laptop run OBS Studio?

The same check applies — enter the parts your laptop actually contains. Be aware that a laptop graphics chip is usually slower than the desktop card it shares a name with, because the manufacturer sets a lower power limit. A laptop advertising the GPU with a dedicated hardware encoder (NVIDIA NVENC named here may therefore fall somewhat short of it in practice, and sustained performance drops further as the machine heats up. Treat a borderline laptop result as optimistic rather than assured.

Keep checking

Found an incorrect requirement?

Tell us what’s wrong and we’ll check it against the source.

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Brand mark via Simple Icons (CC0). The OBS Studio trademark remains the property of OBS Project and is shown here to identify the software it belongs to. Rights holders can contact us.