Graphics Cards and Encoders

Graphics cards and encoders

ShadePlay guide › Your hardware

Which graphics cards ShadePlay records with, which codecs each has, and what happens on laptops and cards without AV1.

The encoder follows your monitor

ShadePlay compresses video with the encoder built into the graphics card that drives the recorded monitor. It never picks a card by name, so a PC with a graphics card, an integrated GPU and virtual VR monitors records with the right one. The encoder families are:

Card	Encoder	Status
NVIDIA GeForce	NVENC	Supported
AMD Radeon	AMF	Experimental
Intel Arc	Quick Sync	Experimental

Other graphics adapters (and Windows on Arm PCs) have no encoder ShadePlay can use. In advanced mode the Status page shows which encoder is in use, for example NVIDIA NVENC · av1_nvenc.

NVIDIA GeForce

• A driver from version 570 on: ShadePlay's own FFmpeg build uses NVIDIA's encoder interface 13.0, which needs it.
• RTX 40 and 50 series: AV1 (the default), HEVC and H.264.
• GTX 10 series and newer without AV1 (for example RTX 20 and 30): HEVC and H.264. ShadePlay records HEVC by itself when the card refuses AV1, and the Video page then shows AV1 (not on this GPU).
• Above 300 fps: AV1 and HEVC split each frame between the card's video encoders (split-frame encoding); H.264 can't, and uses the fastest encoder setting instead.
• Tested on a GeForce RTX 5080 (Performance and memory). Other cards should work but haven't been tried yet.

AMD Radeon and Intel Arc (experimental)

• AMD Radeon RX 7000 and 9000 series: AV1, HEVC and H.264. RX 6000 series: HEVC and H.264.
• Intel Arc: AV1, HEVC and H.264.
• They use the same design as NVIDIA cards, and ShadePlay's AMD encoder settings were checked on an AMD integrated GPU, but recording on a real Radeon or Arc card hasn't been tested yet.
• A few things ShadePlay handles by itself on these cards, with a note on the Status page: on AMD, a screen size the AV1 encoder doesn't handle well is recorded in HEVC, and a driver too old for 10-bit and HDR video records 8-bit SDR until it is updated. If a card can't keep up at the chosen frame rate, it uses a faster encoder setting.
• Please help: the encoder test takes about a minute and records nothing from your screen: Testing AMD and Intel graphics.

Laptops and PCs with two GPUs

On many laptops the built-in screen is driven by the processor's integrated GPU, even when the laptop also has a gaming GPU. ShadePlay then records the built-in screen with the integrated GPU's encoder (Intel or AMD, both experimental). An external monitor plugged into a port wired to the gaming GPU is recorded with that GPU's encoder. Laptops haven't been tested yet.

On a desktop PC, plug your monitor into the graphics card, not into the motherboard.

Another recorder using the encoder

A graphics card's encoder has limited room. When another program records at the same time (the graphics driver's own instant replay, OBS, Discord Go Live and so on), the tray menu shows ⚠ Another recording app is running – turn it off and the notification Another app is recording too. Two recorders cost twice as much, and clips can skip frames. Turn off the other app's recording or instant replay:

• NVIDIA's Instant Replay is in the NVIDIA App overlay (Alt+Z);
• AMD's Instant Replay is in AMD Software, under Record & Stream.

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Next: Testing AMD and Intel graphics

See also: What you need · Video settings · Status page