Poor fraps performance

[Deleted]

I'm wanting to record all of my guild's first kills but I'm running into a spot of bother with fraps. I'm tempted to purchase another hard drive but I thought I'd run this by all of you before I part way with my cash.

System Specs:
AMD 965 BE 3.4GHz
8GB 1600MHz 9-9-9-24
XFX 5870
1 TB HDD 7200RPM SATA II 3GBs

I am recording at 60 fps at full size, I know its a big ask but I thought it would of been able to handle it, instead it stutters a lot. I'm not too sure on what the big main factor is when it comes to fraps performance whether it be CPU, GPU or HDD etc.

I noticed that my CPU was peaking at 100% load quite often whilst recording. I decided to overclock it to 4GHz, it no longer goes to 100%, it hangs around 75% instead. BUT recording still stutters.

I've looked at my GPU load on my 5870, playing WoW it hardly has any load on it, and when recording it hasnt went over 30% load. Although I've noticed that in some games despite getting low-average fps the GPU load is still quite low, may be its not getting used to its maximum potential?

So maybe another hard drive may do the trick, but I'm slightly hesitant because of how expensive they are atm. Do you think a separate hard drive will resolve this issue? Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Milkshake86]

It is suggested that you record to and from a seperate drive. However this wont alleviate alot of the problem. Lower your resolution, and recording at half etc

[DarkBlade6]

you will need a 2nd hdd

[Deleted]

why would you record at 60 fps? thats way too high

[Deleted]

To answer your question: Fraps performance is determined mostly by the HDD you record to.

Basically, for 60fps 1080p footage the HDD needs to be able to handle a constant data stream of around 70-85MB each second. Most newer HDDs (non eco/green) can push around 60-70MB with ease, but as they are mechanical it will fluctuate unfortunately. I got a 750GB WD:Caviar Black that I record to and it can barely handle that type of stream (1080p, 60fps). I usually end up recording at 30 or 40 fps instead (30 being much better in my case due to it being the same framerate Youtube uses). So, if the HDD can't handle the data stream it will clog up and the framerate will take a hit.

To clarify, if you have WoW, Windows and your Fraps record folder all on the same HDD, all programs will have to share the HDDs transfer capacity. Windows might not take very much, neither will WoW, but if you add up all the smaller processes and programs, it becomes enough to clog it for Fraps making it very difficult to reach the speed needed to record smoothly.

The CPU could be the bottleneck (although unlikely) because WoW is so CPU depending. Fraps does take a little power from it for the compression process, but it really isn't that much (however, it could be enough - especially if we are talking 25-player heavy raid scenarios).

Other than that it boils down to the data transfer rate between the GPU and the HDD. It might clog up the memory on the GPU or your RAM (I seriously doubt this). Everything else should be able to handle it with ease.

AFAIK, MSI Afterburner has a function to record to RAW footage which means there will be close to no work for the CPU (just to calculate and create the file). It might be an option. Other than that, try to record at 30 or 40 fps and see if you experience an improvement.

The best solution (and the one that would yield the best result) would be to get a separate HDD for recording, but of course that means spending money.

[Deleted]

Thanks for clearing that up, ill go pick up another hard drive tomorrow and fiddle with the settings a bit.

[haxs101]

Why record at 60 fps? Also record at 720p.

[Butterland]

I was under the impression that Youtube was capped at 30 FPS... ?

But honestly, cut on FPS before cutting on resolution. Half-size is barely watchable (at least on my computer).

[Deleted]

Yeh I tried 720p but it looked a bit rubbish. However, I did not know youtube plays at 30fps. The reason I wanted to record at 60fps was because in game I notice a huge difference I set my fps at 30 then bump it up to 60 its a lot smoother. Thought it may have made for a smoother video but if youtube caps it at 30 then theres no point.

Many thanks for all your suggestions.

[Shadzta]

record at 29.90 fps...it is a must.

[Deleted]

Record 30 FPS and you will probably notice the best performance increase yeah.

[Deleted]

never record fraps at 60 jsut go with 30