The best capture card is a tool you might want to dedicate some cash to, as and when you decide you’re semi-serious about the whole streaming, YouTube thing. Sure, you can continue to capture footage on your own system, but there are limitations. For starters, if you want to stream or capture decent footage from a console, or if you want to use a mirrorless camera instead of a webcam, you absolutely need a capture card.
Whether you’re a seasoned Twitch streamer or just starting a vlog, a capture card is an absolute lifesaver that lets you make the content you want with ease without needing to be a professional video producer.
Are you recording 4K footage to edit later or focusing on streaming? Need a capture card that travels well, or plumbs into a laptop? Make sure to pick up the capture card that best suits your needs. We’ve tested all the capture cards on this list, to test for performance and ease of use, so you know which is the top capture card for you.
We recommend most people focus on a 1080p target resolution of at least 30fps with any potential capture card purchase. 60fps is great if your PC can handle the extra load, but if you’re just starting out, play it safe. There are good 4K capture cards out there, but they’re also expensive, and the storage needs can be harsh. Plus, the bandwidth requirements often mean 4K is not worth the hassle for streamers.
In general, our selections cover a few scenarios, but we’ve leaned towards all-around solutions. Each of our picks works well with all sorts of streaming/recording software such as OBS or Xsplit. You never know what kind of content you’re going to want to make in the future, so these cards will hopefully prepare you for anything. If you’re picking up a capture card as part of a bigger build for a streaming setup, take a look at our picks for the best webcams and the best microphones for streaming too.
Best capture card for PC gaming
This is the perfect card for anyone wanting to take their gameplay to streaming platforms with as little hassle as possible. Elgato is an expert in its field, and the HD60 S proves it. Reasonably priced and simple to use, it’s probably the best place to start if you’re new to streaming and your gaming PC can’t manage it solo. Crisp 1080p recordings at 60fps are a feather in its cap, while USB 3.0 connectivity is a happy bonus.
Built-in software to get you up and running seals the deal. The only downside would be the card’s somewhat limited editing suite—it’s not much good for anything beyond trimming video. However, it does have ‘Flashback Recording’ to help you retroactively capture even if you forgot to hit ‘record.’
Even though streaming these days is easier than ever, it doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to make things even easier for your stream. The AVerMedia Live Gamer Duo is a no-fuss internal capture card for more complicated streams and plays well with most rigs, so long as you have the room.
This $250 Live Game Duo is giving you two capture cards for the price of one. It is a great setup for streaming with multiple HDMI inputs like a gaming console, a fancy DSLR camera, or a second PC. The only real downside is if you have aspirations for 4K recording or streaming, you’ll have to look further down our list. If you’re looking to stream out at 1080p/60fps, mostly hassle-free, though, you won’t go wrong with the Live Game Duo.
Read the full AVerMedia Live Gamer Duo review here.
Avermedia’s Live Gamer Portable 2 Plus packs smooth 60fps 1080p recording and 4K pass-through so you can still play in Ultra HD (even if it’s not captured in 4K), USB 3.0, Mac compatibility, and dirty great flashing lights to tell you if you’re capturing or have left HDCP on.
Besides an attractive form-factor, it also offers intuitive software for live editing and the ability to record straight onto a Micro SD card if you’d prefer to keep your HDD clear of space-absorbing video. This capture card is flexible, mainly if you record on the go. It works straight out of the box, too—always a plus.
If you’re looking to capture the best footage without compromising any graphical quality, the Elgato Game Capture 4K60 S+ does just that. Thanks to onboard HEVC encoding, it lightens the CPU load and keeps video files at manageable sizes, which you’ll need when recording 60fps 4K footage with HDR. More importantly, the 4K60 S+ automatically adjusts recording resolution, bit rate, and file format on whatever device is plugged in, which means you won’t have to spend too much time tweaking settings.
The most significant and requested update to Elgato’s capture cards is the ability to capture straight to an SD card. You can capture footage without needing to plug it into another PC—plug in the console or PC and hit record. Everything records onto the SD card (not included) for later editing.
The Elgato Game Capture 4K60 S+ is an excellent tool for content creators who travel to trade shows or off-site game demos and need an easy way to record 4k gameplay, even if the $400 price tag might be a little tough to swallow. If you’re looking to stream at 1080p and don’t care about 4K footage, you’ve got way cheaper options that work as well on this list.
Read the full Elgato Game Capture 4K60 S+ review.
If you want to take your recordings from amateur to the next level up, Elgato’s internal HD60 Pro card is a good shout. Indeed, Elgato’s website claims this card features “an advanced, onboard H.264 encoder that enables you to record unlimited footage in superb 1080p [60fps] quality, at a bitrate up to 60Mbps.” Not too shabby.
It can also stream at 1080p when using Game Capture HD, OBS Studio, and Xsplit. Petite, classy form-factor is in the HD60 Pro’s favor as well. It means you’ll have to install it on a desktop PC, so using a laptop to control your capture card is out,
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The Razer Ripsaw HD’s main downside is that it doesn’t have any proprietary software, so you’re forced to use OBS or subscribe to XSplit. This isn’t too much of a problem, as many people use those very-capable applications anyway. And because it doesn’t have its own software, the Ripsaw HD also supports built-in, easy-to-use audio mixing with the help of its hardwired, “hassle-free” mic and headphone jacks. For the price, it also has the best picture quality.
Although it’s still limited to 1080p streaming and capture, the Ripsaw HD lets you experience your favorite games first-hand—while streaming or capturing—at 4K 60fps. Appealing to PC gamers who want to share their gameplay online but don’t want to miss out on the top-notch visual fidelity ushered in by their expensive and powerful graphics cards.
Pro-users, who want nothing but the best, need to look no further than Elgato’s 4K60 Pro. It may need a high-end PC to get off the ground, but this is an excellent piece of kit for those who are intent on capturing gameplay at the highest resolution and frame rate possible.
It’s worth making sure you’ve got enough storage space for all those videos, too, because they can get huge very quickly. And if you want to go big, Sabrent’s 4TB RocketQ or even the ultra-expensive Sabrent 8TB SSD will be your dream tickets to storage nirvana. The 4K60 Pro’s encoder can reduce file size and save you much-needed memory real-estate, but they can still be chunky in real terms.
EVGA is a known name for video cards and other PC gaming hardware, so you can imagine our excitement when they announced the XR1, their first external capture device for streamers. The flashy OBS certified capture device has a built-in audio mixer that’ll show your levels using these neat-looking RGB LEDs on the unit itself.
The XR1 records and streams at 1080p/60fps and supports advanced Pass-Through of 1440p/120fps and 4K/60fps signals. This means the XR1 will take those native signals and spit them out at 1080p/60fps for your stream without needing to change any of your display settings while you game. The capture does a good job though we did notice the colors being a bit washed out in that process; nothing a little tweaking in OBS couldn’t handle, though.
Best capture card FAQ
Is a capture card better than OBS?
With OBS you are entirely reliant on your system resources, such as your CPU or GPU, when it comes to capturing video inputs. That can be a drain if you’re capturing at a high bitrate and trying to actually play a game at the same time. Modern CPUs have gotten good at the necessary multi-tasking needed for that, but a dedicated capture card can possibly help lighten the load, if only by a small amount these days.
The ideal setup, and the one which will not take up any resources on your gaming PC, is to have all the capture carried out by a second PC, such as a laptop. Plugging in an external capture card to a lightweight laptop means you don’t have to have a powerful secondary machine, and means there are no extra resource demands on your primary rig while gaming,
Do capture cards reduce quality?
On the contrary, a good capture card could actually increase the quality of your stream, potentially lighten the load on your main PC, and improve the performance of your games while streaming.
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