Gaming on its own is plenty of fun, but there’s some extra pleasure to be had when you can share that experience with others. For some it may be a hobby while for others it can become a career, and more people yet may just want a way to share their gaming experience with their friends. There are many ways to capture that video game footage, but a capture card is by far the best way.The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 may have some simple ways to start streaming, and many Nvidia and AMD graphics cards support built-in streaming and capture system. But there are some limitations there that can impact your system’s performance and may affect the control you have over your stream and the quality. If you’re trying to seriously stream, you’ll want to ensure a high bar for your resolution, frame rate, and bitrate. Capture cards will take you to that level, as you can find support for 4K, HDR, and high frame rates, all of which can make for a far more compelling experience for viewers.Fortunately, the rising popularity of streaming has coincided with a growth in the market for capture cards, so there are many quality options available. We’ve sorted through the many capture cards to highlight the very best for every budget, so you don’t have to wade through the sea of products that can dramatically vary in quality.
TL;DR These are the Best Capture Cards:
1. Elgato Game Capture HD60 S+
Best External Capture Card
There are a lot of reasons why the Elgato Game Capture HD60S+ is my favorite external capture card. It’s one of the few capture cards that let you play your games at 4K60 HDR while grabbing and broadcasting footage at 2160p30 or 1080p60 HDR without having to drop your video settings to do it. The Elgato Game Capture HD60S+ also offers plug-and-play simplicity with its impressive internals.All you need to get started with capturing are two HDMI cables, and a USB 3.0 Type-C connected to a laptop or gaming PC to run the software and store your footage. Speaking of which the HD60S+ has some very easy to use software with built-in support for Twitch and YouTube broadcasting. An internal capture card would be cheaper, but if youre just starting out and only have a laptop to work with, youll pay a bit of a tax. Other than that, you wont lose any functionality with the portable option.
2. AVerMedia Live Gamer Mini
Best Budget External Capture Card
The AVerMedia Live Gamer Mini is both portable and affordable, but it’s a capable companion for a new gamer getting into video capture or streaming. The unit is simple, with just a microUSB connection and a pair of HDMI ports that can pass a 1080p signal at 60fps through without any compression or lag.The card has a built-in hardware encoder that uses the popular H.264 standard. All that means that the act of recording your game footage won’t have an impact on your PC’s gaming performance. The capture card also comes with RECentral software to get you started, though it can also work with other video capture software.
3. Elgato Game Capture 4K60 S+
Best High-End External Capture Card
Whereas most external capture cards still need to be linked up to a gaming laptop or gaming PC to store any captured gameplay, the Elgato Game Capture 4K60 S+ only needs an SD card. All you need to do is hook up this recorder to the console or PC of your choice while routing the display out to a gaming monitor or TV, connect it to a wall plug or power bank, hit record, and you’re good to go.The Elgato Game Capture 4K60 S+ is also one of the few capture solutions that let you record gameplay at 4K, 60 frames per second, and in HDR all at the same time. You’re looking at one of the most versatile and powerful capture solutions around and it’s completely portable to boot.
4. AVerMedia Live Gamer 4K
Best Internal Capture Card
With the Live Gamer 4K from AVerMedia, youll have the cheapest capture card that currently allows you to capture 4K60 footage in HDR. No, you cant broadcast that yet (or edit it with the included shareware), but once streaming software and services catch up, youll be ready. Until then, you can toss the video to YouTube.Bump your capture resolution down to 1080p and youll be able to capture at frame-rates up to 240 frames-per-second. Whoa indeed. The Live Gamer 4K also has RBG lighting for visual customization, in case your PC case needs a few more lights.
5. Elgato Game Capture HD60 Pro
Best Budget Internal Capture Card
Lets face it: Uploading 4K video requires an awful lot of bandwidth. Your budding audience would be better served with more frequent streams than you working a third job to afford faster internet and a ridiculous capture card. When you make the jump to an internal card, take a look at the Game Capture HD60 from Elgato instead.As its name implies, this model will capture video at 60 frames-per-second and Full HD. Itll also occupy half the PCIe ports as its 4K sibling, and cost $100 less. In addition to pumping out full HD broadcasts, itll simultaneously record said footage to your hard drive at 1080p60 in the H.264 codec at a 60 Mbps maximum bitrate. Theres also built-in support for streaming to Twitch and YouTube.
6. Elgato Game Capture 4K60 Pro Mk. 2
Best High-End Internal Capture Card
The Elgato Game Capture 4K60 Pro Mk. 2 is the perfect way to celebrate just getting Partnered with Twitch. Its pricey, but hey, all those late nights have finally paid off. This PCIe internal card captures footage up to a 4K resolution directly to your hard drive without breaking a sweat, with an up to 140 Mbps bitrate.Beyond the basic ability to record 4K HDR footagewhich is pretty great on its ownthe Elgato Game Capture 4K60 Pro Mk. 2 offers a few extra features like Multi App Access so you can have multiple pieces of streaming and/or recording software accessing your capture card at the same time. Additionally, the Elgato’s HDR tone mapping allows users to play at 4K HDR while streaming in standard dynamic range.
7. AVerMedia Live Gamer Bolt
Best Streaming Capture Card
The AVerMedia Live Gamer Bolt is hands down the best capture card for streaming. It delivers the lowest level of added latency we’ve seen out of any capture solution at only a couple of milliseconds. This makes it perfect for games that require cat-like reflexes like Spelunky or twitch aiming like Apex Legends.The AVerMedia Live Gamer Bolt also records great looking footage at either 4Kp60 HDR or 1080p24. The only tricky thing about this capture solution is you need a Thunderbolt 3 port, which means you can use it with only a few compatible gaming motherboards and gaming laptops. You should definitely double check your system’s ports before buying this capture card.
What to look for in a Capture Card
In the roundup above you may have noticed one name popped up a lot in particular: Elgato. The companys offerings are the go-to standard in the consumer capture and pro streaming community. In my personal experience, their products offer the easiest setup and most compatibility across a variety of streaming apps and hardware setups. The companys built-in streaming software also natively works with Macs, which is a huge plus.Taking a gamble on a cheap no-name capture card… isnt worth the frustration.
There are a lot of other options, but if youd rather not go for an Elgato, stick to models from AVerMedia. Theyre a solid alternative and the company has a range of products to suit just about every budget. Software support isnt as good as that of Elgatos, but AVerMedia tries making up for it with more features. For example, one of its external units will record to an SD card thus eliminating the need to lug out your laptop just because you want to record some footage. Its latest products support 4K and HDR passthrough, and its high-end internal card records 4K HDR footage.While there might be a duopoly with streaming gear manufacturers right now, trust me: taking a gamble on a cheap no-name capture card with fewer reviews than youve got fingers isnt worth the hassle. Also, if you’re not looking for anything serious and just want to record in-game footage for the amusement of your friends, we’ve put together a list of the best game recording software right here.
Kevin Lee is IGN’s Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspamMark Knapp is a regular contributor to IGN and an irregular Tweeter on Twitter @Techn0Mark
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