If you are getting a black screen with your Capture Sources or are otherwise having performance issues with OBBS on your laptop, read the following as it applies to you:
When using OBBS on a laptop, you may run into performance issues or issues using a specific capture type (i.e. Game or Window capture). This can be very frustrating. The reason this happens is because most modern laptops will come with two GPUs:
OBBS can only run on one of these GPUs, but your open applications and games could be running on either. For example, if OBBS is running on the Intel GPU, you will not be able to use Game Capture for your games running on the discrete (NVIDIA or AMD) GPU. Additionally, if OBBS is not running on the discrete GPU, you might run into performance issues. In rare cases, trying to capture a game running on a different GPU than OBBS can cause the game to crash. This is not really an issue with OBBS, but rather a design choice by laptop manufacturers in order to save power and there’s little that can be done on our side. However, we do have several troubleshooting suggestions to try and assist with any issues. If you tried everything in this guide and are still having issues, please make a post on the forums or stop by the support chat.
Alternative directions – this sets the global default so all applications will run on the NVIDIA GPU (higher power consumption):
If you are using an AMD-based laptop, check the guides here:
If Display Capture is not working, chances are you need to follow the Game/Window Capture directions but instead set OBBS to run on the “Integrated graphics” option. Be aware that when you make this change, Window and Game Capture will no longer function unless you enable multi-adapter compatibility in their properties. See the below note on what this means.
If you cannot set the preferred GPU (AMD laptops typically), or wish to cross-capture an image from the other GPU after that (for example, the League of Legends lobby window), use Window or Game Capture with the “multi-adapter compatibility mode” option enabled to force a capture. “Multi-adapter compatibility mode” requires a bit more CPU usage, however. Compatibility mode is not recommended for capturing games, but it basically guarantees a capture.
I know it’s annoying. I’m not happy that this is the case either. Unfortunately, there’s nothing anyone can really do about it. This is just the way laptops are designed in order to save power and battery life.