Capture cards tested: When PCIe still wins (and when USB is better)

So you want to stream or capture game video, preferably on a powerful laptop or desktop. What you need, my friend, is a capture card. But after figuring that out, you have another question to answer: Internal or external? PCIE or USB? Will Smith is here to answer it with his latest round of testing on PCWorld’s YouTube channel.

And at the risk of spoiling the video: Will says it doesn’t really matter anymore. Unless you’re recording at super massive resolution/framerate well above 4K, or you’re recording on a Linux system. In the former case, the extra bandwidth of a PCIE-connected card can be a major boon (assuming you have a system that can actually handle that recording). And in the latter, the more standardized USB interface is better, because some companies (ahem Elgato ahem) don’t have a great track record of supporting Linux. Naturally if you’re recording on a laptop, you need the external card.

The surprising thing is how good all of these cards from Elgato and AverMedia have become. When he’s streaming to Twitch, Will watches footage of his console in the OBS preview window — the kind of thing that used to be unimaginable for most games. But Will says he can handle console play on fast-paced, twitchy games like Bloodbourne and Ghost of Tsushima. There isn’t even much of a price difference at the higher end of the recording card market.

For more hands-on testing of PC gear, be sure to subscribe to PCWorld on YouTube. And incidentally, if you’re looking to game or stream on Linux, you might want to head over to our sister channel The Full Nerd Network and check out Dual Boot Diaries.