For years my trusty Elgato Game Capture HD worked flawlessly, recording Xbox One and original Xbox gameplay video with ease. While I will still be using it for the latter, capturing Xbox Series X, Series S and PS5 gameplay at native resolution requires an upgrade.
The reason is that most capture cards can only record at full HD, which is 1,920×1,080 pixels. The new generation of consoles can output at up to 4K and 120 frames per second (FPS), which means losing out on detail, smoothness and creative editing freedom.
So here is my guide to the best capture card for those lovely new consoles. Any questions? Feel free to get in touch.
Capturing gameplay at higher resolutions and faster frame rates gives you improved picture quality, the ability to crop in without things looking pixelated, smoother footage, slow-motion – that’s the short answer.
All of that can benefit your viewers, especially if they are watching on a higher resolution display such as a flagship smartphone or a 4K television. It also means you can show games as they are intended to be played.
The extra details comes from 1080p to 1,440p being a 77 per cent increase in pixel count, while 4K is four times that of 1080p. A total of 8,294,400 pixels from 3,840×2,160. As a result, things look more detailed and sharper.
This means you can zoom in on an area by cropping to highlight something in particular or perhaps reframe the image if you disliked something at the edges. You only lose some detail if outputting at 4K and potentially zero at 1440p or 1080p.
The Xbox Series X, Series S and PS5 can also run games at higher frame rates, which means smoother video. Imagine a flick book. The faster you turn the pages the smoother the image. It is the same principle. Higher is especially good for fast-paced games like first-person shooters.
Therefore if you are recording some Call of Duty quick-scoping goodness, it may look jarring to viewers who are used to 60FPS if you are show gameplay at half that. On the flip-side, some people will not know the difference.
In my humble opinion, 4K60 is the sweet spot of detail and smoothness. The problem is that there are relatively few capture card options capable of this. To date, there is nothing that can do 4K 120FPS – not that it matters much for reasons I will know explain.
If you are happy with 4K30, which can be great for games that are more cinematic, then recording at 60FPS means you have the option to slowdown playback to 50 per cent for a touch of slow-motion. At 120FPS you can do 50 or 25 per cent playback speed for 60 and 30FPS, respectively.
While it can be tempting to go for 4K120FPS, bear in mind that YouTube’s maximum is 60 frames per second. You could upload and then adjust the video playback speed but that gets complicated.
Also consider that most monitors, smartphones, tablets and TVs are 30FPS at maximum. Even if 120fps was possible on YouTube, the number of people with a high frame-rate display is small so relatively few people would benefit.
YouTube does, however, support the 4K resolution. Even if you don’t want full 4K, recording at that level and downscaling to a lower resolution usually looks better than recording at 1,080p or 1,440p.
Before I get device-specific, know that there are two types of capture card: internal and external. Internal typically sits in a PCI-E slot in your motherboard and has multiple HDMI connections to connect to your screen and console.
Internal capture cards are usually cheaper as they require installation by you or the family nerd. Plus the PC hardware requirements for a 4K60 card are higher. That includes storage space 4K files get big fast.
Positives include the fact this option is discrete and can add some bling to your system in the form of RGB. Just make sure you have a spare PCI-E slot and a powerful enough power supply unit. Also, you will need your PC to be near the console you want to use for gameplay capture.
External capture cards, meanwhile, spend their life outside a PC case. This means you can hide it away or have it nearby to make swapping cables easier. You also do not need to worry about installation, usually it’s just plug and play then install the gameplay capture software.
Also useful is that external capture cards can be transported easily and steal away less processing power from your computer. Minimum system requirements are much less relevant – a slow laptop can suffice.
Game capture cards also allow you to live stream, should you wish to play Xbox Series X, Series S and PS5 on Twitch or YouTube. They even include overlays and other more useful functionality, but I won’t go into that here.
Internal vs external: Which is best? If you require a portable solution and/or are afraid to install a PC component yourself, the decision will be far easy as external ticks two of those three boxes.
If recording PC gameplay, you can use OBS or equivalent free gameplay capture software. There is no need for a capture card. However, recording while playing can adversely affect your frame-rate so many professionals use a dual-device setup. Pricey but effective.
Also bear in mind that some game capture cards have what is called a ‘pass-through’. This allows you to play games at 4K while recording or streaming, but not record at that resolution. If a device seems cheap, this is probably why.
Recording at higher frame rates also provides the option of slow-motion. 120fps played at 25 per cent speed is 30fps, which is an acceptable output on YouTube. Halving 60FPS may not be especially slow, but it can provide variety in a video.
HDR support, meanwhile, is beneficial as without it you will have to switch HDR off and lose the image quality improvements. YouTube supports HDR video uploads. It is short for high dynamic range and is a video format that provides improved brightness, contrast and colour accuracy.
That’s the technical stuff, now it’s time for what I think are the four best game capture cards for PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S. Prices may vary, remember.
Up first is the Elgato Game Capture 4k60Pro MK.2. This is an internal solution that can manage 4k at 60 frames per second or up to 240fps at 1,080p – twice what an Xbox Series X and PS5 can output.
Not only that, Elgato’s 4k60 Pro can record 1,440p at 144fps, allowing 120fps capture of your new console with HDR 10 enabled.
The 4K60 MK.2 capture card is a noticeably smaller device than the MK1. The MK1 is less useful as it cannot capture HDR and does not have a pass-through connection that lets you play at a high frame-rate while recording lower quality gameplay footage.
£190, buy here
This is the game capture card I use and it is better than the 4K60 Pro MK2 in some ways. It is larger, not that it matters much once in a PCI-E x4, x8 or x16 slot.
It features RGB lighting with three tasteful presets. Or you can switch it off and embrace darkness. Said lighting can help you rectify installation issues, for example the flashing red meant I had yet to install the necessary AverMedia drivers and software.
The Live Gamer 4K is not especially new, but it can manage 4k 60fps at up to 240MB detail if your PC and storage device can handle the speed. HDR capture? Not a problem either although importing into Premiere Pro CC and other video editors can be troublesome.
As for high frame rates, the Live Gamer 4K tops out at 120fps at 1440p and 240fps at 1080p detail, which is impressive. It can also capture in a variety of format types including h.265 and you have numerous customisation options to play with.
Meanwhile, the AverMedia RECentral software is easy to use, reasonably functional and I like the fact it displays what is on screen without lag. Unlike my Elgato Game Capture HD.
This is my pick of the bunch, which makes sense as I bought one for use on A Tribe Called Cars. But we are not done yet.
£199.99, buy here
Imagine the AverMedia Live Gamer 4K I just talked about. Now imagine it living outside your PC, that’s the Live Gamer Bolt. You do, however, pay a premium for the fact it just plugs into a PC or laptop and does its thing. External capture card convenience is king.
The unit itself is relatively small and more square than its sibling, but still features some RGB goodness on the front that you can turn off. You will need a Thunderbolt 3 port to use it though, so check your computer ports.
A Thunderbolt 3 internal card could be purchased. However, this will add to the overall cost of capturing 4K 60/120/240 gameplay and will need installation. So you’re back at square one if lacking the tech knowledge or confidence.
I think the Live Gamer 4K makes more sense given it is usually substantially cheaper, but then the convenience of easy transportation and freeing up valuable PC resources (maybe you have a slow PC or laptop) could sway your decision.
£409, buy here
Lastly, we have Elgato’s 4K60S+ capture card. Like the Live Gamer Bolt, it lives outside your laptop or PC so it’s more convenient at the expense of taking up desk space. However, unlike AverMedia’s equivalent it tops out at 60fps.
Usefully, you can add in an SD card and record directly to that, which the Bolt cannot do, and the maximum bitrate is 200Mbps – 60 more than the internal 4K 60 Pro MK2. It also records HDR and uses a USB port, faster the better obviously, so you won’t need a Thunderbolt 3 port.
If you are happy losing the potential of high frame rates and the fastest data transfer speeds, or like the sound of recording to an SD instead of your hard drive, the 4K60 S+ is your best bet.
£344, buy here
And that is it for this rather techy article. In short, using a device to capture 1080p or 1440p gameplay can save you money. However, your viewers will not see all that extra Xbox Series X, Series S and PS5 graphical goodness! Feel free to use my Amazon affiliate links at no cost to you, I merely get a few pence from the process.
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