Why it issues: A latest unannounced improve lets content material creators and videophiles utilizing Nvidia graphics playing cards encode extra simultaneous streams. The characteristic doubtless got here with a video driver replace, affecting most client GPUs from the final a number of years. Nevertheless, skilled playing cards nonetheless have the benefit relating to decoding.
Nvidia quietly softened the bounds on simultaneous video encoding streams for its client graphics playing cards. The change ought to give streamers and others working with video extra flexibility while not having a workstation or knowledge heart GPU.
The brand new parameters, doubtless requiring the newest Nvidia Recreation Prepared or Studio drivers, enhance the variety of doable simultaneous NVENC streams from three to 5 in GeForce graphics playing cards. The patch applies to all desktop and laptop computer fashions since Maxwell, together with the GTX 745, 750Ti, and your complete 900 collection. Nevertheless, some fashions within the affected teams have no encoding functionality, just like the GTX 940MX or MX130.
Nvidia did not announce the change, however evaluating the present encoding help web page with an archived model from March 18 reveals it occurred someday this week. It is in all probability an unlisted addition included in driver model 531.41.
The elevated bandwidth is only one new issue serving to content material creators and videophiles with client GPUs work extra effectively. One other is the emergence of the AV1 codec, which assessments present encodes quicker than the favored H.264. Final yr’s Intel Arc Alchemist, AMD Radeon RX 7000, and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4000 collection had been the primary graphics playing cards to help hardware-based AV1 encoding.
Nevertheless, customers attempting to encode greater than 5 simultaneous streams on Staff Inexperienced’s {hardware} will nonetheless want skilled or server-class GPUs just like the Quadro, RTX 6000, or L40. As earlier than, most of these playing cards don’t have any restrictions on the variety of concurrent NVENC streams aside from what their {hardware} can deal with. Not like the GeForce fashions, the skilled playing cards beforehand restricted to 3 streams stay unchanged
A 3rd-party hack to take away client GPUs’ software program restriction has been obtainable since 2021, and the builders proceed to help the newest drivers. Nevertheless, unofficial workarounds at all times carry dangers, and it is unattainable to inform how lengthy modders will be capable of preserve updates.