When a stream gets choppy while you’re gaming, the most common causes are your PC being overloaded, bitrate being too high or too low for the stream settings, or the game and stream competing for CPU/GPU resources. Community reports also point to fixes like lowering in-game settings, capping frame rate, using hardware encoding, and running the broadcaster in admin mode so it can keep up better with the game.

What to try first

  • Lower the game’s graphics settings a bit.
  • Cap your in-game FPS so the game leaves room for the stream.
  • Make sure you’re using hardware encoding if available, not a heavier software encoder.
  • Check whether your upload speed and bitrate match your stream resolution and frame rate.
  • Close background apps that may be using CPU, GPU, or bandwidth.

Why it happens

Streaming and gaming at the same time means your system has to render the game and encode video simultaneously, which can cause stutter if resources are maxed out. In harder-to-run games, people report bigger frame drops and more visible choppiness, especially when bitrate or resolution settings are mismatched.

Fast diagnosis

  • If the game feels fine but the stream looks bad, it is usually an encoding or bitrate issue.
  • If both the game and stream stutter, it is more likely CPU, GPU, or system load.
  • If the stream gets worse only during fast movement, the bitrate may be too low for the motion in the game.

Simple fix order

  1. Lower stream resolution or FPS.
  2. Reduce bitrate slightly and test again.
  3. Cap game FPS.
  4. Switch to hardware encoding.
  5. Reduce game settings until stream stays smooth.

TL;DR: the choppiness is usually from your system or stream settings being too tight while gaming, and the quickest wins are lowering game load, capping FPS, and tuning bitrate/encoder settings.