Best capture cards 2025

The Elgato HD60 X is the go-to selection for avid gamers seeking to play video games on as much as 240Hz gaming displays with decision as much as 1440p however who aren’t too involved about capturing very quick footage. That’s as a result of this card helps 240Hz pass-through at 1080p or 1440p however it may solely seize at as much as 120Hz for 1080p and 60Hz for 1440p. That’s sufficient for many avid gamers to play at a comfortably quick tempo and share first rate high quality clips.

The HD60 X may seize 4K footage at 30Hz however it may solely go by 4K at 60Hz, so when you have one of many more and more frequent 4K displays that may run at 120Hz, you’ll want a extra highly effective card. Likewise, if you wish to seize your gaming footage at above 30Hz.

In addition to this nice seize and pass-through help, the HD60 X helps variable refresh fee (VRR) so your monitor can nonetheless use its Freesync or G-Sync modes to get rid of tearing and stutter.

All this and the cardboard’s exterior kind issue and straightforward USB connection makes it straightforward to setup and versatile, although as with all USB seize playing cards, you’ll must be sure you have a quick sufficient USB port.

The Elgato 4K X is a extra severe seize card for any PC gamer seeking to seize 4K high quality excessive refresh fee gaming. With its skill to seize and pass-through video at as much as 144Hz at a 4K decision, you may sport with gorgeous visuals whereas capturing all that element and easy movement to be used in later video edits. You’ll be able to even seize 240Hz at 1080p and 144Hz at 1440p.

Crucially, all this energy comes at a worth, so if you happen to don’t sport at excessive refresh charges, or don’t must seize at these charges, it’s best to have a look at saving cash and getting a lower-tier card just like the Elgato HD60 X. In the meantime, if even increased resolutions are what you want, the Elgato 4K Professional is a greater guess as it may seize at 8K and go by 4K at 240Hz.

For the overwhelming majority of avid gamers, although, the Elgato 4K X ought to be all of the seize card they ever want.

The AVerMedia Dwell Gamer 4K is a great-value possibility that gives specs  that sit someplace between these of the Elgato HD60 X and Elgato 4K X, however a worth that’s a lot nearer to the HD60 X. Particularly, this card enables you to seize 1080p at 240Hz, 1440p at 144Hz, and 4K at 60Hz, all of that are charges almost double that of the HD60 X. In the meantime, the 4K X provides that essential 144Hz 4K seize possibility.

The draw back to this card is that its inside card kind issue isn’t as handy because the USB kind issue utilized by the HD60 X, so it’s far much less straightforward to swap between utilizing it for capturing PC and console footage, as an example. Or for capturing footage of some other machine. Plug the HD60 X right into a laptop computer, although, and it may be used for capturing all types.

Nonetheless, the large benefit right here is worth. The AVerMedia Dwell Gamer 4K is at the moment solely a greenback or two dearer than the HD60 X whereas providing all that additional capturing fireplace energy. In the meantime, the 4K X is much more costly. So, if you happen to’re certain you’re pleased with an inside card that may stay sat in your primary gaming PC, that is the perfect worth choice to get.

AVerMedia’s Dwell Gamer Extremely 2.1 seize card makes use of an HDMI 2.1 connection – which suggests it may help increased resolutions. With a max 4K144 pass-through, it captures easy, lifelike gameplay and makes your streaming extremely high-end. However this comes at a excessive worth. It’s additionally designed particularly for PS5 and Xbox Sequence X/S consoles, however that doesn’t imply you may’t apply it to a PC or macOS.

Our professional reviewer discovered the seize card straightforward to make use of, and the output was excellent, with zero glitching or tearing. Whereas footage from the Extremely 2.1 is gorgeous, be cautious of file measurement. You’ll probably want an exterior SSD for gaming to retailer 4K seize information.

The Extremely 2.1’s design is pleasant, with RGB lighting which you can customise. It’s compact too, so sits unobtrusively on a gaming desk or media unit. We’d prefer to see a USB-C enter so as to add an exterior streaming microphone along with the three.5mm headset possibility. For reside streaming, it’d maintain all of the audio inputs going by one machine.

The AVerMedia Dwell Gamer Extremely 2.1 is a premium seize card for PC (and next-gen consoles). I like to recommend it if you happen to want the perfect footage cash should purchase.

Learn our AVerMedia Dwell Gamer Extremely 2.1 evaluation

The Elgato 4K Professional does simply what it suggests by being the only option for these looking for a professional-level setup. Whether or not you’re mounting it in a second devoted seize PC or your primary gaming PC, this card can present extremely prime quality pass-through, prime quality seize, and crucially can work with a number of apps without delay.

So, if you wish to seize video, stream to Twitch and to Zoom on the identical time, you may with this card. What’s extra, it may present pass-through video of as much as 8K at 60Hz and 4K at 240Hz. Oddly, although, it really has barely decrease seize high quality settings than the Elgato 4K X. That card tops out at 1440p240 and 4K144 whereas the 4K Professional stops at 1440p144 and 4K60.

The opposite limitation right here is that it’s an inside card so isn’t as straightforward to make use of with a wide range of units or take with you to seize output from different units elsewhere. For a devoted streaming setup at house, particularly when you have a 240Hz 4K monitor, it’s a best choice.

That is most likely the most cost effective seize card you may get that’s really good. Go any cheaper and also you threat utilizing unreliable merchandise from dodgy, unknown manufacturers. NZXT, in fact, is well-known for creating improbable parts for gaming PCs and this seize card just isn’t under the usual you’d anticipate from them.

Admittedly, you’ll get a decrease fps fee and the image high quality gained’t be fairly as spectacular because the extra premium choices on the listing. Nonetheless, it nonetheless boasts zero-lag passthrough help for 4K at 60Hz along with HDR and 1080p at 240Hz. It’s not such as you’ll get potato-quality footage.

In the meantime, that is additionally a sensible choice for anyone buying their first seize card. It’s straightforward to make use of and set up and doesn’t require that you just obtain any additional items of software program to stream or document your gameplay. Contemplating all of that and its low worth, it’s onerous to criticize the NZXT Sign HD60.

Want a tiny seize card which you can simply transport and swap between units? You’ll battle to seek out one thing as nifty and handy because the Genki Shadowcast. You simply plug it into the machine you need to seize footage from through an HDMI out port, then stick a USB into the opposite finish to attach it to the machine you need to stream by.

As soon as that’s all arrange, you employ the Genki Arcade app in your PC or laptop computer and you may then do no matter you need with the footage you’re capturing.  This can be significantly interesting to anybody who desires, not solely to stream PC video games, but in addition PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Swap content material.

This a really low-cost seize card, and in consequence, the seize high quality gained’t be fairly pretty much as good as you’ll see with different units. On prime of that, the standard will range from machine to machine, however due to its measurement and comfort, we stay very impressed with it.