Elgato 4K60 Pro Capture Card Review: Is it right for you?

Elgato 4K60 Pro

4K video is difficult. More pixels means more power to process them, whether you lot're playing a game or rendering a video. For gamers, even playing a game at 4K resolution requires serious GPU power. And existing 4K capture cards are very expensive.

Microsoft has changed the game with the Xbox Ane Ten, a console that costs less than a high-end graphics card that is capable of delivering games natively at 4K60.

It's no coincidence then that Elgato launched the 4K60 Pro at a like time. This capture carte costs $399, which is a lot, but it can match that 4K60 output of the Xbox One Ten.

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Elgato 4K60 Pro specifications

The Elgato 4K60 is no slouch, and it needs a computer that'due south not a slouch either.

Specifications

Interface: PCIe x4
Input: Unencypted HDMI
Output: HDMI with lag-free passthrough (HDMI two.0 cablevision included)
Supported resolutions: Up to 2160p (4K) at lx FPS and 140Mbps bitrate
Dimensions: 178 x 121 10 21 mm
Weight: 270g

System requirements

Os: Windows 10 64-scrap
Processor: sixth generation Intel Cadre i7, AMD Ryzen 7 or college
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 10xx, AMD RX Vega or higher
Vacant PCIe 4x/8x/16x slot

Win some lose some

As it seems is tradition across the Elgato capture card range, in some areas the 4K60 Pro provides (significant) gains, in others you're losing a lilliputian.

Compared to the HD60 Pro, the new card does not have a congenital-in hardware encoder and equally such doesn't allow you to use the master re-create feature in Game Capture Hd to record a local re-create of your streams.

Thankfully goose egg else is missing, and the big deal is the support now for 2160p60 resolution capture at up to 140Mbps bitrate. Flashback recording is still supported, though only at 1080p60, as well, you tin can use Stream Command overlays again only up to 1080p60.

These resolution imposed limitations are considering you need to utilise the Game Capture Hd software. For 4K capture, Elgato has a new, more express awarding which you must utilize.

Elgato 4K60 Pro performance and troubles

Elgato 4K60 Pro The Elgato logo lights up by the style.

The setup process wasn't exactly flawless. Compared to the erstwhile HD60 Pro (PCIe x1), the 4K60 Pro draws a fair bit more power from your motherboard (PCIe x4). There is no external power supply for information technology, which information technology would benefit from. Considering the sort of PC this card will probable be going inside, being able to hook into the PSU directly would be beneficial.

I'd hoped to leave my HD60 Pro in place alongside the 4K60 Pro to use. But in doing then at that place was too much power describe from the motherboard, and then neither it or the 4K60 Pro would work.

Even after the first success, though, there were still issues to come. I changed a couple of settings in the companion app which resulted in the menu completely declining to see the incoming HDMI feed any more than. Only completely uninstalling the software and drivers, the card itself and power cycling my PC before setting everything upwardly again from scratch would get it to work.

Elgato 4K60 Pro

I'chiliad not the only person to feel issues, either. There have been stories almost BSOD being caused past the 4K60 Pro, incorrect drivers and general dismay galore. Bear upon forest, since overcoming my setup woes it'south been solid for me, but it's certainly worth scouring the Elgato subreddit to check out the latest reports from users earlier you purchase.

Once everything is OK, functioning is fantastic. Instant Gameview is exactly that, it feels lag gratuitous and it actually works. Using the cable in the box, capturing 4K60 content from the Xbox Ane X is no more hard than any other Xbox with any other Elgato capture bill of fare.

What information technology won't do is capture 4K anything from the Xbox One X unless y'all have a 4K display connected to the capture card, and you're actually using it. So, if you accept a single screen and wanted to capture 4K while playing using Instant Gameview, you're out of luck. The 4K output must exist active, with the Elgato app on a second display, otherwise the 4K pass through on the card won't work and you're express to 1080p. Nor tin can you apply this card to spoof your Xbox into thinking it has a 4K display attached when it doesn't.

The captures look really nice though, as you can see in the samples above of Forza Motorsport 7 and PUBG captured at the full 2160p60 resolution at the highest bitrate. You can alter the bitrate to lower the file sizes a lot and withal get groovy quality. Running at the highest 140Mbps bitrate will fill up upwards 61GB in an hour, while scaling dorsum to 35Mbps predictably drops the rate at which you'll fill your hard bulldoze to a more palatable 15GB/hr.

Ane other thing to annotation is that you lose HDR when you run games through the 4K60 Pro whether y'all're capturing or not. HDR pass through is non supported.

The Elgato 4K Capture Utility

To capture the loftier-resolution content with this card you demand to utilise withal another application: The 4K Capture Utility. You'll also need to install the normal Game Capture Hd software for firmware updates and such.

The new app isn't bad, simply information technology'due south not that expert either. It's extremely barebones and tin exist used for nix but capturing footage and screenshots. Streaming will all the same need a secondary application.

Almost streamers won't be going in a higher place 1080p anytime soon, and then information technology'due south not a massive trouble for most, simply at that place are no avant-garde features of any kind. Bated from some basic settings tweaks and being able to choose your resolution up to 4K, there's nothing to information technology at all.

The bottom line on the Elgato 4K60 Pro

Elgato capture cards

The applied science bachelor hither for $399 is very impressive. 4K video is hard to bargain with and Elgato has done a solid job, even if it's rough effectually the edges. For serious Xbox One 10 content creators, information technology'southward a great buy.

But the limitations make information technology difficult to offer a sweeping recommendation. It'due south been more troublesome to set up up and employ than any other Elgato card I've tried, and if you just take a single 4K display (and no other monitors) hooked upward, then it won't work at all, and then you lot won't be able to capture in 4K. Thankfully, Xbox I X gamers can capture correct on the panel.

The 4K60 Pro is a very niche production right at present. Beyond gaming, in that location are folks who may discover a workflow that involves this menu, but even for Xbox One Ten owners, it's far from essential. Streamers volition be improve off with the HD60 Pro at half the price. The 4K60 Pro is impressive and produces some stunning results, only information technology feels a picayune ahead of its fourth dimension.

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