It’s not the Day 0 edition, but I did finally convince my contact at Elgato to send me over
their newest capture card - the Elgato HD60 S. While it looks almost exactly like the
original HD60 device, it’s way more capable than its predecessor.
However, at least until AMD Zen comes out, you almost 100% need a high-end, newer generation
Intel PC with solid USB 3.0 support for this card to work.
And Windows 10.
My main rig is an AMD FX build, but the USB 3.0 drivers for my ASUS Crosshair V Formula-Z
board are actually really shitty, so on my main rig I had a lot of trouble with the card,
as have others with AMD builds.
However, I did get to test this card on a better Intel build and it works great.
So with that disclaimer out of the way, let’s get into the review.
[PRE-ROLL]
Physically, the HD60 S is the same form factor and design as the original HD60.
We have the same black - thankfully matte black instead of glossy like the OG Game Capture
HD, glossy is always bad - rounded rectangle with a big rubber grip on the bottom.
We get a nice blue “S” next to the “HD60” logoing on the top, and now the inputs and
outputs are very clearly labeled with white lettering, which is a nice improvement over
the previous model.
On the top we have a LED line through the middle.
This is a very minimalistic design that I can appreciate, but it does seem like it’d
designed to be a device you show off by displaying it on your desk… which…
doesn’t really work.
On one side, you have HDMI out, and on the other side you have HDMI in, 3.5mm audio in,
and USB type C 3.0 - which is a new step up to make the hardware more capable.
You have inputs going in and out both sides of the HD60 S, which would make having it
visible on your desk very inconvenient and impractical.
But hey, design isn’t super important, how does it work?
Pretty well!
The faster USB type C 3.0 bus - which again, requires a USB 3.0 port on your computer and
a modern Intel PC - allows the software to display the video signal with almost zero
latency.
This is huge for streaming, and a big improvement from the first HD60 and the normal Game Capture
HD.
You get a full, uncompressed signal sent to your computer with no input latency - which
can record to a very high-quality file at up to 40 megabits per second in their software,
or completely uncompressed in third-party apps.
Compared to the HD60 Pro, the big thing you’re losing is the “Master Stream.”
If you didn’t know, the HD60 Pro - which is a more expensive PCIe desktop card - allows
you to save both a stream-quality copy of your live stream and a “master copy” at
the full quality and bitrate.
The HD60 S doesn’t have that capability, but for the price it’s still a great value.
Overall, the HD60 S is a great little capture card.
As long as you have a high-end PC, I’d recommend this over the original HD60 any day.
Especially for streamers - trying to configure the HD60 in OBS is a nightmare, but the HD60
S and Pro work flawlessly for it, plus Elgato’s own Game Capture software with the Stream
Command functionality works almost just like OBS for streaming.
They even let you download themed overlays for webcams and donation tickers, that sort
of thing.
The Elgato Game Capture HD60 S will cost you about $180, and I definitely recommend it
to content creators who can throw some money at it.
Links will be in the description below, as always.
Smash the like button if you enjoyed my review, make sure to subscribe for more awesome tech
content, and I’ll see you next time.
My name’s been Adam or EposVox, and huge thanks to Elgato Gaming for continuing to
support the channel via review units.
Sometimes companies that have such avid gaming communities around them think they’re too
important to send out review units, I appreciate that Elgato is not one of them.
See ya.