Should you use OBS Studio’s 32-bit or 64-bit version?
Does one perform better than the other?
Why is there even both?
This sounds like a super technical question, but thankfully the answer is actually quite
simple.
Let’s take a look.
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I’m EposVox, here to make tech easier and more fun, and welcome back to my OBS Studio
tutorial course.
I have many, many more videos on the software in the playlist linked in the description.
Check that before asking questions, and check the introduction video to learn how this course
works, if you get confused.
This question really only applies to Windows.
Windows comes in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions - though any modern computer from the last
5 years or so is running 64-bit only at this point.
These terms, 32-bit and 64-bit, refer to the way the computer’s processor, or CPU, handles
information.
64-bit systems handle large amounts of operating memory more efficiently than 32-bit.
As such, 32-bit installations are limited to only using about 4 gigabytes of RAM, even
if more is installed in the system, whereas 64-bit installations can use hundreds of gigabytes,
or terabytes even, of RAM, depending on your operating system version.
For more information, I’ll refer you to a TechQuickie video on the subject.
For compatibility sake, OBS Studio’s installer will install both the 32-bit version and 64-bit
version of the software on a 64-bit Windows system.
Most users will never notice a difference, or even notice which version they’re running.
For much of the standard functionality, either version will work about the same, and there
should be performance issues between the two.
The only time you should worry about which version you’re using is if you’re running
into specific compatibility issues with certain plugins or drivers.
For example, some AVerMedia capture cards install a 32-bit driver by default and won’t
work with 64-bit OBS Studio.
You have to manually hunt down and install their 64-bit driver for your specific capture
card or switch to the 32-bit version of OBS.
Elgato’s Stream Deck plugin for OBS requires the 64-bit version of OBS outright.
Used to, some of the core plugins like Browser Source that people used wouldn’t work in
64-bit, but as they get added to the core OBS installation, they tend to work fine with
both versions.
Generally speaking, unless you have a specific issue you’re trying to troubleshoot - you
should run 64-bit versions of programs, when available, on 64-bit computers and installations.
Just a good rule to run with unless you have a reason to choose otherwise.
Now, the installer may not give you shortcuts for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of OBS.
It seems it sometimes just gives you a general “OBS Studio” shortcut and that’s it.
In that case, you can navigate to “C:\Program Files (x86)\obs-studio\bin” and then choose
either the “32-bit” or “64-bit” folder.
Then, respective to which folder you chose and version you’re looking for, click on
“obs32.exe” or “obs64.exe” and right click, make a shortcut, and pin that to your
taskbar, copy to your desktop, and so on.
These shortcuts should also already be in your Windows Start Menu, but not always.
Like I said, this seemed like it’d be a super technical question to answer, but hopefully
I made it easy/clear enough to understand - especially since for most people it truly
won’t matter.
And again, to learn more about differences between 32-bit and 64-bit systems on the whole,
check out the TechQuickie video!
I hope this episode of my OBS Studio tutorial course has been helpful for you.
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Until next time, I’m EposVox, Happy Streaming!
Thanks for watching this episode of my OBS Studio tutorial course.
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