Do I need a capture card for PC streaming?

No. OBS Studio captures your screen directly on the same PC. Capture cards are only needed for streaming console gameplay (PlayStation, Switch, Xbox) through your PC.

Can I stream and game on the same PC?

Yes, with the right hardware. NVENC encoding on RTX 4060+ GPUs handles streaming with virtually no gaming performance impact. This is why our picks all use NVIDIA GPUs.

Best Gaming PCs for Streaming 2026