The best capture cards can take your stream to the next level. If you want your stream to show smoothly, have the best frame rates, and the best quality overall, then having one of the best capture cards is a nailed-on necessity. Whatever level of streaming you are doing or striving for - light play with some friends, all the way to those aspiring megastars - one of the best capture cards is the device that will absolutely enable your stream to, well, happen or not happen. SImple; but which one is the right one for you?

Well, you need to begin your search by aiming for a card or device that is capable of streaming at the highest resolution for the lowest price, thus offering you the most bang for your buck. This sounds obvious but the bang to buck ratio can change the decision as to what the best fit for you and your gear might actually be. Secondly, and this is particularly pertinent for newcomers to streaming, is that you'll want to look at user-friendliness. There's little attraction to a card that offers good quality but requires an MSc to use it properly and comfortably. What you want is to aim for a card that will offer as close to a simple plug-and-play approach, straight out of the box, as is possible. Naturally, you want to get to playing, streaming, and capturing as quickly as and smoothly as you can so a card that can support this is clearly going to be a winner. Alongside this, you'll also need your desired quality. Of course, you'll want this to be 'as high as possible' but that'll have a knock-on impact on price.

Elsewhere, don't forget to beef up your on-stream setup with those flashy peripherals that can add some real pizzazz to your presentation such as the best gaming keyboards and a pointer from our best gaming mouse list. And also remember that, regardless of which card you choose, you'll absolutely want to aim for one of the best gaming PCs to run it if you aren't focusing purely on console capture.

The best capture cards for 2020

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The Toblerone-shaped AVerMedia Live Gamer Portable 2 Plus is quite frankly ludicrously lovely to capture with. Easy doesn't cover it as you flick between PC and micro SD settings and there's no missing the giant flashing lights to make sure that you're capturing or have left HDCP on (again). The quality is exceptional with crisp 60fps arriving straight onto your PC or Micro SD card.

The latter is essential instead of a USB stick for speedy transfer as this is the only no PC required capturing device on the list that has the capability to work with 60fps. It's definitely worth the extra investment if you don't always want your PC running when capturing and if you are streaming, the included RECentral is intuitive for overlaying text and tweaking your picture in picture set up. An overall exceptional piece of kit with a small form factor but an impressive swathe of handy features.

Rec Central, AVerMedia's proprietary player is intuitive and exceptionally easy to use and you can even record PS4 party chat without having to add an extra cable like the Elgato. Overall a brilliant offering for both streaming and capturing.

Best for... Easy capture and streaming at 1080p 60fps with no budget constraints. Plus you can keep playing in 4K while you stream.

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Elgato is one of the biggest, best-known names in capture, and for good reason: their devices are relatively cheap, easy to use, and function incredibly well. Here's our breakdown of all the Elgato game capture deals, covering all devices in the range. The Game Capture HD60S is easy to set up, simply plugging in between your PS4/Xbox One and the TV. It also does all of the work for you, with the software cycling through resolution options until it finds a signal (although you can also set it up and tweak options manually should you have any problems getting a signal on your TV). Another great bonus is that you don't need the software running to use it: as long as it can draw power it'll send a signal to your screen so theres no need to unplug it when you don't want to capture.

The capture software that comes with it is clear and easy to use, with a few basic, useful options to fiddle with the audio and streaming set ups. Theres an audio in on the unit itself if you want to add audio directly to your stream, and a range of streaming screen sets up for in-set cameras and so on. The only area in which it disappoints is its rudimentary editing package that's only really good for trimming.

Best for... High quality capture in a small package, and it's so easy to use.

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Chances are, you're not going to find a true 4K capture card for as low of a price as the Razer Ripsaw HD, a capture card that does 4K passthrough while streaming games in 1080p. Whether you have a PS4 Pro, an Xbox One X, or you plan on buying the inevitable 4K Nintendo Switch refresh upon its release, the Razer Ripsaw HD just might scratch that high-res streaming itch. Not only that, but this capture card eliminates the hurdle of software-based audio mixing. You can mix audio, "hassle free," using the hardwired mic and headphone jacks.

Unfortunately, the Razer Ripsaw HD biggest feat comes with an equally major caveat. It doesn't have its own software. To stream in 1080p as advertised, you'll have to either shell out for an XSplit premium membership or rely on the less intuitive – but free and open source – Open Broadcasting Software. On top of that, unlike the original Razer Ripsaw, this one doesn't support older consoles without a small collection of adapters.

Best for: Anyone who values resolution and ease of use.

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AverMedia Live Gamer Portable A PC-free marvel Resolution: 1080p | Frame rate: 30fps | Interface: USB 2.0 | Works with: SD card alone or plugged into PC or Mac $169.99 View at Newegg $245.06 View at Amazon 948 Amazon customer reviews ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ PC free great recording Works with PS4, PS3, Xbox One, PC and Mac No 60fps here

Perfect for recording a quick burst of capture when you spot something cool, AverMedia’s slim, lightweight, and portable capture box slots into consoles like a dream. With no need for a PC, the LGP is powered by the PS4, Xbox One or even PS3. It’s quick to set up and beyond easy to use. Simply plug it in between your console and TV, turn off HDCP, and press the giant red button in the centre. It’ll pulse a soothing red if your capture is working, or alternately flash blue and red to helpfully let you know if HDCP hasn’t been switched off. All your footage is recorded to a standard SD card in MP4.

Prefer to record to your laptop instead? No problem. The Live Gamer Portable (LGP) works with that too. Spitting out your videos in 30fps but at 1080p resolution, it might not look as razor-sharp on the screen as 60fps but you really can’t beat the LGP’s portability. Weighing just 117g and the size of an iPhone, if you’re looking for something to take with you on the go then the LGP should be your first port of call. Even able to record and stream gameplay at the same time, along with adding commentary on the top with no problem at all, it makes livestreaming a sinch.

Best for... Streaming and no-fuss instant capture

Ready for a 4K capture device?

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If you’re serious about capturing gameplay at the highest resolution and frame rates possible then this is the card you need. As the only internal capture card on our list it does mean that you’ll need pretty some high end hardware (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 10 series and a Intel Core i7 CPU or better) to use it but the results are well worth it. We did find that we had to update our graphics card drivers to get the card working correctly but once configured this card will allow you to capture 4K footage at 60fps at up to 140Mbps.

Normally that would mean you’d also need a lot of HDD space but the simple to use software also encodes the capture while it’s recording it to save you space. The only slight niggle with it (and it really is slight) is that, although the software is pretty good at keeping up with you, the optimum way to play while using this card is make use of the lag free HDMI pass-through and send the feed to a second monitor or 4K screen. But if you’re considering this card you probably have all of that already.

Best for… Professional level 4K game capture

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With the arrival of the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X 4Kconsole gaming is very much here but most of the capture cards can’t go above 1080p. The AV.io offers up to 4k capture at 30fps which, while fine for PS4 Pro, may cause you problems on the Xbox One X if your games are running at a higher frame rate. However if you’re looking for an external 4K capture solution for Sony’s new machine this is a dream. It’s also tiny so will easily fit into your bag or even your pocket if you’re on the move. There’s no software to install and it’s easy to set up on whatever video application you have on your machine like Skype, WireCast or OBS (which we’d recommend).

It’s even (almost) lag free, even at 4K, meaning you can play and capture on your machine using just the supplied cables. The only downside then is the price it is not cheap at over $500 / £400 so you just have to decide if all those extra pixels are worth it.

Best for… Capturing 4K footage while on the go

If you are curious about the more technical aspects of this hobby, take a look at our hardware glossary to demystify some of the more complex jargon.