Razer's updated capture card streams in 1080p while you game in 4K
You won't have to give up high-quality visuals to broadcast your games.
It's been a while since Razer updated its capture card for livestreamers, but the company is finally ready to update its line and compete with heavyweights like Elgato. Its external Ripsaw HD looks familiar on the outside and still pumps out an uncompressed 1080p, 60FPS feed for your live game streams, but it now includes a 4K 60FPS passthrough so that you can still play at a much higher resolution. It'll be helpful for gamers with fast PCs, of course, but it should be particularly important for PS4 Pro and Xbox One X streamers who don't want to lose the benefits of their console.
The new card is as uncomplicated as ever on the outside, with HDMI and 3.5mm jacks providing your audiovisual input and output and a USB connection to the destination PC.
You can expect the Ripsaw HD to go on sale April 11th for $159 (€170) through Razer's website, and later in the second quarter everywhere else. Whether or not it's a bargain depends on what you're looking for. It fares well against the Elgato HD60 S, at least. Although you can buy Elgato's device for less if you play your cards right, it limits the HDMI passthrough to 1080p. The main issue, from a cursory glance, is simply that Razer's hardware can't capture in 4K like Elgato's 4K60 Pro can. That isn't a big issue right now when it's currently rare to see any live stream above 1080p, but it's worth noting if you want to record "let's play" videos at the highest resolution possible.
