Elgato's latest capture card, the HD60 X, aims to make streaming and recording a little more comfortable for gamers with the latest decent gaming monitors. 4K pass-through options make this device a great choice for gamers with high pixel count screens. a little more to offer. But it is also quite handy when using G-Sync or FreeSync technology. So let's go over the basics of this $200 (open in new tab)/£190 (open in new tab) option: with the HD60 X, you're essentially looking at three primary capture resolutions: 4K 30fps, 1440p 60fps, and 1080p 60fps. And in pass-through resolution, it can run 4K at 60fps and 1440p at 120fps, and supports variable refresh rate technologies (VRR) such as G-Sync and FreeSync, as well as HDR (Windows only).

Thus, while the HD60 X can theoretically take full advantage of a 4K-capable gaming PC, there are some limitations to be aware of.

Capture uses chroma subsampling, which is a compression method intended to keep within the available bandwidth. For those who may not be aware, it is a method of compressing the color information in the signal, ideally with minimal impact on the overall image. It varies from frame to frame. Uncompressed data (without chroma subsampling) is listed as 4:4:4, so if you are running a fully uncompressed signal, you will receive all information as intended. [The HD60 X offers 4:2:0 by default to save bandwidth; Corsair says 4:2:2 is also available in non-default codecs and will run at 60fps at 1080p and 30fps at 1440p, but expect it right out of the box Don't expect it right out of the box.

Even chroma subsampling looks decent. The thing to remember here is that if you intend to use the content online, etc. (which is most likely the case), video compression will eat up a lot of the quality anyway.

However, the HD60 X's pass-through feature can be performed in 4:4:4, or uncompressed. So while some information may be lost during recording, there is no need to suffer from low quality during recording. The theory is that: on my monitor, a Gigabyte M28U, I had problems running at 4K and 60 fps after installing HD60 X.

I found that my 4K screen was running at 1080p and 60fps on the Elgato HD60 X instead. After fiddling with devices, monitors, and replacing cables (and even PCs), I asked Elgato (or rather its owner, Corsair) for help, and after a while it turned out to be a firmware issue. It seems to be related to the Extended Display Identification Data (EDID) and the 1080p downscaler used when the monitor is deemed not to be 4K capable by the device. While this seems to be a closely related issue to my monitor model, I would like to outline the problem as others with the same equipment may also experience it. I have not seen anyone else reporting this problem with other models of monitors.

Corsair recommends changing the pixel format (in my case, within the Radeon graphics driver) to YCbCr 4:2:2 (i.e. with some subsampling), which fixes this problem for the time being. However, they are working on a proper fix "as soon as possible."

Another problem I encountered was when I tried to capture at 30 fps in 4K; according to Elgato, the 4K/30 fps capture mode is primarily for webcams and not really suitable for actually capturing high-resolution recordings from a PC. For more information on input and capture resolutions, see here (opens in new tab). It was not as simple as I had hoped.

The HD60 X is a 1080p rather than 4K capture card. It is easy to use, at least as a pure 1080p capture card. The 1080p captures produced are always crisp, VRR support is a plus, and there is no delay in pass-through. In addition, when used in conjunction with the stream link feature of OBS and Elgato's 4K capture utility, a single device can do both streaming and recording. This eliminates the need to capture games while streaming.

However, as a pure 1080p card, we do not see a significant improvement over the HD60 S+ or similar current units.

Above: 1080p60 gameplay of "Destiny 2" captured with the Elgato HD60 X.

For 4K capture cards, more capable options are also available: Elgato's own 4K capture cards, the 4K60 Pro and 4K60 S +, may be available at a lower cost.

However, only a few of these 4K cards are standalone units, and most are PCIe add-ins when you get down to near the price of the HD60 X: not only do you have to save space in your PC, but you also run streams and recordings from a nearby laptop would also lose the ability to stream and record from a nearby laptop. You would also lose the option to easily travel with the capture card, which I honestly can't imagine is very important to many people.

After all, PCIe add-in capture cards tend to get more bang for the buck in 4K and come with many advantages in other ways to make up for the lack of portability. before purchasing an external unit like the HD60 X, consider the flexibility of how streaming setups should be considered.

If you are enthusiastic about the idea of an external capture card, Elgato offers the HD60 S+ package with a few extras for roughly the same MSRP as the HD60 X. The HD60 S+ is a great option for those who want to add a bit of flexibility to their streaming setup. Still, it's probably not enough of an immediate upgrade for HD60 S+ users.

At the very least, it is an easier recommendation for gamers who are buying a capture card for the first time or for users with much older devices; if you have a choice between the HD60 X and the HD60 S+ and the prices are nearly identical, you may want to choose the former. However, the significant discount on the HD60 S+ is tempting.

As a user of the original Elgato Game Capture HD and the HD60 S, I admit that I don't find the HD60X a groundbreaking new product. We have yet to find an external capture card that makes capturing gameplay so easy. That said, now that I've used the HD60 X, there are some things I wouldn't be without it: the ability to record 1080p at 60fps faithfully, yes, but even more so the low latency pass-through, VRR, and HDR support. Thanks to these, I no longer have to sacrifice my own gaming experience to record for others.