The AVerMedia Live Gamer ULTRA 2.1 Capture Card, Model GC553G2

Capture And Stream With AVerMedia HDMI 2.1

Game At 3440 x 1440p 120Hz While Streaming At 3840 x 2160 60Hz

Streaming is very popular, but can be daunting if you want to do it right.  It’s not quite as simple as pushing a button on your PC to stream your gaming to your friends, unless you have the right hardware.  The AVerMedia HDMI 2.1 capture card is an example of what you need to be able to make your stream look good.  It can capture 4k video and audio from your game, as well as audio from your microphone so your audience can actually hear you.

You will need to find software such as OBS to handle the actual capturing of your gameplay, the AVerMedia HDMI 2.1 is a USB-C passthrough device, which sits between your monitor and GPU.  It handles all the hardware task but the software and streaming service are all up to you.  If you are a fan of RECentral, you should be aware that AVerMedia is still working on getting that software to work with this capture card, but OBS works perfectly.

Setting Up Is A Breeze

The AVerMedia Live Gamer ULTRA 2.1 arrives in a small, well packed box which contains everything you need.  A USB-C cable for power and data, two HDMI 2.1 cables to ensure a solid signal, as well as a 4-pole 3.5mm audio cable.   It is as simple as plugging one HDMI cable between the Live Gamer ULTRA 2.1 and your GPU, another between your monitor and the capture card and finally connecting the USB-C cable.  You should really use a 10Gbps port for this to be able to get perfect captures, if your motherboard doesn’t have one the add-in cards are reasonably priced.

The use of USB-C means you don’t need to pop your case open to install a PCIe card, and ensures the heat it generates is outside your case.  The simplicity of setup means you can easily move it between PCs, the software is small and handles different resolutions with ease. 

The Live Gamer ULTRA 2.1 In Action

As OBS is well supported, not just by the card but also by the many users of the software who have already figured out most of the tricks you might need to get up and running.  The capture card works flawlessly, you don’t even know it’s there once you’ve configured it.   There is nothing to it, your streaming and capturing software does all the work.  At one point I let the card capture over an hour of footage and not once did it stutter or show signs of overheating.

The audio capture from my microphone was every bit as easy to handle.  No additional plugs required, it captured it over HDMI and while I could be a bit more aggressive with the audio levels in OBS, you can certainly hear everything cleanly.  The card doesn’t add any delay to your gaming, and can easily show 1440p at 140Hz while capturing it at 60Hz.  It also had no troubles dealing with the 3440 x 1440 Monoprice display, after a quick firmware upgrade to the Live Gamer ULTRA 2.1.

If You Love To Stream, This Is A Great Way To Up Your Game

There are numerous ways to share your gaming experiences, from internal cards to the software which comes with your GPU and each has their pluses and minuses.  AVerMedia’s decision to go with USB gives you the best of both worlds.  You get better quality than if you simply use your GPU and the fact that it is external means you aren’t adding heat to your system.  It also makes it far easier to capture video which is not coming from your PC, as you don’t have to find obnoxiously long HDMI cables and fuss around with the back of your system to get everything plugged in.

If you have the budget, $299 is a fair price to be able to produce quality streaming content, and it really doesn’t take up much space on your desk.  The ability to handle such a wide range of resolutions without interfering with your experience of the game is a huge plus as well.  I’d also like to give AVerMedia praise for how they shipped the Live Gamer ULTRA 2.1!  The box is only large enough to securely fit the package and they used just enough padding to keep everything safe.  A far cry from some of the packaging you see nowadays.