Review of capture card supporting VRR and HDR, ideal for PS5 and Xbox Elgato HD60 X

link between elgato and capture cards are now out of date. The Corsair-owned brand, along with AverMedia, is among the most trusted device manufacturers for PC and console capture. Elgato HD60X falls under this category of device.

This is a small but significant improvement over the HD60 S+, where it takes a lot of features but reduces limitations on framerate and less common resolutions. It also adds support for VRR, which is already on Xbox Series X and recently arrived on PS5. In short, it presents itself as an excellent external capture card for next-gen consoles.

But will these additional features be enough to take a market share among other capture cards primarily designed for Full HD resolution? Let’s find out in ours Elgato HD60 X review.

Technicial Specifications

As we said, the new Elgato HD60 X capture card is an evolution of the popular HD60 S+, which solves some critical issues also highlighted in our review. supports up to solution HDR and VRR pass through to 4K at 60 FPS, and HDR recording up to 30 FPS at 4K and 60 FPS at 1080p. Without HDR, we can finally reach 120 FPS at 1080p (or even 240 in transition) while the 30 frame limit remains at 4K.

However, that’s not the only update on supported resolutions: the HD60 X allows HDR switching even at 60 FPS to 1440p resolution (with 120 FPS without HDR you can get to 1440p). Of course, recording in Quad HD is always limited to 60 FPS without HDR, but at least on the output we don’t have to change our graphics settings like on the HD60 S+. Once again, there is no internal memory for game recording directly from the card without the help of a PC.

Elgato Game Capture HD60 X datasheet

• Maximum passthrough resolution: 2160p 60 FPS, 1440p 120 FPS, 1080p 240 FPS, VRR, HDR (up to 4K 60 FPS)
• Recording resolution: 2160p 30 FPS, 1440p 60 FPS, 1080p 60 FPS, 1080p 30 FPS, 1080i, 720p 60 FPS, 576p, 480p; 10-bit HDR (up to 1080p 60 FPS on Windows only)
• Doors: USB-C 3.1 Gen 1, HDMI 2.0 (in), HDMI 2.0 (out)
• Compatibility: Windows, Mac
• Dimensions: 112 x 72 x 18mm
• Weight: 91 g
• Price: € 199.99

Design

This design The Elgato Game Capture HD60 X breaks with the past of the Corsair brand. The acquisition card essentially abandons the traditional form factor that sees the HD series’ input and output ports are positioned oppositely on the two short sides; This time the HDMI input and USB-C port are on the long side, same as the HDMI output. On the other side is the normal analog audio input, which we can define as the “front” part, and a small status LED. The short edges close the parallelepiped with sharp and narrow angles, giving the card a distinct aesthetic that doesn’t look bad when placed on a flat table.

Compared to the previous Elgato HD60, the dimensions are similar, and also the hardware is standard: in addition to the purchase card, in the package (completely free of plastic, good Corsair) we find a USB 3.0 cable from Type C to Type A 180 cm and a 150 cm HDMI 2.0 cable. In general, the solution is visually pleasing: the volume used is almost the same as an HD60 S +, but the weight is slightly less and the light effect is less striking. More defining lines bring a pinch of innovation to our station.

user experience

The user experience of the Elgato HD60 X is comparable in all respects to the HD 60S+. Installation is simple and no special software is required: connect the USB cable to the PC and the HDMI cable to the video source and that’s it. The only prerequisite is an internet connection to obtain the drivers via the Elgato 4K Capture Utility software. At this point, we can choose the source inside the programs we usually use, whether it’s OBS, Streamlabs, Streamyard, or the Elgato 4K Capture Utility itself (always keep in mind the limits within each software: Streamyard, for example, capture at resolutions higher than 1080p).

compatibility

A little note about compatibility: The Elgato HD60 X works in both the Windows ecosystem (Windows 10 64-bit or higher) and the Mac ecosystem (macOS 10.13 High Sierra or higher), but HDR recording is only available on Windows. We don’t know if and when an update is coming to introduce HDR capture support on Mac.

But in Windows 11, we were able to render all supported resolutions seamlessly with different devices: we played games on Xbox Series X and PS5 and captured 4K images at 30 FPS from our Panasonic Lumix GH5 DSLR. As mentioned earlier in the paragraph about the specs, the Elgato card does not handle Ultra HD recording at 60 FPS, but in terms of supported resolutions, the forward steps are welcomed and the quality is confirmed to be optimal. It is always recommended to connect an external monitor to avoid compromising your gaming sessions, as the HD60 X allows throughput of almost any resolution and frame rate, even with VRR enabled. Also, since the input lag in the purchase window is still visible and can jeopardize the experience in the most exciting games.

Elgato 4K Capture Utility

Finally, two words about the Elgato 4K Capture Utility, Corsair’s core software for recording. It’s not mandatory to use, but if you don’t want to install extra programs, here’s everything you need to start recording: options to adjust bitrate, resolution and frame rate; preview with the screen of the saved game (with minimal delay, but still detectable); and support for the Flashback Recording option, which allows you to “go back” and perhaps recover the early stages of an unplanned game action by caching part of the movie even when not recording. Compatibility with Stream Deck and all related functions are discounted.