GPU Screen Recorder — The Complete Guide: Linux Screen Recording Without Slowing Your Machine
GPU Screen Recorder is a Linux screen recorder that hands all the work to the graphics card: capture and encoding run on an AMD, Intel or NVIDIA GPU, so the impact on system performance is very small. It is licensed under GPL-3.0, free for any use including commercial.
GPU Screen Recorder
dec05eba
Linux screen recorder that encodes on the graphics card, with a replay buffer that saves the last few minutes.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- GPU encoding — the main processor stays free for the program you are recording.
- X11 and Wayland — works in both display environments.
- Modern codecs — H.264, HEVC and AV1, for small files at high quality.
- Replay buffer — keeps the last few minutes in memory and writes them to a file on demand, when something interesting happened.
- Streaming and a GUI — it can also stream, and graphical interfaces are available on Flathub.
Who it suits and what to check
The tool suits recording a heavy simulation, a running CFD analysis or a rotating 3D model, when every percent of CPU matters. The buffer is handy for catching a bug that shows up for a moment. Note: Linux only, variable frame rate by default (which some video editors handle poorly), and AMD or Intel machines on Wayland need administrator rights.
Related tools
For full scenes and layers — OBS Studio. For an especially simple recorder on Wayland — Kooha. For editing after recording — Kdenlive.
OBS Studio
OBS Project
Screen recording and streaming — software tutorials, model walkthroughs and recorded lectures in high quality.
Get it from the vendor
Kooha
Dave Patrick Caberto
Minimalist Linux screen recorder that works well on Wayland, with system and microphone audio and MP4 or GIF output.
Get it from the vendor
Kdenlive
KDE
A multi-track non-linear video editor — for longer training videos and project presentations, with automatic subtitles.
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vokoscreenNG
Volker Kohaupt
Simple screen recording for Windows and Linux with webcam, multiple audio sources, a magnifier and click highlighting.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
When the program you are recording already loads the machine, GPU Screen Recorder is the way to record on Linux without paying for it in performance.