The AverMedia GC553Pro might be the most affordable and reliable piece of kit I've found for recording high quality content. It's just a shame you have to use the clunky AverMedia software to do it.
4k60 or 1080p240 passthrough and recording
Needs app for full settings
ESportsBeat's got your back
Our experienced team dedicates many hours to every review, to really get to the heart of what matters most to you. Find out more about how we evaluate games and hardware.
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Capturing gaming content has never been easier or more affordable than it is today. You can walk into an electronics store, pick up basically any capture card off the shelf, and walk away with a functioning solution. Better yet, do some research and get a great solution for an affordable price.
AverMedia is one of the bigger players in the capture card space who are always angling towards more bang for buck, and the Live Gamer Ultra S (or GC553Pro) might be some of the best bucks I’ve… banged?
Straight out of the box, the GC553Pro is a unit with cyber chic in mind. It's a relatively small and slim rectangle box, with ports and vents seemingly everywhere. So much so, you can see through to the PCB inside, which appears to take up only a small fraction of the actual unit. When purchasing you can choose between a black or white model.
It's not a tonne of options but it's more than most, and the simple colourways should match most gamer's kits quite nicely.
Regardless of colour, the faceplate features angled cut outs giving glimpses to a vibrant red underlay with the AverMedia logo proudly displayed and an easy to read LED indicator. Then you have the HDMI 2.0 ports input and output on one side of the box, while the USB Type-C port sits on the other. It's a simple setup, but these three ports are what make the GC553Pro a proper piece of kit, which is really good value for $150 USD.
Having HDMI 2.0 ports for both input and passthrough means this card can take full advantage of the technology. Many capture cards will have you lose out on things like 4K at 60 fps or rob you of your HDR experience, but the GC553Pro lets you have it all for both recordings and passthrough. It also supports VRR so you don't wind up with tears in your gaming experience.