Shadowplay vs. recording program
Shadowplay vs. recording program
It really varies, depends on what you're aiming for. Just recording gameplay with no edits works well—shadowplay looks great. The image quality is solid, though editing does impact it a bit. FRAPS is decent but might need hardware tweaks to avoid frame drops. You can capture your mic separately for better audio balance during editing. Shadowplay is free, while the others aren't, and the trial versions aren't very satisfying.
I've tried FRAPS, Dxtory, and Shadowplay. I really liked Dxtory over FRAPS—it performed better on my PC and offered more choices for video and audio. You can also stream with Dxtory. FRAPS is solid if you're just beginning to record, but the files are extremely large. That said, I no longer use either program. I switched to an Avermedia Live Gamer HD capture card, which delivers smooth performance, 1080p quality, and smaller file sizes without any loss in performance.