Hardware encoders for newer codecs tend to be simply less bit-efficient. They can be more limited in features. My desktop's GPU can handle quite a few 1080p H

Hardware encoders for newer codecs tend to be simply less bit-efficient. They can be more limited in features. My desktop's GPU can handle quite a few 1080p H.264 streams in parallel. But it can't do average-bitrate-capped CRF, which I think is the preferred type of encoding for streaming services.