Video cards and Vegas at DVinfo.net

Renton Maclachlan · April 4th, 2012, 01:01 AM

Just getting my system up to speed for some compositing and need a bit of info re video cards...

The card I have at the moment is an ATI Radeon HD 2400series video card which apparently has 256 mg of memory and drives my two monitors.

My question is:

Will getting Video card with more memory improve the performance of Vegas? Does Vegas use the video card's memory in things like compositing? Just bought Boris RED to aid me in this so how does that use memory?

Have also just boosted my RAM from 2 to 4 GB and that seems to help but haven't really tested that yet...

Mark Watson · April 4th, 2012, 02:20 AM

Don't know if that particular card is supported, but Sony says you need at least 512MB.

Vegas Pro 11 GPU acceleration

Mark

Seth Bloombaum · April 4th, 2012, 11:20 AM

GPU acceleration may be worth considering...

But, I think there are some other concerns to address first:
CPU - the latest mid-range and hi-end i7 processors cut through video like nothing that came before.
RAM - gotta' have a 64-bit OS to address the 12+ GB of RAM you want.
OS - Windows 7 is a really good 64-bit OS.

What CPU and OS are you running? To my mind, these should be addressed first. I'm running several boxes - the difference between running Vegas 10-32 XP-32 on a Core2 Duo with 2GB RAM and Vegas 11-64 on W7-64 with yesterday's mid-range i7-920 with 12GB is night and day!

That's not (yet) including GPU acceleration. One of these days... But... I'll consider a new GPU when I do my next upgrade to whatever the mid-range i7 is at that point. Till then, I'll save my money.

If you are running on a 32-bit OS, the upgrade to 4GB will help, yes, allowing Vegas-32 to address the full 2GB of RAM that it natively can, and still have RAM left over for the OS and other apps without going to page file memory, in which RAM contents are (slowly) cached to the drive.

Renton Maclachlan · April 4th, 2012, 01:45 PM

Thanks guys...

Seth: I'm not ready for a new machine...though it would be nice to have the 'difference between night and day'. I'm just trying to get the best out of what I have...

I'm running 32 bit Win Home, and Vegs 11 32 bit. I have an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU - E6850 3.00 GHz processor...and now 4gb RAM

It seems the only place I can get any more is in the video card...thought I would get one to be able to carry over to a new machine at some point...1 gb memory...

Trouble is there are zillions of cards to choose from...and I only have a 500watt power supply. I also need to be able to run two monitors. (Actually I don't even know what the monitor outlets I have are called...they are the older style connections.)

Any suggestions on a video card would be welcome.

Seth Bloombaum · April 4th, 2012, 02:39 PM

Search for "the memory hack" for Vegas Pro, if you're comfortable backing up and modifying registry settings. I think this was addressed both on this site and on the Sony forums.

It allows Vegas-32 to access 3GB of RAM. I did it because I was getting the dreaded black frames with whatever codec I was editing then. It helped quite a bit with that problem.

The "old-style" you may be referring to is a d-sub HD15 (high density 15 pins with a d-shaped shell). This is used for analog VGA connection, and is usually just called "VGA", as opposed to DVI or Display Adaptor.

Many cards come with 1 VGA out, and 1 DVI, plus a DVI to VGA adaptor. Latest generation are more and more DVI, some with included VGA adaptors.

Aside from getting on to two monitors, it may not be worthwhile getting a higher-end card capable of GPU accel with Vegas. You might still be processor-bound. I'm not sure about this.

However... if you buy Cineform, for example, it will improve on many camera codecs' ability to hold up in compositing, decrease processor load and thus enable better previewing, and, be transferrable to some new PC you buy in the future. This may be a better use of cash today than going to a high-end GPU.

Do your renders overnight and over lunch...

Renton Maclachlan · April 4th, 2012, 03:00 PM

I've seen people mention CineForm but have no idea what it does or why...or how it fits with other programs like Vegas etc...

Jeff Harper · April 4th, 2012, 03:15 PM

The GTX 570 is the card to buy, IMO, but on an older machine how much will it help? Cineform files most definitely handle well on the timeline, much better than raw video, but the pre-processing can take forever on an older processor. It's a tough call.

While you're not ready for a new machine, that's the place I'd start also, but otherwise I'd don't know if I'd want to invest in a $300 card that might or might not help much. Good luck Renton.

Seth Bloombaum · April 4th, 2012, 05:43 PM

Cineform is:

A (really) great Digital Intermediate codec. AKA, a DI or Editing codec (as opposed to a Camera or Distribution codec).

Depending on the product version, CF is also a batch processor for transcoding to the codec, perhaps deinterlacing along the way.

There are other DI codecs. Recent Vegas includes the excellent Sony MXF, for example.

Workflow is a little different with a DI codec; early in the process you transcode (takes time, as Jeff pointed out), then it's off to the races.

Renton Maclachlan · April 4th, 2012, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Harper

The GTX 570 is the card to buy, IMO, but on an older machine how much will it help? ... but otherwise I'd don't know if I'd want to invest in a $300 card that might or might not help much. Good luck Renton.

The GTX 570 seems to be around $550>$600 here: What about a 560? Here's a LeadTek one which seems to be in the right ball park...

Leadtek GeForce GTX 560 Video Card, 1024MB : Ascent Technology 402419

Jeff Harper · April 5th, 2012, 07:43 AM

The 570 has about a 100 more bitstream processors than the 560 (480 vs 380) and it's the bitstream processors that make the difference in Vegas. The cost difference here in the states is $100 or at Newegg. so I would most definitely stick with the 570, but that's just me.

Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Newegg.com - EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Renton Maclachlan · April 5th, 2012, 01:45 PM

Thanks Jeff

Problem is I only have a 500w power supply and the 560 requirement is under that and the 570 is over it...

...and the price doubles here in NZ...

Jeff Harper · April 5th, 2012, 03:19 PM

My card is the 460, which has only 50 bitstream processors less than the 560, and while the GPU is something, it is not worth buying a video card for, to me. The improvement is just too minimal. You could always try it and see what happens.

If you have an older processor the improvement might be more dramatic than someone with a faster newer processor would get. You never know.

Try Ebay also:

Gigabyte Nvidia Geforce GTX570 1GB DDR5 HDMI Video Card | eBay

Renton Maclachlan · April 5th, 2012, 03:41 PM

Hmmm...needs 600w PSU. Maybe I need a new PSU also...somewhat limits the options...:-(

Jeff Harper · April 5th, 2012, 04:17 PM

Sorry, forgot about your PSU, oops.

Renton Maclachlan · April 5th, 2012, 05:42 PM

No trouble. Thanks so much for your hel. It has narrowed down the options re what I need to do...

April 4th, 2012, 01:01 AM	#1
Renton Maclachlan Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,180	Video cards and Vegas Just getting my system up to speed for some compositing and need a bit of info re video cards... The card I have at the moment is an ATI Radeon HD 2400series video card which apparently has 256 mg of memory and drives my two monitors. My question is: Will getting Video card with more memory improve the performance of Vegas? Does Vegas use the video card's memory in things like compositing? Just bought Boris RED to aid me in this so how does that use memory? Have also just boosted my RAM from 2 to 4 GB and that seems to help but haven't really tested that yet...

April 4th, 2012, 02:20 AM	#2
Mark Watson Major Player Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Whidbey Island Posts: 873	Re: Video cards and Vegas Don't know if that particular card is supported, but Sony says you need at least 512MB. Vegas Pro 11 GPU acceleration Mark

April 4th, 2012, 11:20 AM	#3
Seth Bloombaum Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,420	Re: Video cards and Vegas GPU acceleration may be worth considering... But, I think there are some other concerns to address first: CPU - the latest mid-range and hi-end i7 processors cut through video like nothing that came before. RAM - gotta' have a 64-bit OS to address the 12+ GB of RAM you want. OS - Windows 7 is a really good 64-bit OS. What CPU and OS are you running? To my mind, these should be addressed first. I'm running several boxes - the difference between running Vegas 10-32 XP-32 on a Core2 Duo with 2GB RAM and Vegas 11-64 on W7-64 with yesterday's mid-range i7-920 with 12GB is night and day! That's not (yet) including GPU acceleration. One of these days... But... I'll consider a new GPU when I do my next upgrade to whatever the mid-range i7 is at that point. Till then, I'll save my money. If you are running on a 32-bit OS, the upgrade to 4GB will help, yes, allowing Vegas-32 to address the full 2GB of RAM that it natively can, and still have RAM left over for the OS and other apps without going to page file memory, in which RAM contents are (slowly) cached to the drive. __________________ 30 years of pro media production. Vegas user since 1.0. Webcaster since 1997. Freelancer since 2000. College instructor since 2001.

April 4th, 2012, 01:45 PM	#4
Renton Maclachlan Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,180	Re: Video cards and Vegas Thanks guys... Seth: I'm not ready for a new machine...though it would be nice to have the 'difference between night and day'. I'm just trying to get the best out of what I have... I'm running 32 bit Win Home, and Vegs 11 32 bit. I have an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU - E6850 3.00 GHz processor...and now 4gb RAM It seems the only place I can get any more is in the video card...thought I would get one to be able to carry over to a new machine at some point...1 gb memory... Trouble is there are zillions of cards to choose from...and I only have a 500watt power supply. I also need to be able to run two monitors. (Actually I don't even know what the monitor outlets I have are called...they are the older style connections.) Any suggestions on a video card would be welcome.

April 4th, 2012, 02:39 PM	#5
Seth Bloombaum Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,420	Re: Video cards and Vegas Search for "the memory hack" for Vegas Pro, if you're comfortable backing up and modifying registry settings. I think this was addressed both on this site and on the Sony forums. It allows Vegas-32 to access 3GB of RAM. I did it because I was getting the dreaded black frames with whatever codec I was editing then. It helped quite a bit with that problem. The "old-style" you may be referring to is a d-sub HD15 (high density 15 pins with a d-shaped shell). This is used for analog VGA connection, and is usually just called "VGA", as opposed to DVI or Display Adaptor. Many cards come with 1 VGA out, and 1 DVI, plus a DVI to VGA adaptor. Latest generation are more and more DVI, some with included VGA adaptors. Aside from getting on to two monitors, it may not be worthwhile getting a higher-end card capable of GPU accel with Vegas. You might still be processor-bound. I'm not sure about this. However... if you buy Cineform, for example, it will improve on many camera codecs' ability to hold up in compositing, decrease processor load and thus enable better previewing, and, be transferrable to some new PC you buy in the future. This may be a better use of cash today than going to a high-end GPU. Do your renders overnight and over lunch... __________________ 30 years of pro media production. Vegas user since 1.0. Webcaster since 1997. Freelancer since 2000. College instructor since 2001.

April 4th, 2012, 03:00 PM	#6
Renton Maclachlan Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,180	Re: Video cards and Vegas I've seen people mention CineForm but have no idea what it does or why...or how it fits with other programs like Vegas etc...

April 4th, 2012, 03:15 PM	#7
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: Video cards and Vegas The GTX 570 is the card to buy, IMO, but on an older machine how much will it help? Cineform files most definitely handle well on the timeline, much better than raw video, but the pre-processing can take forever on an older processor. It's a tough call. While you're not ready for a new machine, that's the place I'd start also, but otherwise I'd don't know if I'd want to invest in a $300 card that might or might not help much. Good luck Renton.

April 4th, 2012, 05:43 PM	#8
Seth Bloombaum Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,420	Re: Video cards and Vegas Cineform is: A (really) great Digital Intermediate codec. AKA, a DI or Editing codec (as opposed to a Camera or Distribution codec). Depending on the product version, CF is also a batch processor for transcoding to the codec, perhaps deinterlacing along the way. There are other DI codecs. Recent Vegas includes the excellent Sony MXF, for example. Workflow is a little different with a DI codec; early in the process you transcode (takes time, as Jeff pointed out), then it's off to the races. __________________ 30 years of pro media production. Vegas user since 1.0. Webcaster since 1997. Freelancer since 2000. College instructor since 2001.

April 5th, 2012, 07:43 AM	#10
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: Video cards and Vegas The 570 has about a 100 more bitstream processors than the 560 (480 vs 380) and it's the bitstream processors that make the difference in Vegas. The cost difference here in the states is $100 or at Newegg. so I would most definitely stick with the 570, but that's just me. Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card Newegg.com - EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

April 5th, 2012, 01:45 PM	#11
Renton Maclachlan Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,180	Re: Video cards and Vegas Thanks Jeff Problem is I only have a 500w power supply and the 560 requirement is under that and the 570 is over it... ...and the price doubles here in NZ...

April 5th, 2012, 03:19 PM	#12
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: Video cards and Vegas My card is the 460, which has only 50 bitstream processors less than the 560, and while the GPU is something, it is not worth buying a video card for, to me. The improvement is just too minimal. You could always try it and see what happens. If you have an older processor the improvement might be more dramatic than someone with a faster newer processor would get. You never know. Try Ebay also: Gigabyte Nvidia Geforce GTX570 1GB DDR5 HDMI Video Card \| eBay

April 5th, 2012, 03:41 PM	#13
Renton Maclachlan Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,180	Re: Video cards and Vegas Hmmm...needs 600w PSU. Maybe I need a new PSU also...somewhat limits the options...:-(

April 5th, 2012, 04:17 PM	#14
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: Video cards and Vegas Sorry, forgot about your PSU, oops.

April 5th, 2012, 05:42 PM	#15
Renton Maclachlan Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,180	Re: Video cards and Vegas No trouble. Thanks so much for your hel. It has narrowed down the options re what I need to do...