@robinv00 

Looks strange to me on such a powerfull machine.
It cannot be Vegas 17 Pro b 452 because I use it on my laptop from signature with a 1920x1080 50p Multitrack project with 11 videotracks.
This is my power use during editing and playing that mulitcam track

To me it looks something on your settings might be wrong, but you did tell none of them.
My first suggestion is to do a full reset of the program and than load the needed drivers for your CPU and GPU and after that try again.

Probably has something to do with the codec for those video screen captures, or however you creating the Zoom performance video files. Try stacking other videos to see. BTW, I think you only get significantly better playback (fps) when you go to the 2080 ti level. (Actually, the 2080 Super is decent) I have the 2060 myself. Graphic Card Shootout, Vegas 17



Why don't you install an older Version of Vegas, just for trouble shoot on the codec idea.

You also may have a bad CPU or need to fix something in the MB BIOS.(I'm forgetting that you are a hardware guy, but that's what it sounds like to me, hardware or codec, also, swap out the video card to test that)

Yeah, VEGAS can't cause a BSOD on its own, as far as I've been able to tell, that is usually indicative of a deeper problem in the system, especially if you've triggered it outside of VEGAS before. Maybe a bad connection between CPU and heat sink? See if you can monitor CPU temps when it does this.

Also check your audio drivers. Wrong or old ones can produce a BSOD, in my experience.

@robinv00 Check out the memory.

First things first.

1. Restart computer, get into your UEFI, and set it to "Default Settings".

2. Are you on the latest BIOS for your motherboard?

3. The "Overheating" and BSOD if anything other than stock running Prime95, is BAD! Something is not right in your system. And has been mentioned already, Vegas Pro will not cause a BSOD, maybe a "Screen Lock-up", so trying DaVinci Resolve with your current settings would probably result in the same issues.

4. Get the CORRECT drivers, from the Motherboard Manufacturer for your devices (DO NOT RELY ON THE WINDOWS SUPPLIED DRIVERS VIA THE WINDOWS UPDATE!!!!!!!), the current Studio Driver from nVidia for your 2080 Super (451.58), supplemental Audio Device (external or internal like a SoundBlaster card).

5. Provide the information as requested by @rraud

6. Oh, and it would be a great time to Re-Check the seating/installation of the CPU, Thermal Interface Material, and HeatSink.

7. And if you have "Read" this to this point so far, Back Up Your Files First!!!!!!!!

Yep, I was the "Hardware Guy" for Desktops, Servers, and TeleCommunications at the School District for over 12 years prior to retiring, plus another 10 years before that "assisting" while still on Active Duty before Military Retirement.

Thanks for all the input. I've spent the evening re-examining the BIOS and now it's a fiercely stable 4.8GHz having run multiple stability tests - my initial BIOS setup was evidently wrong. No blue screens since.

Vegas hasn't changed though - still maxing out the CPU managing only a handful of fps in the preview (draft mode) and then after a minute or two of playback freezes the video, audio continues - I have to force quit. If I don't let it run I can stop it, edit and start again etc without trouble other than the massive CPU spiking and low framerate making it really difficult to edit anything.

To answer questions (info dump below)
Memory - full pass on Memtest.org, Intel Burn, ADA64, OCCT, Realbench
BIOS latest - check - Asus Z390 Prime-A - Temperatures all under 80 degrees C under stress tests.
Audio - tried onboard audio and replaced Steinberg UR28m with Arturia Audiofuse with latest drivers. I thought it might be a sample rate issue but it isn't.
Is it possible to get an earlier build of 17 to try? Where?
I have uninstalled and reinstalled - is there a cleaner way to do this than just Add/Remove?

Just to note that my 6700K system runs the project no problem so it would be unlikely to be a problem with the footage.

And to add that I'm rebuilding the project in Davinci Resolve and it's running at about 38% CPU and full quality preview, no proxies etc.

Info: VP17 Build 452
Windows 10 Pro 1909 - Intel i9 9900K 32GB DDR4 M.2 System Drive, SSD and HDD Drives present - tried all of them, no change.
Footage came from various phones - all have been rendered out to 1080p MP4 using Magix AVC.
Destination - youtube/Facebook.
GFX - Nvidia RTX 2080 Super - On/Off worse with it off. Latest Studio drivers - I bought it and installed it yesterday assuming the problem was my AMD R9.
Tried with zero dynamic ram preview, 200mb, 4GB, 8GB - I've never known what this should be - never found a clear guide.

Mediainfo report on one of the videos:

General
Complete name                            : C:\Users\robin\OneDrive\Desktop\Church Song\video-h-piano.mp4
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID                                 : mp42 (isom/mp42)
File size                                : 526 MiB
Duration                                 : 6 min 1 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 12.2 Mb/s
Encoded date                             : UTC 2020-06-25 12:35:42
Tagged date                              : UTC 2020-06-25 12:35:42

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Main@L4.2
Format settings                          : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 4 frames
Format settings, GOP                     : M=1, N=15
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 6 min 1 s
Bit rate                                 : 12.0 Mb/s
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Standard                                 : Component
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.193
Stream size                              : 518 MiB (98%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2020-06-25 12:35:42
Tagged date                              : UTC 2020-06-25 12:35:42
Color range                              : Limited
Codec configuration box                  : avcC

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 6 min 1 s
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 192 kb/s
Maximum bit rate                         : 460 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 8.17 MiB (2%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2020-06-25 12:35:42
Tagged date                              : UTC 2020-06-25 12:35:42

File Properties
 

General
  Name: video-h-piano.mp4
  Folder: C:\Users\robin\OneDrive\Desktop\Church Song
  Type: AVC
  Size: 539.02 MB (551,957,403 bytes)
  Created: 25 June 2020, 13:35:42
  Modified: 25 June 2020, 13:39:54
  Accessed: 28 June 2020, 09:48:07
  Attributes: Archive

Streams
  Video: 00:06:01.862, 29.970 fps progressive, 1920x1080x32, AVC
  Audio: 00:06:01.812, 48,000 Hz, Stereo, AAC

Summary
  [TCFM]: 6

ACID information
  ACID chunk: no
  Stretch chunk: no
  Stretch list: no
  Stretch info2: no
  Beat markers: no
  Detected beats: no

Other metadata
  Regions/markers: no
  Command markers: no

Media manager
  Media tags: no

Plug-In
  Name: so4compoundplug.dll
  Folder: C:\Program Files\VEGAS\VEGAS Pro 17.0\FileIO Plug-Ins\so4compoundplug
  Format: AVC
  Version: Version 1.0 (Build 8532)
  Company: MAGIX Computer Products Intl. Co.

Enable Hardware Encoding: Tried on and off, tried with Nvidia hardware encoder and Intel QSV. Worse with it off.

Suggest you go back to the fundamentals starting with your motherboard bios and chipset drivers and update them all with the latest and greatest if you have not done that already. If there's an intel igpu on board, stick with the driver from your motherboard manufacturer, not intel or win update. Then run your p95's and tweak so they're error free for at least 12 hours. Cooling is usually the biggest limiting factor with the i9-9900 cpu unless you go liquid. Tweaking fan speed profiles can help. Ram sometimes needs to be over spec'd a notch from what's rated, especially if you go with two 16gig dimms which run hotter than four 8gig ones... I have 3600 ram but had to run it at 3400 to get p95 error free. Make sure all the ram timings are being picked up in the bios correctly. With some asus boards you need to set a motherboard jumper and tell the bios to read xmp before you're good to go. Try and use xmp2 if that's an option. If you can't get them to read in the bios correctly, set the timing parameters in manually. I expect you already know to use the slot closest to the cpu for your gpu board and to leave the next slot over empty. Also be careful how many m.2's you load via the motherboard... if you go past 2 it usually knocks the pcie lane count on your gpu down from 16 to 8. Once you get into solid p95 shape, any further problems are unlikely to have anything to do with your cpu or memory.

Vegas 17 introduced hardware based decoding, being that you have both an Intel chip that may have quick sync, as well as the nvidia GPU , it may be that Vegas is using the wrong GPU to decode, which is resulting in your performance issues. Go into preferences, and the file IO tab. See which device, if any, is being used for hardware decoding.