Thanks very much. I am curious, how do you know this? Are you a programmer for Vegas? I am puzzled what a graphics card does if it doesn't do graphics like rendering and converting from one video format to another. Is the graphics card simply for displaying to the screen? I was under the impression that the GPU makes all kinds of graphics activities faster.

Do you know if the AVS Video Converter application uses the GPU or CPU?

Thank you for any help you can provide,

Brent

Kelly knows this because he has been using Vegas since the earth's crust cooled; besides, it's a frequently discussed topic - search the forums using the term GPU and you should pick up most of the discussions.

From Vegas and VMS's perspective, the graphics card is simply for displaying to the screen - nothing more. That being said, you don't necessarily want to purchase the cheapest card you can find since there are some considerations when using the card simply to display, but neither do you want to find the most expensive card you can find thinking that it's going to improve things like rendering performance. I usually look for a card that can handle a double or triple head, since editing with multiple screens can be very handy.

The programs that generally take the most advantage of the GPU capabilities of a graphics card are games. Some other editing programs (such as Premier) may also be able to take advantage of the GPU for specific cards - for example, some Matrox cards pair well with Premier (assuming you can get Premier to run reliably) when used in very specific environments.

--Scott

Sorry to push back on your answers, it's just that I've been told so many different things, I want to be sure I get the right answer. It sounds like I've found it now.

Thank you!

Brent

If the answer you were looking for was "it depends" then you've found it. The reason you've been hearing different things is because 1) some editing programs may be able to to use the GPU for some functions (adobe premier is an example - there may be others). 2) Lots of people don't understand the difference. 3) Salespeople will sometimes tell you anything to make a sale - if they can sell you a more expensive machine because it has a more expensive graphics card and will make everything (everything in this case being games, which is after all, the only reason anyone would buy a computer) run faster and thereby get a larger commission....

It's always good to question; As I mentioned, use the search function on these forums to search for "GPU" and you'll find lots of discussion.

--Scott

Yes, it depends but it sounds like if one were to give an answer that would be correct most of the time, then the answer would be no, video cards won't make much of a difference when rendering or converting video, unless you use one of the few programs that make use of the GPU. Fair statement?

Very fair statement indeed.

Also, you probably hear a lot of people talking about the GPU being used for "rendering" in relation to 3D modeling or video games. The process of creating the 3D image in these cases is called rendering. Most people who deal in video cards are probably thinking in this sense rather than rendering a 2D video file. So, unless you're dealing with a salesman or tech support person specifically working in the video field, don't expect their answers to apply.