GPU Render Crashes (& Hangs): Possible Workaround

Shinra Bansho wrote on 5/6/2016, 11:41 PM
Hi All,

I would like to report to the forum about a possible workaround for render crashes (& hangs).

I recently purchased a used Radeon HD6870 in hopes of better timeline performance as well as faster rendering (was using nVidia GTX650Ti with GPU turned off). Long story short, the GPU did boost the timeline performance but failed to render, in any format I choose, always ending up with crashes (or hangs) on my projects. Strangely, though, I was able to render the Sony Red car bench-mark files without issues, even with the GPU enabled. I searched the net looking for solutions over the past few weeks but in vain. Finally, the solution (workaround?) I found for my situation was to let Vegas Pro simply "pre-render" project files before render, i.e. importing the project files (=nest) on a new project file before hitting Render.

Surprisingly, Vegas Pro now can stably generate the file of my preference, whether MainConcept MPEG2, Sony AVC, Sony MXF/XDCAM MXF or XAVC with the GPU turned on. (I am fully aware, purely for rendering purpose, that GPU only works with Sony AVC/MC AVC encoders.) What a relief.

My system spec is as follows:

MB: Shuttle SZ77R5
CPU: i7 3770s
RAM: 32GB (A-Data Technology DDR3)
GPU: PowerColor Radeon HD6870 1GB GDDR5
SSD: Intel 240GB (SSDSC2CW240A3)
HDD: SeaGate 3TB
OS: Windows 8.1 Pro

And, all the video files I work on are 4K (UHD) MP4's from AX100, GH4 and WX970M. (I am not a pro but multicam shoot stage events for my friends.) Without knowing exactly what's going on technologically, I now think that my Vegas Pro cannot effectively handle the intricate & massive dataflow among video files, plug-ins, effects, CPU, GPU, HDD, etc., and pre-rendering somehow could smooth out the dataflow in more manageable way Vegas Pro handles. So, for those of you having similar rendering issues with GPU, this nesting method might be worth a try before giving up on your Vegas Pro/GPU combo. It won't take additional time or money, only an extra step. Oh, I almost forgot... I note that I needed to increase Dynamic RAM Preview on Preference tab (currently set to 1024MB) from the original 200MB. Otherwise, Vegas Pro failed to even load my projects at the time of importing the project files.

SB

PC 1: ASUS ROG Strix B-760i Gaming Wifi, 64GB RAM (DDR5), i5 14600K, 2TB M2.SSD, ASUS RTX-4070 (12GB), Windows 11 Pro Version 24H2

PC 2: ASUS Prime H570-PLUS MB, 32GB RAM, i7-10700K, 1TB SSD (M.2), 8TB HD, NVidia RTX3080 10GB, Windows 11 Home 24H2

Gears: Panasonic GH4/GH5, Sony FDR-AX100/A7C/A74/FX30

Comments

OldSmoke wrote on 5/7/2016, 7:36 AM
I am glad the workaround works for you. To be honest, the HD6870 isn't the best choice for your system. A GTX580 would have been a better one or a HD 7970 or 280X. The AMD cards from that 6870 generation were not as powerful as the GTX580, been there done that.

Proud owner of Sony Vegas Pro 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13 and now Magix VP15&16.

System Spec.:
Motherboard: ASUS X299 Prime-A

Ram: G.Skill 4x8GB DDR4 2666 XMP

CPU: i7-9800x @ 4.6GHz (custom water cooling system)
GPU: 1x AMD Vega Pro Frontier Edition (water cooled)
Hard drives: System Samsung 970Pro NVME, AV-Projects 1TB (4x Intel P7600 512GB VROC), 4x 2.5" Hotswap bays, 1x 3.5" Hotswap Bay, 1x LG BluRay Burner

PSU: Corsair 1200W
Monitor: 2x Dell Ultrasharp U2713HM (2560x1440)

Shinra Bansho wrote on 5/7/2016, 8:09 AM
Hi OldSmoke,

Thank you for your comment. Yes, I was aware that the old Fermi cards would have been a better choice. However, my PC is a small form factor with a limited power supply (500W) therefore such power-hungry GPUs as GTX580 or 280X would not probably be a good companion. As mentioned earlier, I was using nVidia's GTX 650Ti, with GPU disabled due to rendering issues, and was having a terrible timeline/rendering performance, so am still happy with the performance this HD6870 provides. When I have a chance to build a new PC in the near future, though, I would stick in a better GPU as suggested.

Thanks again for your valuable comment.

PC 1: ASUS ROG Strix B-760i Gaming Wifi, 64GB RAM (DDR5), i5 14600K, 2TB M2.SSD, ASUS RTX-4070 (12GB), Windows 11 Pro Version 24H2

PC 2: ASUS Prime H570-PLUS MB, 32GB RAM, i7-10700K, 1TB SSD (M.2), 8TB HD, NVidia RTX3080 10GB, Windows 11 Home 24H2

Gears: Panasonic GH4/GH5, Sony FDR-AX100/A7C/A74/FX30