Thanks Nick... Yeah transposed the two numbers when posting... My bad...

Nick - I'm on the AMD website and don't see 15.7.1 driver version - here's the page I'm referring to: http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/embedded/previous?os=Windows

I have a Radeon 6790 2GB card sitting in a drawer and was wondering if It will work well with VP13/14.

Are you sure you mean the HD 6790 and not the HD 6970? According to this there was only a 1GB variant. I use an HD 6970 2GB with driver 15.7.1 and it works well with Vegas. In the "Red Car" benchmark it speeds XDCAM render from 160 secs to 26 secs (which gives a good measure of timeline acceleration). It also supports MainConcept AVC rendering and speeds the render from 120 secs to 30 secs. In actuality I usually have GPU acceleration turned off as I don't use many FX etc. and my CPU (i7-5960X) is powerful enough to do most of what I want. Anyway I think even the HD 6790 would probably work better with Vegas than the GTX-660ti.

In addition, given my Olympus mirrorless cameras shoot in mp4 and I believe that relies on calling Quicktime to allow Vegas to see them correctly - is that correct? Would rewrapping the native files to something like MXF be an option?

Vegas should handle your Olympus MP4 files well natively, without Quicktime. Even my Olympus TG4 MOV files get decoded in Vegas without Quicktime.

Having said that - and seeing my specs - what would be the best bang for the buck graphics card for a more current AMD card? All I've ever known is nvidia and PPro compatibility. I'm debating whether to upgrade to VP14 as well and not sure if it's worth it or not.

I know I've inquired about this in the past and the landscape for software/hardware has changed quite a bit and I"m left confused on which way to go. Resolve is looking tempting given the huge price drop but the hardware specs are pretty large and not a fan of node based color correcting/grading but maybe that just entails a proper graphics card - I honestly don't know... Vegas is so easy to use and if I can fix the timeline play back issues I'm current'y experiencing, It would really help me out ion the long run with future projects.

Nick - I'm on the AMD website and don't see 15.7.1 driver version - here's the page I'm referring to: http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/embedded/previous?os=Windows

Here's the Windows 10 x64 driver page for the HD 6970:

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop/legacy?product=legacy3&os=Windows%2010%20-%2064

Found via: http://support.amd.com/en-us/download

I haven't tried the Crimson Beta. The Catalyst 15.7.1 has been really solid for me.

Having said that - and seeing my specs - what would be the best bang for the buck graphics card for a more current AMD card?

An RX 480 or RX 470 are currently favored. 4GB enough for Vegas. 8GB if you want to do Resolve too. Lower specs like RX 460 might be decent enough, I don't know. Beware of the new RX 5X0 cards for now. Or if the budget's tight you could look on eBay for a used R9 R9 FuryX/390X/390/290X/290. But try your HD 6970. You might be pleasantly surprised and it might be adequate for your needs. Don't miss the basics in getting smooth playback. It's not all about GPU, especially if you're not a heavy FX/compositing user.

Nick - I'm on the AMD website and don't see 15.7.1 driver version - here's the page I'm referring to: http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/embedded/previous?os=Windows

Here's the Windows 10 x64 driver page for the HD 6970:

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop/legacy?product=legacy3&os=Windows%2010%20-%2064

Found via: http://support.amd.com/en-us/download

I haven't tried the Crimson Beta. The Catalyst 15.7.1 has been really solid for me.

Having said that - and seeing my specs - what would be the best bang for the buck graphics card for a more current AMD card?

An RX 480 or RX 470 are currently favored. 4GB enough for Vegas. 8GB if you want to do Resolve too. Lower specs like RX 460 might be decent enough, I don't know. Beware of the new RX 5X0 cards for now. Or if the budget's tight you could look on eBay for a used R9 R9 FuryX/390X/390/290X/290. But try your HD 6970. You might be pleasantly surprised and it might be adequate for your needs. Don't miss the basics in getting smooth playback. It's not all about GPU, especially if you're not a heavy FX/compositing user.

Seems the AMD cards are in pretty short supply used on eBay... Trying to find the best compromise to match the video card with my hardware for as balanced a system as possible - I think where I'm struggling to better understand Vegas is how powerful a card I need - both now and to future proof when I do make the transition to 4K - PPro is pretty solid but who knows how much longer it's going to work and given Adobe pushes hard on CC, and the recent update from them saying my apps are not legit, I'm tired of the 800lb Gorilla's undue influence. Resolve may be in my future so I"m struggling to find the best option to go with regarding the best software/hardware plat form to go with. OldSMoke has eluded to the x58 platform still as relevant today even though it's considered old tech. I'm torn on what to do TBH. I've always been a closet Vegas supporter, but it hasn't treated me very well in the past and PPro has been for the most part pretty solid. But I always feel like I'm having to jump through more post production hoops than I should have to. Given I'm only editing 1080p footage for the time being, should the 2GB 6970 improve my editing experience with Vegas Pro 13 or should I just get a newer card like the RX4870/480? I'm also debating whether to upgrade to VP14 or wait for Magix to release VP15 with hopefully a darker interface, revamped code, etc.

Then there's the Crimson software - What's the difference?

ARGH! 😤

Given I'm only editing 1080p footage for the time being, should the 2GB 6970 improve my editing experience with Vegas Pro 13

It should make your timeline play more smoothly, and more so than your GTX-660ti. But you might not need GPU acceleration on at all with 1080p. I don't even use GPU acceleration with 4k, even though I have the HD 6970 installed, but I do have a fast CPU and don't use much FX and compositing in my editing. Having GPU acceleration on never makes Vegas more stable (as far as I know), but an HD 6970 with 15.7.1 is probably about as compatible as it gets until (if) the Vegas GPU code gets updated.

or should I just get a newer card like the RX4870/480?

Might be better saving for CPU etc. upgrades instead. I would try the HD 6970 first in your current rig and see if you can play your timeline smoothly before buying anything.

Then there's the Crimson software - What's the difference?

No idea really, and I've never felt the need to install it, especially as the version for the HD 6970 is still labelled "beta".

Given I'm only editing 1080p footage for the time being, should the 2GB 6970 improve my editing experience with Vegas Pro 13

It should make your timeline play more smoothly, and more so than your GTX-660ti. But you might not need GPU acceleration on at all with 1080p. I don't even use GPU acceleration with 4k, even though I have the HD 6970 installed, but I do have a fast CPU and don't use much FX and compositing in my editing. Having GPU acceleration on never makes Vegas more stable (as far as I know), but an HD 6970 with 15.7.1 is probably about as compatible as it gets until (if) the Vegas GPU code gets updated.

or should I just get a newer card like the RX4870/480?

Might be better saving for CPU etc. upgrades instead. I would try the HD 6970 first in your current rig and see if you can play your timeline smoothly before buying anything.

Then there's the Crimson software - What's the difference?

No idea really, and I've never felt the need to install it, especially as the version for the HD 6970 is still labelled "beta".

My #1 concern is getting smooth timeline playback with settings better than preview draft which is what I end up having most of the time. I also shoot with the Phantom 3 Standard drone at 2.7K and that footage barely gets 8 fps above preview draft mode, something I don't contend with in Premiere Pro CS6 but again, the 800lb Gorilla exerting undue influence on their software. I produce a fair number of audio slideshows as well for my multimedia storytelling work and Vegas is ALOT easier to work with producing those. I'm so use to working with more than one timeline in a project and having to relearn how Vegas only handles one timeline will take some getting use to. I just want to get my work done as quickly, efficiently and with high a quality as possible. Premiere Pro is beginning to get in my way in my experience but it's all I've really ever known for the past few years...

I don't do compositing, utilize simple lower thirds and simple title graphics.. keeping it minimalist in my work while letting the subject tell their story. I do use Warp stabilizer in PPro and Neat video Denoiser so the transition to Vegas with Mercalli and Neat Video is all I'm really needing, hence also my asking about upgrading to Vegas Pro 14 as it comes with it.

My DJI OSMO 4k 30p and my GoPro 2.7k 60p etc. play back smoothly at full frame rate in Best (Full) in VP12/13/14 with GPU acceleration off, and even with a Color Curves FX applied. But I usually preview at Preview (Half) or (Full) which reduces the load and looks more or less the same on my 1920x1080 monitor. Full system specs in my profile. I guess the key is the CPU, which was top of the range when I bought it, but nearly 3 years old now.

If you're only getting 8fps in draft mode with no FX then you need to upgrade hardware, in particular CPU. Or you need to edit with proxies. This is assuming you've already followed the smooth playback suggestions, as mentioned above.

Nick - All I can say is the Radeon 6970 is worse in timeline playback than my nVidia GTX-660ti - I did the complete driver removal listed here on the forums, installed the Catalyst drivers you recommended... What a disappointment for me... I'm about ready to just throw in the towel on getting Vegas to ever work for me. Any other suggestions?

Nick - All I can say is the Radeon 6970 is worse in timeline playback than my nVidia GTX-660ti - I did the complete driver removal listed here on the forums, installed the Catalyst drivers you recommended... What a disappointment for me... I'm about ready to just throw in the towel on getting Vegas to ever work for me. Any other suggestions?

Nothing that's not already been said (i.e. Get more powerful CPU or use proxies).

Sorry the HD 6970 didn't help. What driver are you using with your GTX-660ti?

As I've said before, you're a natural born Mac guy, so if you dump Vegas then look in that direction.

Nick - All I can say is the Radeon 6970 is worse in timeline playback than my nVidia GTX-660ti - I did the complete driver removal listed here on the forums, installed the Catalyst drivers you recommended... What a disappointment for me... I'm about ready to just throw in the towel on getting Vegas to ever work for me. Any other suggestions?

Nothing that's not already been said (i.e. Get more powerful CPU or use proxies).

Sorry the HD 6970 didn't help. What driver are you using with your GTX-660ti?

As I've said before, you're a natural born Mac guy, so if you dump Vegas then look in that direction.

Actually, not a MAC guy Nick - TBH, really don't like the UI, workflow, etc. Been on Windows since Win 3.11 for Workgroups ;-)

I'm currently using the latest driver from nVidia on my desktop computer (specs in my profile) - I followed all the steps for improving performance except proxies. I'm waiting for my Corsair H80 CPU water cooler to arrive tomorrow and will begin seeing if overclocking my hexcore CPU closer to 4ghz (currently stable at 3.51ghz air cooled temp between 33C & 41C) will improve the experience since it seems nothing else is working regarding GPU acceleration for timeline playback with either graphics card.

Can you think of anything else to try?

"Can you think of anything else to try?"

Your processor is 7 years old. That's an eternity in computing. Buy a more current system and move on with your life.

Before I retired, I worked in a data center where on any Friday you could go pull a system with newer Xeon processors than yours off the e-waste pallets.

The tests I ran in this thread were run on a server that I pulled off one of those very pallets.