I’ve been recommended to add a 4 Port SATA 3 (SATA 6Gb/s) Raid Card (0/1) Highpoint Rocket 640L Lite. I’ve kinda pigged-out and need this option.

toooo excited 😜

What kind of Raid array are you talking about? Striped or mirrored? If you want to stripe for additional speed, I'd suggest getting a setup to do an NvME raid, that will give you the fastest transfer speeds possible, though on your intel chip available PCIe lanes might become an issue (another reason I suggested AMD).

@TheRhino

Last year I was thinking about upgrading my i7-8700k CPU to an i9-9900k... However, if I would build up a new system, I would take the i9-9900k  or wait a little for the upcoming Intel CPU generation.

I typically do not upgrade the CPU/MB/RAM/GPU combo until I can get about 2X the performance from <$1500 USD in upgrades. However, it's different if your motherboard can handle the power requirements of the 9900K, you can just drop-in the 9900K without reinstalling Windows & apps, & then resell your 8700K to a gamer, etc...

My old Xeons were not fast-enough to get me through new 4K work scheduled for this summer, so I had to upgrade before the release of Zen2, otherwise I would have waited a few months to see how Vegas performs on a 16-core Zen2 3950X with higher clocks than the current Threadripper series... IMO the Zen2 3950X will have the best Vegas speeds for a <$800 USD CPU, but the 3950X won't be released until closer to the holidays...

I think I'm going to ride out my 1800x until then. The price on those new Ryzens is just too good for the performance you get. Thankfully it uses the same socket as my current CPU, so the upgrade won't be too expensive.

Nice 😉

I used one of HighPoints' cards in the past, the 2720SGL, as I was using SAS to SATA cables internally so I could go RAID 5/50/6. Wasn't worried about the RAID chip overheating as the case I had was large with plenty of air circulation, with a "side panel" fan that was actually blowing over it as well. They make good products, fairly inexpensive, and their software worked with Vista/Win7/Win10, all 64-Bit and the Pro or Enterprise Editions.

Me thinks you are planning your 4K future, sooner than later! Heh, Heh. Waiting to see "Monsta", and its results!

Last year I was thinking about upgrading my i7-8700k CPU to an i9-9900k... However, if I would build up a new system, I would take the i9-9900k  or wait a little for the upcoming Intel CPU generation.

I typically do not upgrade the CPU/MB/RAM/GPU combo until I can get about 2X the performance from <$1500 USD in upgrades. However, it's different if your motherboard can handle the power requirements of the 9900K, you can just drop-in the 9900K without reinstalling Windows & apps, & then resell your 8700K to a gamer, etc...

@TheRhino

My actual board could well handle the i9-9900k but the performace difference I get with Vegas pro is too low compared to the additional heat and noise I would get. So I installed an AMD RX570 and got a very quiet system that performs very close to an i9-9900k system. Currently I would not finde a system with 2x performance of my actual i-8700k / AMD RX570 that already renders UHDp30 HEVC (VCE) with 0.7 x time of the video.

What kind of Raid array are you talking about?

@fr0sty - None. As the Builder told me: “This will be used for expansion only and will not be put in any RAID configuration.” Does this make sense?

If you are running out of SATA ports already, maybe worth adding a few more, but if I were buying for future hard drive expansion, I'd consider a card that can hold an nvme drive or two, as their price and capacity are sure to fall/rise. Ideally, you'd want one nvme to run your system, one to hold your current project, and the rest can be SATA.

Been lurking on this from the beginning... would love to know what the final configuration ended up being and how things are running?!?😉

@SWS - Hiyah!

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/help-grazie-spend-his-dosh--115726/?page=5

MONSTA! Arrived today. I'm also excited to see the outcomes. 😉

Super!!!

Hey Grazie

How's your new Monsta rig going?

@AmazingM - Thank you for asking!

Well, I can now get to a narrative far quicker than I thought was possible. And no, I don’t just mean cutting. I mean I can do intensive MOCHA PRO19, Mercalli, TWIXTOR and many other GPU intensive stuff that I would not have even contemplated on my old Rig. I’m getting answers to my “what if I did this?” Explorations in the blink of an eye, relative to my old rig. I can then decide if I want to pursue it further or move on. This, linked to WAAG’s amazing Utility HOS, sits proudly directly UNDER my Preview screen, is making for a new experience.

Hey, what were the final specs/parts list of the Monsta?

Hi, Grazie. I just discovered this thread, and I want to say Thank you, from the bottom of my worn out old heart. Your thread is a godsend to we who find tech processes this deep way beyond us anymore. I think I'll be able to use your work and the work of all the generous Vegusians here to finally get a good box for my Vegas. I hope I'm not being presumptuous, but may I ask how much your Monsta cost, ballpark? Thanks again G.

Same here. I'm about to get my computer guy to build me a new workstation för Vegas 17.

Widetrack, I would be interested in reading about you project too.

@Widetrack - Of course you may ask! Indeed, it’s the only remaining logical request to make! Except for this. I’ll let you into a secret, I’m truly aware of the budget-naysayers who’d wish and enjoy to haul my expenditure over the flames of “Really, that much! You know you could’ve...” or “why waste your time and money on XY&Z?!” Nope, I ain’t gonna subject myself to that nor to this Forum to that type of ridicule and banter. However, I TOO had a mental budget/spreadsheet budget and running the numbers against all my caring chums here I was able to adjust and amend against what also I got was direct emailing all my Software houses and I mean ALL 😉 to get a real sense of what functionality of their Products was going to be available to me. The process was great fun and exciting. After my +19k posts I’ve made here, I can’t recall of any Forum activity with regard helping a fellow VegHead to scope his next PC, that has garnered such good will and just downright, nuts and bolts advise. I really can’t. And again, Guys and Gals, thank you.

So, @Widetrack, be happy for me. Run your own numbers against what I’d selected and in doing so you will also learn and be aware of the costing so you can always make judgments. Oh yes, my Builders also include in the “Package” a WHOLE year of telephone support for free and ongoing direct INTERNET access to my MONSTA! to assess any remedial work necessary. That combine with lifetime parts failure support. What a Company!

Widetrack, if you don't know a bunch about building PC's, there's sites out there like portatech that let you select kits that you can customize. Check this system out, if you'd like a Monsta of your own. I designed this based on specs from the benchmarks that we've been doing around here, the best performing parts in Vegas are highlighted here. The CPU isn't as important in Vegas these days, based on our benchmarks... it's the GPU that seems to make the most difference. Our fastest systems were i9 9900k's paired with GTX 2080ti's, however you can pair a I9 9900k with a Vega64, and the render times aren't much better than my (getting old) Ryzen 7 1800x/Radeon 7 system. This indicates that the graphics card is doing most of the heavy lifting, so we can afford to save a few bucks buying an AMD CPU, which also comes with the benefit of more cores and being able to perform multithreaded tasks better than the intel chips.

Edit: Portatech no longer exists apparently, there's a message on their site saying that due to the sudden unexpected death of their founder, the site is winding down operations. Bummer, I loved working with those guys and have ordered dozens of PCs from them over the years.
 

@GrazieThank you for the elegant and effusive reply. I am, indeed, happy for you, and I understand your reluctance entirely, though it is sad to hear those--doubtless correct--sentiments here. I have long felt the Vegas forum to be the most informative and genial place on the Net: the nearest to genuine civil discourse left in the virtual jungle of the Web at large. Indeed, the component lists you've created here will provide an excellent guide through the Web Wilderness, even for my abbreviated attention span. Kudos.

@Martin L My project is currently but a bulge in the trousers of my imagination. I don't yet have even a computer maven, ever since my last one saw his reason blow away in a windstorm. But with Grazie's roadmap, I'm hoping something can happen soon.

And thanks as well to all who have contributed to this outstanding conversation.

@Martin L My project is currently but a bulge in the trousers of my imagination. I don't yet have even a computer maven, ever since my last one saw his reason blow away in a windstorm. But with Grazie's roadmap, I'm hoping something can happen soon.

I see. When my PC guy gets going and things start to clear up I'll post something here about what happens. All the best!

Based on current benchmarks we've done in Vegas, your best bet is:

CPU: I9 9900k, though the AMD CPUs pull similar numbers when paired with similar GPUs and are cheaper. The AMD Ryzen 9 16 core processor coming out soon is one to watch. Cheaper and more powerful in many cases than comparable intel chips.

GPU: RTX 2080ti so far is consistently the fastest card tested.

RAM: 32GB DDR4 seems fine. I'm not noticing huge benefits to having more in Vegas. I have 64.

HDD: M.2 System drive recommended. Don't buy the cheap SATA M.2 drives, it kills the bandwidth benefits of using M.2. Get the PCI-E drive. Then get a couple really big magnetic drives (4-8TB) for video storage.

OS: Windows 10 is a must if you want to use Vegas 17 and its features that will take full advantage of your hardware.

Once you have a computer guru to help guide your build, give them those specs. They are tried and true, tested on these forums to perform well in Vegas.

Martin L: thank you for the info. I wouldn't be surprised if there were other sites that do something similar. I'm gonna check it out.

frOsty: thank you for the boiled-down data. That's the kind of simplification that I can run with! Did you spec a MOBO for all this?