I bought the 1342 MHz version of this card based on very distant past experience with Sapphire cards. Right now, Newegg is spamming me with a 1306 MHz version for $235 ($220 if you are into messing with rebates). Though my experience is about 24 hours with the card in an older system, aesthetically it is a nice unit and the installation was a no-brainer.

My i7-6850 and Intel 750 Seiries SSD arrived in the last hour but I'll likely be encouraged not to mess with it for the next couple of weeks.

Hi John,

I just bought a new pc. I also got the 512G Samsung 850 Pro SSD... As part of the satisfaction warranty, I have 14 days to change hardware to satisfy my needs at no extra cost to me. I had no experience with VP as I just started using it about 8 weeks ago. I thought the Nvidia 1080p was the latest and greatest so selected that in the custom design, and that card was also recommended by a pc tech friend of mine too. My friend and I were not aware of the the incompatibilities of that card with VP. I paid $700.00 for the Nvidia card so I can select anything up to that price and they will install at no extra cost to me. Anything less than $700.00 and they will rebate that amount back to me... Just have to make a decision quickly because only have 4 days left to make the change and would like to get the best, most compatible and fastest card available.

Of all the RX 480 cards, I picked the Sapphire. It's hard to beat at $250. Long term, I don't know yet.

i7-5960K, AMD HD 6970, 32 GB RAM.

Render time: GPU on (off)

XDCAM: 0:18 min (1:18 min)

MC: 1:09 min (1:57 min)

🏅🏅🏅😜

VP13 & 14 times were the same to within a second or two.

I started this thread because I was having issues with VP crashing when trying to render. Started with VP about 8 weeks ago so still a newbee... I read all the comments and links and realized that part if not all of my issue was of my own doing... I was not aware that I should render in the native format... and realized a number of other things I was doing that might have caused some of these issues too. Since I started using / implementing the info I've learned here I have not had an issue with VP. Decided this morning that I would do another test with the red car sample and review the results.

XDCAM Test / Criteria was HQ 1920x1080 60i 35Mbps VBR> Render Quality (Best) Resample "Disabled"

XDCAM on = 26 sec's / XDCAM off = 3.21 min's (Both rendered at 194MB's)

MC Test / Criteria was 1920x1080 29.970 fps> Default Settings

MC on = 2:00 min's / MC off = 3.05 min's (Rendered at 107MB's and 108MB's)

I guess what surprises me is both my render tests (This one and the one I performed yesterday) seem to have equal or better results... So, does this mean that the Nvidia 1080p is an acceptable card with VP? I understand that the red car test uses several different effects and understand that this does not test performance with all effects stripped away for bare bone testing... Just like to hear everyone's opinion of this.

Thanks

[Opinion]

The most meaningful test for humans would be to choose three of your most diverse projects and...

1) Ensure that the preview quality is good enough to complete your work.

2) Ensure that the preview frame rate is at the project frame rate.

3) The render completes within your actuarial life expectancy or the project due date, whichever comes first.

I've never done a project even slightly similar to the "Red Car" project. I've used effects similar to John Rofrano's test project for a few seconds a few times. At the end of the day, we are limited by market forces, market economics and our own economics more than anything else.

But,

these synthetic tests inform differences in hardware capabilities and configuration techniques and give some of us techies something to do instead of solving some of the real problems in the world.

[/Opinion]

" So, does this mean that the Nvidia 1080p is an acceptable card with VP?"

[Fact]

The nvidia 1080 cost more than twice as much as the RX 480 but did not run any of the benchmarks twice as fast as the RX 480 with Vegas Pro.

[/Fact]

You would probably get more overall satisfaction using the ~$400 difference between the video cards to buy an i7-6900K instead of an i7-6850K.

I updated the John Rofrano post with the results of the Sapphire Nitro RX 480 8GB card. While render times improved from my original scores and timeline performance is good for Full HD, the whole process is underwhelming for the Canon XC15 4K media (16-20 fps on Draft Auto with CPUs only working at half of capacity). I expect to be underwhelmed with the i7-6850 upgrade, also.

Hi John_Dennis ... I see you've confirmed that the rx 480 maxes out the J.R. test for playback at 29.97 fps.

Can you confirm that the rx 480 maxes out the Red Car test for playback at 29.97 fps in all "sections" of the project also?

If its true then there's definitely a need for a tougher test project file for the newer cards.

My i7-3770k and RX 480 runs at 29.97 fps in all sections of the Red Car project.

My overclocked i7-5960X and HD 6970 maxes out the J.R. test and flicked momentarily (a split second) 6 times during the first play of the Red Car at Preview (Full).

If someone formulates a tougher test, it would probably now be best at UHD resolution rather than just adding to the red car project at HD resolution.

I thought I posted this yesterday but can't find it now... Mike, is there any way you could do some comparative tests of both cards with your system builder before making your final decision? Get the Red Car project loaded up and maybe some other tough tests with your real world footage and try both the GTX1080 and RX480. Shouldn't take too long and your system builder would learn from it too. And we'd all love to know!

Sure... They already told me they would test the new card after installing... Can't think of a better way to test it than to do side by side comparisons with identical material. I already have the red car sample on my desktop so will use it and will also test a few hard rendering templates too and will post results for everyone. Will take a few days for the card to arrive if they have to order so may be a few days before I have results.

My i7-3770k and RX 480 runs at 29.97 fps in all sections of the Red Car project.

 

Thanks John-Dennis and Nick. So definitely need for a new test project, maybe Magix can come up with one? They could throw in some of their Magix marketing blurb, no one would mind, I dare say. I'd do it myself but wouldn't know where to start.

An improved version of J.R's would be good as it had a small footprint, sizewise.

Card is ordered and should be here Wednesday... Just want to verify this is the right one so posted an image too.

That's the brand. There are three diffferent clock speeds. Not sure how much difference a few MHz would make though.

Well... you were right about one thing for sure. This card was 1/3 the cost of the Nvidia. Not sure about the clock speeds either... Hope that won't be an issue.

Thanks for all the great info guys! I'm new here so bare with me... built a PC a couple months ago for video editing and Vegas in mind *without knowing about gpu .. lots of cores 32 @ 2.6ghz and lots of ram 64 , with that i bought the gtx 1060 mini .. Mainly I know pro res is not the best with Vegas, but a lot of stuff we film on ursa mini is shot in pro res and pro res UHD :( ..rendering is not an issue with my system, its pretty fast with all the cores..but it seems Vegas struggles with 4k pro res playback, or any other 4k files , get about 5-8 frames ..HD pro res is not an issue , all this with GPU acceleration on... now my question is with regards to vegas 14 , what settings provide best playback performance, since i have lots of ram would there be a setting to make it run smoother while editing, and mainly would me going to a RX480 help with getting smoother playback in UHD files compared to what im getting with the gtx 1060 mini now .I appreciate any input

To add, the same files pro res 4k files on the same system , when played back in resolve 12.5 play smooth without any skipped frames

...now my question is with regards to vegas 14 , what settings provide best playback performance...

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/faq-how-can-i-make-my-video-preview-play-smoothly-in-vegas-pro--104624/

...now my question is with regards to vegas 14 , what settings provide best playback performance...

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/faq-how-can-i-make-my-video-preview-play-smoothly-in-vegas-pro--104624/

Thanks for that! I will use those tip..Nick do you see me switching gpu to rx480 from gtx 1060mini helping with playback part also?

Thanks for that! I will use those tip..Nick do you see me switching gpu to rx480 from gtx 1060mini helping with playback part also?

Probably

The proposition was put forward that we need an updated "Red Car Project" that includes 4K media. I plan to get to the 4K version, but, at this point, I'm testing the RX480 on my current platform (i7-3770k with 16 GB RAM) and have created my own "Red Car Project" using 1920x1080-59.94 Progressive media from the Canon XC15. Many people are shooting 1080-60P media so I thought I would create the benchmarks while I have the card installed in this system. I replaced the media in the Media Pool of the Sony Press Release Project with three clips that I shot of my own red card. I disabled resample for each occurrence of the media on the timeline.

Project Properties

Mediainfo Report

Complete name                            : E:\Cameras\Canon XC15\20161118114512\CONTENTS\CLIPS001\A001C022_16111894_CANON_01.MXF
Format...........................................: MXF
Format version...............................: 1.3
Format profile.................................: OP-1a
Format settings...............................: Closed / Complete
File size...........................................: 314 MiB
Duration...........................................: 59 s 59 ms
Overall bit rate..................................: 44.7 Mb/s
Encoded date....................................: 2016-11-18 08:17:32.000
Writing application.............................: CANON XC15 1.00

Video
ID.......................................................: 2
Format................................................: AVC
Format/Info.........................................: Advanced Video Codec
Format profile.....................................: High 4:2:2@L4.2
Format settings, CABAC..................... : No
Format settings, ReFrames..................: 2 frames
Format settings, GOP...........................: M=3, N=12
Format settings, wrapping mode...........: Frame
Codec ID................................................: 0D01030102106001-0401020201316001
Duration..................................................: 59 s 59 ms
Bit rate                                 : 43.1 Mb/s
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate                               : 59.940 (60000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:2
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.347
Stream size                              : 304 MiB (97%)
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709

Audio #1
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings, Endianness              : Little
Format settings, wrapping mode           : Frame (AES)
Codec ID                                 : 0D01030102060300
Duration                                 : 59 s 59 ms
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 768 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 1 channel
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 59.940 FPS (800.8 spf)
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Stream size                              : 5.41 MiB (2%)

Audio #2
ID                                       : 4
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings, Endianness              : Little
Format settings, wrapping mode           : Frame (AES)
Codec ID                                 : 0D01030102060300
Duration                                 : 59 s 59 ms
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 768 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 1 channel
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 59.940 FPS (800.8 spf)
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Stream size                              : 5.41 MiB (2%)

Other #1
ID                                       : 1-Material
Type                                     : Time code
Format                                   : MXF TC
Time code of first frame                 : 00:06:58;48
Time code settings                       : Material Package
Time code, striped                       : Yes

Other #2
ID                                       : 1-Source
Type                                     : Time code
Format                                   : MXF TC
Time code of first frame                 : 00:06:58;48
Time code settings                       : Source Package
Time code, striped                       : Yes

Other #3
Type                                     : Time code
Format                                   : SMPTE TC
Muxing mode                              : SDTI
Time code of first frame                 : 00:06:58;48

Results

The Preview was mostly at 59.940 fps except briefly at transitions between media clips. I saw dips as low as 47 fps for very short periods.

..............................Render Time: CPU Only (GPU On)

..........................................XDCAM:   01:34 (MM:SS)

Sony AVC/MVC Internet 1080-30P:   01:57 (01:49) MM:SS

..................................................MC:   02:40 (02:40) MM:SS 

On to 4K. I used some 305 Mbps 3840x2160 UHD files from the Canon XC15 to replace the media in the "Red Car Project". Rendered output was the same as previous tests.

Project Properties

3840 x2160-29.97 Progressive

Mediainfo Report

Complete name                            : E:\Cameras\Canon XC15\20161121115823\CONTENTS\CLIPS001\A002C017_1611201N_CANON.MXF
Format                                   : MXF
Format version                           : 1.3
Format profile                           : OP-1a
Format settings                          : Closed / Complete
File size                                : 292 MiB
Duration                                 : 8 s 242 ms
Overall bit rate                         : 297 Mb/s
Encoded date                             : 2016-11-20 16:39:11.000
Writing application                      : CANON XC15 1.00

Video
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High 4:2:2 Intra@L5.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : No
Format settings, GOP                     : N=1
Format settings, wrapping mode           : Frame
Codec ID                                 : 0D01030102106001-0401020201323001
Duration                                 : 8 s 242 ms
Bit rate                                 : 296 Mb/s
Width                                    : 3 840 pixels
Height                                   : 2 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate                               : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:2
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 1.190
Stream size                              : 291 MiB (99%)
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709

Audio #1
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings, Endianness              : Little
Format settings, wrapping mode           : Frame (AES)
Codec ID                                 : 0D01030102060300
Duration                                 : 8 s 242 ms
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 768 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 1 channel
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 29.970 FPS (1601.6 spf)
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Stream size                              : 773 KiB (0%)

Audio #2
ID                                       : 4
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings, Endianness              : Little
Format settings, wrapping mode           : Frame (AES)
Codec ID                                 : 0D01030102060300
Duration                                 : 8 s 242 ms
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 768 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 1 channel
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 29.970 FPS (1601.6 spf)
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Stream size                              : 773 KiB (0%)

Other #1
ID                                       : 1-Material
Type                                     : Time code
Format                                   : MXF TC
Time code of first frame                 : 00:15:07;14
Time code settings                       : Material Package
Time code, striped                       : Yes

Other #2
ID                                       : 1-Source
Type                                     : Time code
Format                                   : MXF TC
Time code of first frame                 : 00:15:07;14
Time code settings                       : Source Package
Time code, striped                       : Yes

Other #3
Type                                     : Time code
Format                                   : SMPTE TC
Muxing mode                              : SDTI
Time code of first frame                 : 00:15:07;14

Results

The Preview Frames Per Second by Section:

1)  16-17 fps

2)   9-16 fps

3)   8-12 fps

4)   6-9 fps

5)   8-12 fps

6)   7- fps

7   15-16 fps

..............................Render Time: CPU Only (GPU On)

..........................................XDCAM:   02:10             (MM:SS)

Sony AVC/MVC Internet 1080-30P:   02:31 (02:25) MM:SS

..................................................MC:   03:20 (03:20) MM:SS 

Conclusion

The i7-3770k and RX480 combination is not ready for 4K.