Wait for the next upgrade of Vegas Pro 21.

@Wolfgang S

Thank you for your input (I hadn’t read it before).

I'm now picking up where I left off and am considering purchasing all the parts over the next two months.

Has the upgrade to Vegas Pro 21 been released, and does it now support an Intel iGPU for HEVC 10-bit 4:2:0/4:2:2?

I have updated the PC components compared to the original list, and I’m curious about your thoughts:

CPU.

Original: Component: Intel Core i9-14900K.

Updated: Component: Intel Core Ultra 9 285K.

Motherboard.

ASUS ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi II.

Memory.

Corsair DDR5 Vengeance RGB 2x32GB 6000MHz (64GB total).

Graphics Card.

Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING OC 16G.

Power Supply (PSU).

Original: Component: Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 850W.

Updated: Component: Corsair HX1200i 1200W 80 PLUS Platinum Fully Modular.

Case.

Fractal Design Define 7 ATX Mid Tower Case.

CPU Cooler.

be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4.

Thermal Paste.

Noctua NT-H1.

Storage.

Samsung 980 Pro 1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe M.2 SSD (for Windows and editing software only)

Footage is saved on external drives.

VMP

Call me crusty and old fashioned, but I will never overclock a rendering computer. Nunca.

I've got my fingers crossed for this off-the-shelf model this holiday season, since my modest i5 croaked.

https://www.microcenter.com/product/678547/powerspec-b943-desktop-computer.

Not only has Vegas Pro 21 been updated since March, but Vegas Pro 22 was released 3 months ago - https://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/us/?_ga=1.199726702.19700657.1468557583

There is a trial version of Vegas Pro 22 so that you can evaluate it for yourself on your system - the trial version is linked at the bottom of the above product webpage.

The weakest link may be:

Footage is saved on external drives

... particularly if the external drives are not SSD and the connections to the computer are less than USB-C or SATA.

@VMP VEGAS has supported QSV with Intel iGPUs for HEVC 10-bit 4:2:0/4:2:2 for years. Whether the performance is acceptable depends on your media and I'd suggest the trial of 22.

Personally I'd move some of the money from the CPU to the GPU for better performance but it's up to you.

The components should show a high performance with Vegas. While the CPU upgrade is nice to have, the GPU will become even more important in the future. Not sure if the 1200W is necessary, or if 1000W would be enough.

Thank you all for the thoughtful feedback!
 

@mark-y w: Thanks I won’t be overclocking the system.

@Dexcon: I appreciate the info on Vegas Pro 22 and the trial version—it’s a great way to test it out! Indeed, my external drives are USB 3; I’ll consider upgrading to SSDs with SATA connections for better performance. Thanks for pointing that out!

@RogerS: Thanks for confirming the Intel iGPU support for HEVC in VEGAS; that’s reassuring! I’ll try the Vegas Pro 22 trial to see how it performs with my media. I’ll also consider moving some of the budget from the CPU to a stronger GPU, as you suggested. Could you recommend a specific GPU model that would be a good fit for my needs?

@Wolfgang S: Thanks for weighing in on the component choices! It’s good to know the CPU upgrade will work well, but I’ll also look at the GPU for future needs. I’ll also re-evaluate the power supply, as a 1000W might be more than enough.

Thanks again, everyone! I really appreciate all the insights.

VMP

@VMP There is no best but you can get an idea of relative performance looking at the benchmarks in my signature.

My conclusion when I built my desktop was that Intel i5 and equivalent was enough cores (and lets you cut money on cooling and the power supply) which you can then save or use on the GPU. If you had the money for it I think a RTX 4070 or 4080 (consider used as well) would perform very well in VEGAS for years to come. My laptop is a 4060 and while fine is slower than my RTX 2080 desktop. If the 40XX line still costs too much and you don't want to just use the iGPU and wait a few months until the 50XX are released and push prices down, a used 3080 may have good price/performance value vs a 4060. It's probably what I would get if I were building a new computer today with my limited budget.

@VMP

Just for your information. If you plan to purchase the "New" Core Ultra processor, you will have to get a Z890 board. The pin socket changed with this architecture update.

Additionally, you may want to Re-visit the memory (Compatibility, Speed, Amount), as this was also updated, depending on the Manufacturer(s) and where a particular motherboard lays in the "Performance/Price" stack. This is a Link of motherboards for the ASUS ROG Strix WiFi version like you had listed previously.

@VMP RTX 4070 or 4080 (consider used as well)

@Chief24
I appreciate the GPU recommendations.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

@VMP

The pin socket changed with this architecture update.

Thanks for pointing that out! I hadn’t realized the socket had changed with the Core Ultra. I’ll look into the Z890 boards and double-check the memory compatibility. Appreciate the link and the help!

FWIW there have been almost no performance improvements since the 13th generation. If you want to save money consider getting 13th gen and a z690 or z790 board and put the savings into more m2 hard drives the GPU or something else useful for VEGAS.

For example here's my 13th gen i5 (overclocked) vs a stock 14th gen reference i5.

The 14900K will require require a robust cooling, meaning water cooling. That has to be considered in the cost of the PC build. I wouldn't go with anything "air" on it. No 240/280/360 AIO's

Not necessarily, that is if you invest in the best of best Air cooling:

Here a bit of recent history first:

I had issues with my trusted choice of air-cooling, the Noctua NH-D15s. To keep my i9-13900k cool enough so it will not thermal throttle, I had to impose Power limits in BIOS, now considering the Noctua NH-D15s has only one fan, and having read that the older, legendary Noctua NH-D15 had 2 fans but only had a 3 degree advantage, I went with the Noctua NH-D15s with better clearance.

Now since this summer I upgraded my Air cooler with the new successor of the classic Noctua NH-D15,

the Noctua NH-D15 G2 (gen 2) HBC. It has 2 new designed fans, more cooler fins and 2 more heath pipes.

The HBO variant is a specialized high base convexity variant for the Intel CPU bent housing issue by the Mobo LGA1700 CPU bracket

And I must say I am impressed, I do not have to power limit my CPU anymore. It runs full performance without thermal throttling.

As an fyi, I still haven't pulled the trigger yet on a successor system to my 11900k. Probably won't before March 2025. The new Vegas single-gpu optimization is what's holding me back. If it stays that way I'll probably go with a no-igpu cpu. Xeon or Ryzen. Otherwise, a Core Ultra. The latest w-series Xeons w/motherboards are the most expensive. But with all the extra slots and pci lanes are also best suited for multiple gpus, if Vegas ever bets back on track. Btw, the cpu aio cooler I have in my 11900k is a single-radiator made by Asus. I like to document my builds with photos... mostly for my own benefit. Turned that one into a text-to-voice narrated slide-show of the install. Here's a direct link to the aio portion:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RIN8G2tqno&t=344s

Thank you very much for all your responses earlier.

Due to personal circumstances, I am only now able to continue working on the PC.
I’ll be ordering all the components soon.

I would appreciate your help with transferring the settings and software from my old PC (Windows 10 Pro) to the new one (Windows 11 Pro).

I’m considering two options:

A. Clone my old Windows SSD, place it in the new PC, and hope that Windows in repair mode correctly handles the drivers, then upgrade to Windows 11.

B. Perform a clean Windows 11 installation on the new PC and then transfer all settings and software from the old PC.

I’d prefer not to reinstall everything manually. What do you recommend?
I’ve read about software like PCmover or EaseUS ToDo. Does anyone have experience with these?

All tips are welcome! Thanks in advance! 😊

Consider a third option:

3. Start fresh on your new computer, and plan on importing only the programs (newest versions) as you need them. A completely fresh experience is good for the imagination and creative process.