Should I be upgrading to a Ryzen or Intel processor?

matthew-c wrote on 8/21/2019, 6:27 PM

I have been using vegas for many years and have gotten to a point where the videos I am making are becoming more and more complex and detailed, resulting in Vegas slowing down, freezing, and crashing. My render speeds are great for 720p (which I would prefer 1080p) but Vegas tends to crash at random points whilst editing and has little delays when I play back the video in the preview tab, not when rendering or importing.

To answer this question before reading the rest of this post, all I would need to know is if Vegas requires the same optimal hardware as Premiere Pro, because my "computer guy" uses premiere and will be able to help me out if the programs use the same hardware.

My goal is to make vegas run optimally, with minimal or no delays when playing back videos while editing, no random crashes when cutting clips out or text tracking. If it helps, every video I am editing has and MP4 file in the track along with two MP3 files that is all recorded through an elgato capture card.

My PC specs are

- Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7400 CPU @ 3.00GHz, 3001 Mhz, 4 Cores

- NVIDIA GTX 960

- 500GB SSD and 2TB HDD

- 16GB DDR4 RAM

- I don't know how to find anything else, as you can tell I am not very computer savvy

I was considering upgrading to an AMD Ryzen 7 2700x as it has 8 cores as well as 16 threads, but then I would have to upgrade graphics card as the one I currently have is integrated into my CPU. Another upgrade I was considering is an intel core i7 9700k as it has integrated graphics, 8 cores, and 8 threads which would save me money because I wouldn't also have to buy a graphics card, but also costs more up front than a Ryzen. Regardless of which one I settle with, I will have to upgrade my motherboard as well. Overall I am wondering if threads are important in optimally running sony vegas and if the 8 more threads that the Ryzen has is worth it. or maybe the specs I have are optimal but there is just some settings I should be changing in Vegas. If there is any other upgrades that you think would help, please let me know. Thanks!

Comments

adis-a3097 wrote on 8/21/2019, 6:53 PM

There you go: https://techgage.com/article/exploring-magix-vegas-pro-16-gpu-performance/

It's a bit old, but still.

fr0sty wrote on 8/21/2019, 7:17 PM

You will get more out of buying a high spec Ryzen (look at the Ryzen 9 chips too, more bang for the buck) with a good dedicated GPU (GTX 16 or RTX 20 series). Also, your Vegas version can have a big impact, as Vegas 17 has better performance than 16 and is able to take advantage of GPU decoding to further speed things up.

fr0sty wrote on 8/21/2019, 7:25 PM

A Ryzen 7 3700x 8 core 16 thread CPU will get you even better than the 9900k in some cases ( esp. multi core stuff) for around $350. Pair that with a RTX 2060 or a 1660ti, you should notice a huge speed increase for less than $700. Also check out the AMD Vega 64 cards, which have also done well in Vegas benchmarks.

matthew-c wrote on 8/21/2019, 8:04 PM

A Ryzen 7 3700x 8 core 16 thread CPU will get you more performance than the 9700k, and even better than the 9900k in some cases (multi core stuff) for around $350. Pair that with a RTX 2060 or a 1660ti, you should notice a huge speed increase for less than $700. Also check out the AMD Vega 64 cards, which have also done well in Vegas benchmarks.

Thanks for the tips! If I were to buy a 3700x I would most likely have to upgrade my cooling system as well? I can only imagine that gets way hotter than my quad i5

Former user wrote on 8/21/2019, 8:32 PM

The amd's come with factory coolers that used to be great, but now they're only average. They went from copper vapour chamber to solid aluminium. From the tests I've seen they can still cool adequately but they are now noisier as the fan has to go faster to keep the heat down due to inefficiency of al heatsync

fifonik wrote on 8/21/2019, 10:06 PM

If you decide to go to CPU + GPU, you may get GPU first, install it into your current PC, update GPU drivers and check performance. I think it will be more than enough for 1080p editing. It's different story for 4K editing.

P.S. If your PSU & case allow this

P.P.S. I'm editing 1080-60p on my Ryzen 1600 + RX 470 and most of the time I have 40+ fps on preview in best full in VP15.

gabgilson wrote on 8/22/2019, 4:18 AM

Save your cash! Try an AMD 1700 + NVIDIA GTX 1060ti (gb) + 32gb fast RAM. With V17 that combination allows me to edit and preview 4k files with no lag and a nice fast render. It still crashes from time to time, but I think that would happen with any combination. The AMD 1700 doesn't draw much power and comes with an adequate cooler, it's slightly older so it's cheaper than Ryzen 2 or 3 but great for video editing.

SimplyNon_sense wrote on 8/22/2019, 3:58 PM

I have the 2700X I'm lovin it but honestly your processor seems new enough to make me say wait. While the AMD Zen 2 Architecture is amazing and Intel is nowhere near 7nm yet. I'd say hold off until we see what intel does to counter.

fifonik wrote on 8/22/2019, 10:09 PM

RX 470 is quite old already so I'd go for something else (RX 570 or RX 580 at least).

Also, VP17 improved a lot for NVIDIA GPUs.

matthew-c wrote on 8/24/2019, 7:50 PM

I upgraded my GPU from the 960 to the 1650, I am seeing no difference in the softwares speed. Maybe there is some fixes that I can have some help with within the software or my PC's settings. In my Vegas timeline I have an MP4/MP3 file (gameplay) and and MP3 file (my commentary). I don't face any problems with freezing or slowing down until I import my commentary, I guess it is because there is too much on the timeline? The problem I am facing is delays when I press my spacebar to watch the playback and if I movie around the timeline too much the program will crash. I have to work at turtle speed in order to make the software run optimally.

fifonik wrote on 8/25/2019, 7:45 PM

Have you re-installed GPU drivers? (studio drivers recommended for NVidia GPU)

Have you turned ON GPU in Vegas preferences?

What is your Vegas version?

What if your footage (mediainfo please) and project settings?

> I am seeing no difference in the softwares speed

Are you talking about preview speed or render speed?