Upgrading and needadvice on computer specs

bryanb wrote on 11/14/2016, 2:58 PM

I've been using Sony Vegas 8.0 since around 2008, and I figure it's about time I upgraded to a newer version like Vegas Pro 14.

One of the main issues I'm having is with the performance of my computer. I use it primarily for video editing and Adobe Photoshop, and HTML work. It doesn't crash, but loading files can be cumbersome - it hangs sometimes, and it's just plain slow as hell. It's killing me.

This is what I have:

HP AMD A10-6700 APU with Radeon HD 8670D

12 GB RAM

64 bit

WIndows 8.1

I still have about a terabyte of free space on the PC, so I'm really not too keen on buying a new one if I don't have to. I'm figuring on possibly upgrading the graphics card and purchasing more RAM. I'm just wondering if so - what should I get? Money is not much of an issue since this is for business, and the faster my computer is, the more productive I am. :)

In essence, what would be the ideal computer I should be using for the latest version of Sony Vegas Pro, and is my computer able to meet those needs? Thanks in advance.

Comments

Former user wrote on 11/15/2016, 6:44 AM

This is what I use, I find it plenty adequate, main thing is to enable proxy files when editing any 4K files. Nowdays your really spoilt for choice, I bought the m/board, cpu and memory as "bundle", can save a bit that way. I'd highly recommend going for as large a case as possible, makes life easier, especially if fitting a large graphics card.

Motherboard .. MAXIMUS VII RANGER.
CPU .. Haswell Core i7-4790K.
Memory .. Corsair DDR3 16GB.
Graphics card .. MSI GTX 1080 Z
CPU cooling .. Corsair H80i.
Case .. Corsair Graphite 760T, white.
Power supply .. Corsair HX750i. 750 watt.
Samsung SSD 840 series, 250GB.
Samsung SSD 850 series, 500GB.
Seagate HD ST3000DM001-1CH166 3 TB.
Seagate HD ST8000AS0002-1NA17Z 8TB.

xberk wrote on 11/15/2016, 11:09 AM

i7-6800K looks like sweet spot to me on CPU. Six core is the way to go.

bryanb wrote on 11/17/2016, 1:11 PM

Thanks! I've just realized that my version of SonyVegas is 32 bit - which means it can only use 4 GB of RAM. So I've upgraded to Sony Vegas 13 - it's 64bit. Perhaps that will improve performance.

So are you saying I should upgrade my computer (or purchase) a gaming computer? Honestly, it's been about 20 years since I built my last computer (with help).

xberk wrote on 11/17/2016, 1:24 PM

I wouldn't recommend upgrading an old machine. I build my own, but likely you can buy as cheap as build your own. I don't build my own to save money. I think Gaming is different than video editing -- I'd say get at least an i7 CPU (six core is my choice) and an AMD Radeon video card (the best you can afford). The video card choice is really the tricky part -- a lot is made up for by the fastest CPU you can afford too.

TheHappyFriar wrote on 11/18/2016, 7:53 PM

What's your motherboard? Depending on what it can handle, popping something like this in would improve greatly with almonst no effort: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113284

I have a simular system w/Vegas 10 & it handles everything I throw at it.

Not sure more RAM would help. If you're not running out of memory now I doubht you will later (I run Vegas, Blender, Gimp, & FireFox at the same time w/o issues with RAM).

Not saying an upgrade wouldn't be nice, but take the several grand & put it somewhere else, or better yet, count it as profit & take it home.

NickHope wrote on 11/19/2016, 12:54 AM

Although it's 2 years old now, this thread may help you in speccing out a new PC, or at least in background reading: https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/new-x99-computer-for-editing-gh4-4k-video-in-vp13--98503/ Naturally some choices may be different now, such as a more up-to-date CPU, perhaps an M.2 system drive instead of SSD, perhaps SSD instead of HDD RAID for some other drive(s), and I would probably get an ASUS AMD RX480 8GB GPU.