PC, these specs, graphics card confusion

[Roger Gunkel]

Originally Posted by Leslie Wand

as an aside, i really don't see the point of not installing or upgrading to win 10. i'm not a fan of m$ but all new software, etc., is generally tested on and for the latest os at the time. i realise if you have an existing setup under 7 (or even xp) you might feel it unnecessary upgrading, but if things start going weird for no apparent reason, (other than graphic drivers), you might well be fighting a losing battle with progress....

I agree, my new system was built win Win Home 64 which is my first experience of Win 10 and I have found it to be stable and reliable.

Roger

[Dave Baker]

Who said anything about not upgrading to Windows 10?

[Roger Gunkel]

Originally Posted by Dave Baker

Who said anything about not upgrading to Windows 10?

Hi Dave,

It may be a misunderstanding because I mentioned earlier that I was using Home 64 and it may have been assumed that I had Win 7 Home 64 :-)

Roger

[Paul Kellett]

Ok i've had another spec from someone else, could i have some opinions on this ?
You guys obviously know more than me.
Thanks, Paul.

CSW I7 BASE UNIT

Intel Core I7-6700 CPU
ASROCK Motherboard 4x DIMM Slots (supports maximum of 64GB RAM)
256GB Kingston SSD Drive
3TB 3.5 Toshiba HDD
16GB DDR4 Kingston Memory
500w Bequiet Power Supply
Antec Black Matte Case front USB 3.0 x 2 ports
ASUS Radeon DDR5 RX480 4GB Overclocked 2 x HDMI ports (Upgraded as requested)
DVD/RW
Windows 10 Home 64-bit

Total £999 + V.A.T = £1198.80

[Roger Gunkel]

Hi Paul,

I think all three of your posted systems would be capable of doing what you want, uless as you suggested there is a problem between an Nvidea card and Vegas.

I have a radeon card on my second older system which has been no problem at all for HD work. I don't know what the cost of the 3TB drive is compared with DD4 Ram, but I would possibly go for 32mb Ram and perhaps a smaller drive to start with as hard drives are cheap as chips at the moment and easy to plug in whatever you want for storage. More RAM memory is always useful if you intend to do much 4k work or multi video streams on the timeline.

Roger

[Mark Williams]

Here is the rig I have on order to use with Edius 8. Your editing software many times will drive you computer hardware specs. I will add SSD's that I already have for video storage. No graphics card as Edius does not benefit from GPU and easily uses the CPU on board graphics. I will add a BM Intensity card for 4k monitoring output.

Carbide Series Clear 400C Case
Z170-A, Intel Z170 Motherboard
Core i7-6700K Quad-Core 4.0 - 4.2GHz
16GB Kit (2 x 8GB) HyperX Fury DDR4 2133MHz,
SuperNOVA Series 550 G2 550W Power Supply
Hyper Series 212 EVO, CPU Cooler
AS5-3.5G, 3.5g, High-Density Polysynthetic Silver, Thermal Compound
250GB M.2 Samsung 960 EVO 2280, 3200 / 1500 MB/s, V-NAND, PCIe system drive
275GB SSD Crucial MX300 7mm, video storage
PCE-N15, Wireless Adapter
Windows 10 Home 64-bit

$1413 U.S.

[Seth Bloombaum]

Respectfully, this thread is all over the place! While it's valuable to review these various system configs, the first question the OP asked was about compatibility of various graphics cards:

Originally Posted by Paul Kellett

Hi all, i'm on the verge of getting a new pc for vegas, i pretty much know what i need/want but i'm a bit confused with the graphic card requirements and all the current model numbers, ie AMD or Nivida, CUDA or open CL etc...

I myself am *not* up to date with Vegas 14, but this is the most important question! Vegas depends on the GPU for acceleration, and, historically, has been *very* uneven in it's ability to take advantage of this or that GPU.

The specs of the PCs that have been discussed would all work just fine with Vegas, the bigger question is what GPUs have been shown to provide acceleration in Magix Vegas 14!

I don't know that answer. Leslie Wand is a longtime Vegas user and the only thread contributor to directly address GPU for V14. Paul, you shouldn't lose track of that recc. A recent generation i7 processor, a good amount of RAM, an SSD system disk will all do you fine.

Regarding the HP, some Dell/HP have not been upgradeable with a new GPU. Mostly, those integrated high-level consumer systems are very good buys indeed, but, you do want assurance that you either have or can install the GPU you want.

[Ken Plotin]

Paul,
My build uses the same basic components of Mark Williams rig.
Full sized Z170 ATX motherboard with enough slots for future expansion, strong CPU with a capable CPU cooler and a decent amount of RAM (mine is G.Skill DDR4 2400).

"Carbide Series Clear 400C Case
Z170-A, Intel Z170 Motherboard
Core i7-6700K Quad-Core 4.0 - 4.2GHz
16GB Kit (2 x 8GB) HyperX Fury DDR4 2133MHz,
SuperNOVA Series 550 G2 550W Power Supply
Hyper Series 212 EVO, CPU Cooler"

I chose a beefier power supply, but this rig will likely handle anything you throw at it.
I'm not looking at $400-$600 video cards. Since Vegas users seem to have good success with Radeon, I'm going with an RX 470 card with 4G ram. My system drive, storage and video drives are all 1TB WD Black's. May get an SSD boot drive later on.

Hope this helps.
Ken

[Paul Kellett]

Thanks for all the replies and advice guys, it's helped. I'm probably going to go for the last spec ,£1198, i may go for 32gb ram though depending on price. I'll post back here if/when i get it.
Thanks again.

Paul.

[Leslie Wand]

Originally Posted by Dave Baker

Who said anything about not upgrading to Windows 10?

i actually opened with 'as an aside...'

i was unsure which 'home' version the op was referring, but that's beside the point - i only offered my observation as a suggestion to anyone building or upgrading a pc in general.

other than that, i usually have my pc custom built by the local computer shop - often following the specs of people who i respect on this and other forums - especially resolves since its requirements far exceed those required to run vegas - because i have recourse back to the shop in case of problems (and yes, i've had problems and the shop dealt with them quickly and politely).

for my next system though i'm simply going to get an hp z820/40* workstation. i'm still using my old z220 i7 in the office and for photo work - never missed a beat since i bought it in 2012.
* they might be a little more expensive to buy but since i make my living as a video producer that's immaterial - i don't want problems with ANY of my equipment since downtime costs me money...

[Roger Gunkel]

Hi Leslie,

I looked long and hard at PCs from some of the big brands like HP, Dell, Lenovo etc before getting my new system built by my trusted local company. The main reason I went for the local custom build is that almost all the reviews I read on the branded systems were scathing about the amount the amount of bloatware and unnecessary pre installed software that they had. The general opinion and my own previous experience was that regular pop ups and requests to update pre installed software were an irritating and unnecessary interruption to normal working that also impinged on processing and memory useage.

Like you I rely on my computer to earn my living and felt that the ability to get instant assistance with any unexpected problem and a 10 minute drive down the road was a definite advantage for me. Previously with branded computers, any problem that couldn't be sorted on the phone, required getting the PC to a service centre and waiting usually for days to get the problem sorted.

I did feel that the branded PCs were more for general use, whereas a custom built one could be tailored to my video editing requirements.

It's all personal choice when it comes to the final decision and all we can do here is offer our own experiences and they can be widely varied.

Roger

[Paul Kellett]

Ok guys, thanks for all the advice, PC being built this week, specs below, one last question though,
Windows 7 or 10 ? Using Vegas Pro 14.

CSW I7 BASE UNIT

Intel Core I7-6700 CPU
ASROCK Motherboard 4x DIMM Slots (supports maximum of 64GB RAM)
256GB Kingston SSD Drive
3TB 3.5 Toshiba HDD
32GB DDR4 Kingston Memory
500w Bequiet Power Supply
Antec Black Matte Case front USB 3.0 x 2 ports
ASUS Radeon DDR5 RX480 (8GB) Overclocked 2 x HDMI ports (Upgraded as requested)
DVD/RW


Thanks, Paul.

[Roger Gunkel]

Hi Paul,

I've never used Vegas, but don't see why there should be particular problems with Win 10 or 7. I have used Win 7 for years and was very wary of putting Win 10 on my new system, but I am very pleased to say that after a few months of very intensive use I have had absolutely no problems and it has been more stable than Win 7 for me.

Roger

[Ken Plotin]

Hi Paul,
I just built a similar setup: 6700k CPU and a beefier power supply. I chose Windows 7 after using (and not liking) Win 10 on a laptop.

Win 7 Pro 64 should be fine on your rig. HOWEVER: you do have to jump through a couple of hoops to install it on the new Z170 motherboards. If your builder is familiar with the issue (USB drivers for that chipset are not native to Win 7; they have to be slipstreamed into the ISO) you should be very happy with Win 7 and Vegas.
I have V10 and V11...it works fine with those.


Best of luck with the new box.
Ken

[Paul Kellett]

Ah right, so 10 is easier to install.
I'm going for 10 for more future proofness, however i don't particularly like 10, the layout, control panel etc, however it's fairly simple to put a windows 7 skin on 10, so basically 10 that looks like 7.
I'm sure the builder knows what he's doing, the shop has been local to me for over 20 years, the actual builder who i've spoken to a few times has been building for 15 years so i'm confident he knows what he's doing.

Thanks, Paul