Solved Which GPU for a hobbyist

Hello to everyone and hope things are going well for yourself and your family.

I have been using Movie Studio 14 for a while as a hobby, just cutting programs from my DVR for training etc.
Just Upgraded to '16 in March, just didn't wait for the '17 release, but that's another thread.

On '15, when ever I try to create a movie, eventually my PC starts to admit a tone and eventually Move Studio will error out.
I do see the CPU is 100% maxed out when this happens and the temp does climb.

Hardware:
PS: Corsair CX500M
CPU: I7-4770S w/stock Intel cooler
RAM: 32GB - (4) Ballistic Sport 8GB DDR3 - 1600
No GPU
SSD; Crucial MX500 - 500GB SSD
HD: WD RED NAS 2 TB 5.4K HD - for virtual machines
HD: WD Black 1TB 7.2K HD - for video files.
HD: WD Cavair Black 2TB 7.2K HD - for family PC backups (not this one)
I've purchased a better CPU cooler in the hopes of keeping temps down, but haven installed it yet.

I'm wondering if a GPU will help much since I'm only trying to export to a 720P or 1080 video file.
I've read the different threads on assorted threads suggesting GPUs, and wondering if an 4GB GPU will be OK.
Not planning to render to 1440 at this time or the near future.

Will a 4GB GPU just be slower than an 8GB or have problems?

Plus the room gets a little warm when this PC runs, and wouldn't want to add much more temperature or power on the circuit.
Sometimes I may have my ThinkCentre Desktop running as well.

Video rendering places the most stress on a CPU.
It is not uncommon to see some CPUs overheat during rendering.

An Intel stock cooler is NOT sufficient for this task, which is why it is overheating.
A air cooled block cooler or closed water loop cooler will improve that dramatically.
Make sure the Intel cooler is not blocked up with dust - open the case and give it a good clean!

You must buy a dedicated graphics card, to use Vegas correctly.
GPU acceleration is critical for Vegas and will speed everything up and reduce preview lag.

I recommend an Nvidia graphics card, because it is more compatible with 3rd party FX software like Boris FX.
The minimum you should get is a GTX 1060, if you can find one of these.
If you can afford it, an RTX 2060 or RTX 2060 Super would be my choice
If you are limited on budget, look for GTX 1660 or GTX 1660 Super.

Once you get a modern graphics card, you will notice a big difference in Vegas.

Hi Joe,

See you have found this forum, along with the one over at the VegasCreativeSoftware site.

For your current system, first, PLEASE, install that updated CPU cooler!!!!!! Had to go to Intel's site to refresh my memory on that particular CPU, and saw it was released in the Second Quarter of 2013. Really, time to start thinking a slightly newer system. I know, The Doc (Derek Moran, the Owner/Operator of this awesome Forum!), is still using his even older i7 system, though I think he is getting ready to surprise us all with His new build!! Do another great "Build" video for us!

Plus, since you only have 8 GB of RAM, some of that is being utilized for help with the integrated GPU (iGPU as is often referred to), so again, another slow down for the system. That is one thing that you could actually "Upgrade" for cheap, as at least going to 16 GB of RAM will help tremendously - Along with that CPU Cooler!!!!!!!

Your drives are fine, for now, until that system upgrade.

Now, for the GPU. You did not mention the "Monetary Amount" you would be willing to "Part Ways With", nor anything as far as preference of either AMD or nVidia. And knowing that you recently purchased VMS 16 (saw that on the above mentioned forum about your recent purchase), the requirements are a bit higher/stricter than your older '14 version. But, if no preference of card manufacturer, you could go with any of the following:

AMD: RX 570/RX 580/RX 590 or even the newer 5700 (non-XT variant)
nVidia: RTX 2060 (Super if you want to spend more), 1660/1660Ti, and I think also the 1650Ti (for the nvenc chip - check the Vegas Forum as this has been covered there substantially)

Any of these cards will work fine with VMS16, just make sure you get the nVidia Studio drivers (442.92) if you go that route, and the AMD Adrenaline 20.2.2 (Current WHQL driver) if you want the Red Team. Added benefit, is they will work when you "update" your current system!

Noticed I did not say anything about the higher end nVidia (RTX 2070/2070S/2080/2080S/2080 Ti/Titan) or AMD Vega 56/64, Radeon VII. First reason is due to your current hardware. Two, you are worried about the extra power/heat. Three, you mention only producing 720p or 1080p for now, with 1440p much further down the road. The above cards will help with keeping power/heat down, plus your "Wallet" and/or the Mrs., Happy!

Hope this helps some. I am sure you may get a few more inputs and advice, including The Doc.

Happy Editing!

Mike "The Chief" O'Sullivan

Appreciate the quick replies.

Sorry if my post was a big convoluted, my system has 32 GB RAM, so that should help.

Here are the two NVIDIA GPUs I'm looking over:

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER WINDFORCE OC 4G GDDR6 Specs recommends at least a 350W P/S - $160

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER WINDFORCE oc 6gb gddr6 Specs recommends at least a 350W P/S - $240

The motherboard is a GigaByte and I've been happy with it. Hoping they would play well together.

Just wonder if the 4GB will still work but only slower than the 6GB and with the different GPU.
Thinking the dual fan would be quieter than a single and a triple fan would be getting longer, more power more cost.
Plus the 1660 Super is 30% more than the 1650.

I did see a
Sapphire Technology Radeon RX 580 Overclocked Pulse Dual-Fan 8GB GDDR5
But that is recommending a 500W P/S
Plus it is in between the two NVIDIA's at $185.00

Also, I've seeing other threads pointing people in the NVIDIA court a bit more than the AMD.

It seems the NVIDIA folks are providing the 1650 with only 4GB and the 1660 with 6GB of VRAM, love it when they play games.
I think I would like to see a 1650 super with 6GB, but probably won't be happening.

any input will be appreciated.

If I was in your situation, I would invest the extra dollars and get the GTX 1660 Super, however the GTX 1650 Super is not bad for a budget card if that's all you can afford.
The amount of memory available is not the most important factor.
The main thing I always look for is how many Cuda cores it has, the operating speeds and bandwidth.
The bigger then pipe, the faster Vegas can render with the GPU.

I am a big AMD fan, however their graphics department is always playing catch up to Nvidia.
When it comes to any video editing program, Nvidia always works better with Vegas at the moment, especially if you are are working with Pro level software.

www.nvidia.com/en-au/geforce/graphics-cards/gtx-1650-super/
www.nvidia.com/en-au/geforce/graphics-cards/gtx-1660-super/

	GTX 1650 Super	GTX 1660 Super
CUDA Cores	1280	1408
Memory speed	12 Gbps	14 Gbps
Memory bandwidth	192 GB/sec	336 GB/sec