Loved Doesn't recgonize graphics card

Derek,
I noticed one of my videos wasn't playing back correctly so I watched your beginner video for Sony Movie Studio 13 again. I followed your preference setup steps and when I got to the VIDEO tab and tried to change "GPU acceleration of video processing from 'OFF' to the name of my video card (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745) it doesn't show up anymore. Any idea as to what may have happened?

I am using Sony Movie Studio 13 Suite and running it on a DELL XPS 8700

Are you saying that your Graphics Card use to show up in the Preference settings, but now it has disappeared ?
or
Have you never checked the Preference settings before and was not aware that this setting existed ?

Do you have the latest Drivers installed for your Nvidia Graphics Card ?
If you are not sure, go to this webpage and download Automatic Driver Updates application. After you have installed it, it will automatically check your Drivers. If you go to the Driver tab in the app window, it will tell you what your current driver is and also tell you what is available. Download and install latest Driver if you need to.

Do you have the latest version of Movie Studio Platinum 13 64bit installed ?
Current version is Build 932 (64bit).
If not sure, open the Movie Studio and go to Help - About Movie Studio Platinum.
If you need to update, go to Help - Sony on the Web - Latest Updates

I will wait to hear back from you before saying any more.

Regards
Derek.

It used to show up but then all of a sudden it no longer appears. I'm away from home now but will try some of your suggestions when I get back home tomorrow night.

Hi Derek
OK, I checked everything and I have a GeForce GTX 745 graphic card , version 332.66. I had to jump through hoops to get the latest JAVA installed first (version 8, update 25). As far as Sony Movie Studio I have build 943. After I verified I had the latest build version and NVIDIA drivers I opened up Sony Movie Studion, went to preferences and still my graphic card doesn't show up. Still says "OFF".

I'm perplexed. When I first installed Sony Movie Studio my graphic card showed up for me to select and everything ran fine

You didn't have to install Java. Java can be a BIG pain in the you-know-what :evil:
There are 3 different ways to check for Drivers on the page link I sent you. If you had Downloaded the FIRST option at top of page under heading Automatic Driver Updates, all you have to do is install small app and it will search for you. That's why I highlighted Automatic Driver Updates in my last message to you. Java can cause problems for some people. So if any of your programs start doing strange things, un-install Java.

I don't know why your Graphics Card is not being recognised.
I suggest you do two things.
1. Fill out Customer Support Request with Sony Creative Software, just in-case this is a bug with program.
2. Post your problem on the Sony Creative Software Forum

If you find a solution to this problem, please post answer on the Forum here.

If any spare money falls out of the sky for you, I would recommend upgrading your Graphics Card to a much beefier AMD Radeon R9 series card.
AMD Radeon cards work much better with Sony software, Nvidia are better for Gaming.

All the best

Derek
Which Radeon graphics card would recommend for a hobbyist that would be a step up from my GeForce GTX 745 ? I see the prices for them are all over the spectrum. I would like to keep the cost below $100 but $100 to $200 wouldn't be to extreme.

MrGruntHunter,

My recommendations for an AMD based graphics card, that falls within the budget you stated would be:

R7 260/260X/265
R9 270/270X or R9 285 (The 280/280X are re-badged previous 79xx series cards)

The 285 would be most expensive at typically starting at around $200 and up. Just try different sites (i.e.: Newegg.com, NCIX, Fry's, MicroCenter, etc.) I have been following Dereks' (Dr. Zen) excerpts on this video card conundrum, and only got an NVidia based card since I also use that other software (Ado*e) as well on one of my computers. All of the web sites I have been able to find any information on concerning video cards for Sony Vegas (Pro/Movie) are pretty much confirming what Derek (Dr. Zen) is informing his members about.

Hope this helps. If you have the money, get the R9 285, as it has gotten great feedback on all the Tech Sites I go to, including if you plan to do some gaming on the computer you have Sony product installed on.

Respectfully,

Mike O'Sullivan

mmcswnavy24

Hi Mike, Thanks for the quick reply. What is the difference between the 270 and 270x cards? What does the 'X' after the model number mean? Just for reference I absolutely have no desire to do any sort of gaming on my computer, I just want to be able to use my Sony Movie Studio 13 Suite without any headaches. Actually I thought I had read that the NVIDIA cards worked well with SMS but I guess I was wrong. Right now I'm using a new computer I purchased off of ebay ( a DELL XPS 8700 Desktop i7-4790 16GB ram 1TB HD and a NVIDIA GeForce GXT 745 with 4GB memory and Windows 8.1). I just did a quick check and found some 270 & 270X cards on Amazon for around $180 and $220 respectively but I'm confused as to what the 'X' means.

If I am not doing any gaming what would make more sense to buy. From what I read 4GB of memory is the minimum I should have to keep SMS happy.

Hi

Thanks to mmcswnavy24 for a solid reply.
You can Google "review R9 270" and "review R9 270X" and find plenty of different reviews to read.
Here is one example:
au.pcmag.com/graphics-cards-products/4365/review/amd-radeon-r9-270x

From what I have read, 270X is about 10% faster. It also uses 30 Watts more power.
If 270 is in your price range, then probably go for that.

There are two important things that you should always check before upgrading a Graphics Card.
#1 Make sure your power supply has enough grunt to power a higher capacity card.
#2 Make sure the new card will fit inside the computer case.

My guess is that you should not have anything to worry about when it comes to power supply, because your computer already has an Intel i7-4790.
This is a fairly powerful CPU and needs a good power supply, so your computer would already have a decent power supply.

Which ever card you choose, I would definitely recommend to look up it's specifications on the manufacturers website and find out the total length.
Then open your PC up and check there is enough room.

One last thing on graphics cards and Sony Vegas.
Older Nvidia GTX400 and GTX500 series cards work exceedingly well in all versions of Movie Studio Platinum and Vegas Pro. They are worth their weight in gold.
Newer Nvidia GTX600, GTX700 and GTX900 series cards no longer work as well due to architectural changes and deliberately dumbed down Drivers for Video Editing. These modern Nvidia cards are for Gaming No.1.
ALL AMD Radeon cards work much better generally in Vegas Pro and Movie Studio Platinum. They have much better Drivers for Video Editing.
If money was no object, you had a meaty power supply and plenty of room in your case, the BEST Graphics Card for Vegas Pro and Movie Studio Platinum is the AMD Radeon R9 290X.

Regards
Derek