Solved Stuttering in Vegas on a brand new AMD Ryzen system

I'm not sure if this the right Forum or whether I should post in the Computer Hardware Forum. I've just updated my computer equipment and have reinstalled Vegas Pro. The program installed successfully in the new computer. But when I play a project in Vegas Pro I get a lot of stuttering. The project plays fine for a couple of seconds then stops for a split second and then plays OK for another few seconds then stops for a split second etc . This goes on the for the whole project. This never occurred in my old computer - and as the new computer is considerably faster with significantly more RAM I'm not sure what the problem is - but it is annoying and makes working on a project very frustrating. When I render the project there's no problem - it plays back smoothly. I'm using HD files and rendering to HD.

My new system uses Windows 7 Ultimate (I didn't want to go to Win 10), with a 1TB SSD C Drive (Samsung SSD 960); with an AMD Ryzen 1700X 8 core CPU and 64 GB RAM. The Graphics Card is a Radeon RX 480. The Old system was running Win 7 Ultimate, but had a normal 7200 1TB HDD; intel Core i7 4770CPU at 3.50Ghz and 16 GB RAM. I can't remember what the graphics card was - but it was also an AMD. There was never any stuttering working on projects in Vegas Pro 14 in the old set up.

Any thoughts on why this might be happening with the new system? Are there any tweaks that need to be made in Vegas Pro to make the preview system in Vegas run smoothly?

Hi ilyk49,

First things first. Since building/purchasing your new machine with the Samsung 960 EVO, have you downloaded the required files from Samsung's site for your NVME drive? Even if you are not utilizing that particular protocol (Hard Drives "HDD" used the older ATA, and now AHCI; SSD's - like Samsung 850 EVO or Crucial MX300 - use AHCI), the "included" windows driver via the OS is not particularly "friendly" - or as you are noticing, Stuttering. The processor you mentioned, AMD Ryzen R7 1700X, and motherboard you would be using, definitely support NVME. Now, no guarantee that Samsung has a Windows 7 driver, but with all the people still using that OS, I am placing a link to the Samsung site that should take you to the actual download page:

Samsung 960 EVO

I know people want to stick with what they know, or are comfortable with, but just wondering on your reasoning of staying with Win 7 Ultimate, and not using Windows 10 64-Bit? Being an Retired IT Guy, have moved on from 7 to 8 to 8.1, and now on 10. It really is a much more stable platform, even if you do have to keep up some with the "Privacy Issues" Microsoft says they are "Not Exploiting" :whistle: :evil:

Please try the update for the SSD, and let us know if that helps. I use an Intel 750 Series 800 GB in one system, and had the same sort of issue until replacing the crappy Windows Driver Model (WDM), with a proper one from Intel. I also have in the same machine, an Samsung 960 EVO 1TB drive on an expansion card, and even just using it for Source Media, also saw the same issues until I installed the proper Samsung driver.

Good Luck and Happy Editing!

Mike "The Chief" O'Sullivan

Wow! Thanks for that insight Mike.
I have also read a lot of info about the differences between Windows 7/Windows 10 and compatibility problems with latest hardware. I am also a believer and user of Windows 10, due to how W10 works "underneath the hood".

A message for ilyk49:
Did you make sure the RX 480 is turned on in Options/Preferences/Video/GPU Acceleration ?
Also, what type of video is stuttering? Where did it come from?
Mobile Phone video, traditional Video Camera, GoPro camera,...etc...?
Frame Size ? 1080p or 4K video ?
Frame Rate ?

I am also very keen to build a Ryzen machine, but prefer to wait a little while until any "birthing problems" are worked through.

I have been watching countless video reviews about AMD Ryzen. One thing I have learnt so far, is that Ryzen needs very precise RAM Memory sticks to work properly. Because Ryzen is so new, software developers have had no time to customize programs/games/BIOS to take advantage of new ZEN architecture. So I think there will be a lot of improvement to performance over time, once developers optimize everything. Up until now, most software has been heavily optimized more towards Intel architecture.

Make sure to monitor your Motherboard's manufacturer website and check for Driver and BIOS updates for the Motherboard. I suspect you will see plenty of new BIOS versions get released, as further customization is discovered and implemented.

Have you opened your computers BIOS before Windows 7 boots and checked your RAM settings?
If your RAM speeds and timings are off, that may also cause a problem.
I have an Intel system and have my RAM set to XMP profile, for maximum performance.
I am not sure if an equivalent AMD "XMP" profile has even been released yet, so that is another thing to research/look out for.

You may like to watch these two videos:




Regards
Derek

Mike

Thanks very much for this fulsome reply. I'll give this a try tonight and see how it goes, Hopefully, I won't upset anything else in the system!

I also meant to add that one of the reasons I chose to stay with Windows 7 is because I still have problems figuring out where everything is. With Windows 7 I know where to find things I need - but it's not as simple in W10.

I thought I posted a response to your message Derek - but can't see it now. Maybe I typed it and forgot to press "submit". Anyway, the RX480 is turned on in preferences. But while I was there I also increased the dynamic RAM preview from 200mb to 2000mb - and that seems to make a bit of a difference. Are there any other settings in General or Video that perhaps should be turned on or off in Preferences?

The videos are all from video cameras - either Canon XA20 or the new Panasonic FZ2500 or HC X1. It seems to be worse on the Canon files - but then again there was no such problem with any of the files in my old set up. The files are all HD 1080p - and either 50fps or 25fps - usually MP4.

Hi Mike

I did download and install the drivers as suggested. It didn't make any difference to the issue. The stuttering is still there. Not sure what to try next!

There is another issue that has also arisen since I set up the new computer. In the past, when I uploaded all my files from my camera to my Hard Drive, the files always appeared with a thumbnail picture, making it easy to see what the file was. Now there is no thumbnail picture of what is on the video, just an image with a sketch of a film reel and a music note. There's now no way of immediately telling what the file is about - you have to open up the file to see what is there. Is there a way of fixing this??

Hi ilyk49,

Gotta' love technology, eh? Sorry to hear that the driver(s) did not help. As I mentioned, they helped me out tremendously. Dr. Zen brings up some very good points on things to check. And as they say, "Curiosity killed the Cat", did you happen to have other drives attached when you installed the Operating System? That has been one of the most common errors, and reasons for "weird" happenings on computers. If my old cobweb infested noggin' remembers, I believe Derek even mentioned this during his computer build.

So next thing to try is what the Good Doctor suggested. Saw you mention the Panasonic FZ2500 as one of your cameras. During my research on YouTube, and other Video/Photo sites, even on the "Old" Sony Creative Software forum lists, there seemed to be problems with some cameras, typically for what you are seeing. Reason I mention this, is because I am trying to do as much research for myself concerning purchasing the new GH5, or possibly staying with Canon and getting a 5D mk. IV.

For your "viewing" issue, you can try this: 1. Open up "My Computer", and navigate to the folder you want to change 2. Along top, you should see "View", click on that 3. In the additional box that would show, you should see an area about how to view the files. 4. Click on one of the icons (should be able to see change as you click on something); Extra Large Icons, Medium, Small, Tiles, List, Detail. I have been using Windows 10 since it came out, and currently no computer I have, runs anything older than that, so hopefully what I mentioned might be similar for Windows 7. Hey, they say Google is our friend, right?

For Derek: Yeah, building on a totally new architecture can be challenging. I remember all the "Growing Pains" involved when I went with the X99 Platform/LGA 2011-3/Haswell-E. I think all the fanboys forget we had similar issues with BIOS/UEFI, memory, and especially which USB 3.0 ports would work for using to install Windows! My Asus Deluxe would not "recognize" the baked-in Intel version, but no problems with the Asmedia ones. The Gigabyte was temperamental depending on which BIOS version you had, and my MSI Gaming 7 seemed to like the Intel more. But I don't blame you for looking at the new AMD Ryzen setup. I think mostly the BIOS/UEFI and memory problem (except the now escalating price!) are mostly fixed. My only concern is the Input/Output (I/O) available for the PCI-E 3.0 availability. I'd be close to creating my own "stuttering" issues on my rigs, since I am trying to just go all PCI-E natively for editing. If you want to check out some more info on Ryzen, try Paul's Hardware, Gamers' Nexus, OC3D TV, Tech of Tomorrow, JayzTwoCents; all have great reviews about the Ryzen platform and new processors.

Mike "The Chief" O'Sullivan

Thanks Mike I did try the "viewing" steps suggested. However, that does not solve the problem - there is still no thumbnail of the file. However, as you say, when all else fails, try google. I'll let you know how I go.

Cheers

Peter

Hi Mike

I did find a fix for the thumbnail problems. Couldn't find anything in Windows and after googling it seems lots of people had an issue (but maybe for different reasons). I then came across a small program called Icaros 3.0.1 and downloaded it, installed it and then dragged one of the video files that didn't have a thumbnail and instantly all the video files displayed thumbnails. Magic. I don't know why Windows Explorer couldn't display the thumbnails. But I suspect it was something to do with the cameras used (Panasonic FZ2500 and Panasonic HC X1). When I clicked on properties for these files and then clicked on "details" - there are no details showing the frame width, frame height, data rate, total bit rate, frame rate or video length. Same with audio - no details.So I suspect that may be the problem. Anyway, Icaros has no problem generating thumbnails for these files. And best of all, the program is free.

Message for Greg - this may be something to recall if anyone else has a similar problem.