Well 8 GB on lappy doesn't work for me...

[agp26]

Running 2x vegas 11, (rendering), and chrome with 4 tabs open. 6.95 GB of 8 used, lappie slowed to a crawl, so guessing there is some disk thrashing going on. Have a bit too much crap on this laptop, but still closing down everything struggle to get memory on start-up under 2 GB, usually hovers around 4! Win 7 home...

Maybe 16GB is the new minimum? Not a slow laptop either, i7-2630qm, equivalent to an i7-920 in the 'old' days...(but slow graphics, geforce gt 540m with 2 GB). NB yes have slower 5400rpm hdd...one of those battery savers....

Really looking forward to next-gen laptops, especially unified graphics memory if that eventuates....man you can never have too much memory or horsepower....falling asleep...

[Dr. Benway]

Yesterday I upgraded my RAM from 4GB to 8GB (i5 Win7 Pro) and haven't done much with it yet but so far it is making a difference.

I run minimal installs meaning the OS and only the bare essentials to communicate and edit photos and videos - as you say, perhaps too much crap? Time for a clean install?

[Daniel Rutter]

I run Windows x64 Ultimate, 8 gigs of RAM and have maybe 2gigs of memory usage on start up. It's reasonable though...

Your memory usage should not be any issue whatsoever. When you render, it all comes down to your CPU.

[cgbier]

NB yes have slower 5400rpm hdd...one of those battery savers....

That might be your problem. You drive isn't fast enough to shovel the data back and forth. AND: You don't edit from your system drive. That is busy with taking care of your OS and the apps. If you add media access to it, you overburden the drive, so the data stay in the RAM slowing down your system.

Another point: When editing, take your machine from the net and switch off all that security stuff in the background.

[Bertzie]

Laptops really aren't built as render machines. The processor you have is a mobile processor. They can't take as much heat as a desktop processor. During regular program use, it'll take advantage of turbo boost to make things run faster, but when you render, the processor is under constant load. This causes it to get very hot, which forces the processor to throttle down to stock clock (or even below if it's hot enough) to prevent damage to the hardware.

[agp26]

Thanks for replies, all.

Aware that I should be using a render-farm/workstation and not a laptop! However, compared with Vue, Max and C4d, (and various 3d add-ons), rendering on vegas and premiere doesn't get anywhere close to 100% load.

I would have thought, given my lappie cpu is pretty close to an older i7 920, it would have been more than enough for simple video rendering, despite throttling etc.

Think I will probably move to premiere, or (god forbid!) cyberlink to take advantage of mercury and quick-sync. Pity, really like the Vegas GUI/simplicity...and I hate the Adobe non-intuitive everything, despite using their products daily for illustrating/prepress etc. But waiting for renders really gets on my ...

cheers

[agp26]

Just an addendum: most of my video files are on a usb3 hub (on a 'toaster'), but perhaps moving my scratch disk to yet another external usb3 hdd, and output render to yet another usb3 hdd would help? For now just rendering to laptops internal hdd...just laziness I guess (trying to keep track of them all! 8 external hdd's and 2 NAS....)...

[Bertzie]

It's not what percentage of load that always matters. It's load time vs idle time that'll get you.

The i7 920 was a desktop processor, which means it can handle a lot more heat. It also had a natural clock of 2.6ghz with a turbo of 2.9ghz. The i7 2630qm has a natural clock of 2ghz, with a turbo of 2.9ghz. Setting those numbers aside for a moment, the 920 has a tdp (thermal design power: How much heat it can take before it crashes) of 130watts. The 2630qm can only handle 45watts.

I'm curious. Where did you hear that your cpu was similar to the 920?

[Krane]

Thanks for replies, all.

Aware that I should be using a render-farm/workstation and not a laptop! However, compared with Vue, Max and C4d, (and various 3d add-ons), rendering on vegas and premiere doesn't get anywhere close to 100% load.

I would have thought, given my lappie cpu is pretty close to an older i7 920, it would have been more than enough for simple video rendering, despite throttling etc.

Think I will probably move to premiere, or (god forbid!) cyberlink to take advantage of mercury and quick-sync. Pity, really like the Vegas GUI/simplicity...and I hate the Adobe non-intuitive everything, despite using their products daily for illustrating/prepress etc. But waiting for renders really gets on my ...

cheers

It is. If you're experiencing slow performance then if from something other than what you've indicated here.

Maybe 16GB is the new minimum?

As you say, you can never have too much RAM. But I doubt that's your problem.

Not a slow laptop either, i7-2630qm, equivalent to an i7-920 in the 'old' days...(but slow graphics, geforce gt 540m with 2 GB). NB yes have slower 5400rpm hdd...one of those battery savers....

Here is your problem. ^^ For optimal performance you need a 7200 HDD for HDV, and a RAID for HD. That 5400 RPM HDD is obsolete save for backup and archiving.

Your memory usage should not be any issue whatsoever. When you render, it all comes down to your CPU.

And or GPU if you have a CUDA accelerated card.

That might be your problem. You drive isn't fast enough to shovel the data back and forth. AND: You don't edit from your system drive. That is busy with taking care of your OS and the apps. If you add media access to it, you overburden the drive, so the data stay in the RAM slowing down your system.

Another point: When editing, take your machine from the net and switch off all that security stuff in the background.

Most security suits don't activate during heavy processor use. Others can be manually setup to halt when pre-specified programs are activated.

[Dr. Benway]

Yes, you can. In many cases more than 8GB is overkill if your software can't address it.

[blondandfun]

1. delete all files in the appdata folder. What is happening is the USB isn't fast enough for the bitrate so the computer uses a temporary folder to store the info while USB catches up.

2. msconfig in search bar to disable background programs on startup.

[Krane]

1. delete all files in the appdata folder. What is happening is the USB isn't fast enough for the bitrate so the computer uses a temporary folder to store the info while USB catches up.

2. msconfig in search bar to disable background programs on startup.

Then its time to upgrade, don't you think? A superspeed USB 3.0 would be nice, yes?

[blondandfun]

Then its time to upgrade, don't you think? A superspeed USB 3.0 would be nice, yes?

No, it is not necessary. Telling someone to run out and buy hardware is about the most pitiful type of advice you could give, especially on something as antiquated as HDV.

[cgbier]

Then what would your suggestion be?

[blondandfun]

Then what would your suggestion be?

Read post #11 asswhole. Are you blind or just stupid, please read the whole thread before posting, geezus.

[cgbier]

And what does that help if USB2 is too slow nearly any kind of video? It is a technical limitation of the port, so the advice to get something faster is pretty reasonable. You suggested a band aid.

[blondandfun]

And what does that help if USB2 is too slow nearly any kind of video? It is a technical limitation of the port, so the advice to get something faster is pretty reasonable. You suggested a band aid.

It's too slow to playback in it's full bitrate, but not too slow to render. I've rendered plenty of blu-rays using USB2 with just a core2duo on a laptop,

His issue is primarily with windows 7 ram and memory. If his temporary folder are very large, then I think that does affect performance and may even cause fatal errors in vegas. He should delete all the appdata temp. files in the folder and then free up the ram.

Going out and buying stuff is not going to help.

[Krane]

It's too slow to playback in it's full bitrate, but not too slow to render. I've rendered plenty of blu-rays using USB2 with just a core2duo on a laptop,

His issue is primarily with windows 7 ram and memory. If his temporary folder are very large, then I think that does affect performance and may even cause fatal errors in vegas. He should delete all the appdata temp. files in the folder and then free up the ram.

Going out and buying stuff is not going to help.

Incorrect; and keep your ad hominem to yourself. The suggestion of USB 3.0 is valid one since it is the next generation of data port; and we will all eventually have to move to it. It is absolutely an advantage now, and especially with the increasing percentage of HD content being used. I wasn't speaking solely of HDV.

[blondandfun]

Incorrect; and keep your ad hominem to yourself.

Siete fortunati ad hominem è tutto ciò che hai ottenuto. Lei merita molto peggio di attacco ad hominem.

[cgbier]

And what more than ad hominem would you suggest? Coming over to start a fist fight or what?

[cgbier]

I take offense in the "lei" btw. If you want to show off foreign languages, then, at least, use them correctly.

[agp26]

Wow, didn't realize this antiquated thread ended up in a shitfight! Heh heh pretty funny tho'! I have to go with a desktop anyway, and by now (very much later) all my externals are in fact on USB 3.0, although we would like thunderbolt even better...). Just checking my old threads, as it were...peace out all

[dearcatastrophe]

well, i use a laptop with a 2920xm, 16gb and a 7200rpm drive as the system drive, and esata external raid for storage.

while the thermal footprint of the desktop i7 compared to the laptop i7 is different, the sandy bridge cpu's run circles around the first gen i7 desktop chips performance wise.

[Krane]

Laptops really aren't built as render machines. The processor you have is a mobile processor. They can't take as much heat as a desktop processor. During regular program use, it'll take advantage of turbo boost to make things run faster, but when you render, the processor is under constant load. This causes it to get very hot, which forces the processor to throttle down to stock clock (or even below if it's hot enough) to prevent damage to the hardware.

Its true for physical reasons a desktop will always be more powerful than a laptop, but to imply its inherently inadequate as a render is not recognizing the advancements made in mobile computing lately.

Many recent workstations can handle most projects just outside of a Hollywood production. A top mobile processor can hold it own all the way up to near the top two tiers of a desktop. On the other hand, cooling in a small box will always be a set back compared to the virtual unlimited capacity of a desktop.

Wow, didn't realize this antiquated thread ended up in a shitfight! Heh heh pretty funny tho'!

Did you find anything useful?

I have to go with a desktop anyway, and by now (very much later) all my externals are in fact on USB 3.0, although we would like thunderbolt even better...). Just checking my old threads, as it were...peace out all

Anyway, I think you hit the nail on the head when you suggested that yesterdays 8GB is today's 16GB. However, that's only true for heavy hitter for those that render in the background and work at same time. Something that was unheard of for even the most robust desktops only a few short years ago.

[cgbier]

Rendering doesn't need much RAM, as it writes directly to the drive. You only need RAM as buffer if your drives/connection aren't fast enough, or you need RAM rendering because you edit a long GOP codec.