Quote: I have been having issues with slow/choppy preview quality. I've added RAM, from 8 to 24GB. It helped somewhat, but I've heard here that the video card could also be an issue. Any thoughts on how I would go about deciding if changing to a different video card would help, and how do I determine which one? The card I've got in there now is this: AMD Radeon HD 7660D.



Thanks

While a better video card may improve performance, the CPU is the most important part of a computer to have a smooth editing experience.

Even with a fast CPU and computer if you are editing a very large and high bitrate video, the computer will likely struggle.

Shadow files do not always help. Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

The jargon used by many on this forum is challenging for someone like me. Shadow file? I have no idea what that is. I'm just a person who wants to use the software to its full potential, and utilize multiple tracks and effects in the process. Time and time again I'm told that there apparently is no way around this choppiness in my previewing what I'm editing. I feel like cyberlnk makes a if deal about all the bells and whistles it has, yet nobody here can seem to give me a striaght answer as to how to utilize those features without experiencing this maddeningly slow preview situation.

Now it's the CPU? First someone tells me it's RAM. Then a dedicated SSD to run the video files. Now it's the CPU.

I'm about ready to just scrap PowerDirector altogether and go with something else.

Quote: I'm just a person who wants to use the software to its full potential

don't we all!



I'd like to be a Formula1 champion but I don't expect to just get into a racing car and drive it, not that PD is F1 more like Formula Ford perhaps



<soapbox>If you hope to become a proficient user of any software package then you've got to put the time and effort into learning how to use it. Recognise your own and your hardware's shortcomings and don't blame the software.</soapbox>

Well, I'm not going to say I've got a formula one vehicle either, but I've got a good PC, with tons of memory, 24gb of ram, and what I'm told is a good video card (AMD RADEON ), and I'm doing what I think is a fairly simple editing project.

I'd cyberlnk requires such specific components in order to function at even a basic level, then screw it.

Quote: then screw it.

I'm all in favour of a good rant - get it off your chest .

If you've bought PD then it's worth trying to sort your problems out. In the end it might not suit you or your system. I've walked away from at least three other well known video editing packages over the last 20 yrs because of problems but I did recognise that each of them had tens of thousands of satisfied users as does PD. I've had hiccups over the last few years but I've stuck with PD because all the problems were minor and because of the expertise of some of the volunteers in this forum.

Take a deep breath and see if you can't sort your probs out

p.s. How about posting dxdiag details of your system as outlined Here

JoeOfBrien1969,

Shadow files are standard definition files made from the High Definition files loaded into the Media Library.

You can turn them on or off in Preferences >General. Check or uncheck "Enable HD video processing (shadow file).

If you do enable HD video processing, wait for the mark on the videos to turn green before editing.

You video card is used when you enable the Hardware in two check marks at Prefererences > Hardware Acceleration. Or when you choose Fast Video Rendering Technology in Produce. If not used, it is all on the CPU. Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

I've read that in order to have better preview quality that I should in fact in-check both of those things in hardware acceleration.

I just edit using the lowest resolution I can stand. Then I preview in full high definition, using the render tool, which allows you to render just a short section of your work, without exiting the editor. Regards,
Dan
Power Director 21-Ultimate
v 21.0.3111.0
XPS-8940, Win-10 64-bit,
Intel Core i9-10900 processor
(10 core, 20M Cache),
32GB DDR4 RAM, 2TB M.2 PCIe NVME SSD, 2TB 7200 RPM SATA HDD,
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8GB GDDR6

Quote: Now it's the CPU? First someone tells me it's RAM. Then a dedicated SSD to run the video files. Now it's the CPU.

I'm about ready to just scrap PowerDirector altogether and go with something else.

Do that. Find out that you are back to square one.

Video editing, especially HD, is a demanding task, it cannot be done with old hardware.

I could tell you that SSD and more memory that 8GB won't really help with video editing (on any software). I keep telling it everywhere, but kids take over and drown that message. A lot of people (usually less than 18 yrs old that never pay for the components) give advice based on gaming tests, just a few really understand that gaming benchmarks don't really apply to video editing.

Your video card is embedded in A10-5700 and A10-5800K. Those CPU/APU are not really meant for video editing, mostly just for office usage and light gaming.

Adding a new video card will probably do no good since the CPU cannot use it fully. Adding spoilers and low profile tires on to a Geo Metro won't make it race car. At the most a GTX950 would make sense on that CPU.

SoNic67,

I'm trying to understand. You say that more than 8GB of memory doesn't really help with video editing, yet your system has 24GB. Do you have that much for some other application, or did it just come configured that way? Or is your Xeon able to use more memory for editing than most consumer-grade CPUs? Regards,
Dan
Power Director 21-Ultimate
v 21.0.3111.0
XPS-8940, Win-10 64-bit,
Intel Core i9-10900 processor
(10 core, 20M Cache),
32GB DDR4 RAM, 2TB M.2 PCIe NVME SSD, 2TB 7200 RPM SATA HDD,
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8GB GDDR6

I added the additional 16gb just recently. It helped a little but not much.

Every other response I get tells me to do something different, adding in jargon that I've never heard before. Now it's 'Xeon'. That's the first I've heard of that, and I have no idea what my 'Xeon' is.

Quote: adding in jargon that I've never heard before. Now it's 'Xeon'. That's the first I've heard of that, and I have no idea what my 'Xeon' is.

If you look again Dan was posing a question to SoNic67.

You seem to say 'jargon' in a disparaging way. Jargon facilitates accurate description. It is good to use terms specifically and accurately. You can't denigrate correct useage of terms that everyone else understands. It's your shortcoming.

Xeon is a type of CPU. Google will help you out in a split second when you truly don't know what a term means.

Ok, point taken. I'll keep trying to work this out. Thanks.

The memory usage on PD14 never went past 6GB on my system. So 8GB probably is fine, 16GB if you have other things running in the background.
Everyone can check that with Task Manager->Performance.
I have 24GB just because I am crazy Kidding, I do other things that can take more memory.
Also My CPU is a 6 core with HT (12 threads) because video editing scales well with the number of CPU's. It's maybe as important as the video card, if not more.
PS: Xeon is a slightly oversized i7.

Isn't the CPU something that I'm stuck with, short of getting a whole new PC?

Also, how important is it to clean all the dust/debris off the video card? Mine is probably pretty dirty. Assuming I take it out and clean it, can I expect that to affect performance at all? I've heard the effect can be negligible.

Sonic67 already said that you have integrated graphics. There is no video card to take out to clean the dust off.

I have a video card. AMD Radeon