x4 trial GPU rendering questions or possible problems.

[mclain1]

Hello guys im new here..

I have the X4 trial demo installed version 14.2.0.23.

I'm attempting to render my source file which is a .mov @ 1080p into differenct file formats @ also at 1080p. While rendering, i notice that my CPU is doing all of the rendering work. My GPU, which is a ATI HD 6950 (11.11a latest driver) GPU load remains at zero. I have both hardware decoder/encoder accelaration enabled. Is this not working because of it being a trial software or do i have a problem?

[mclain1]

anyone..???

[Trevor Andrew]

Hi
Welcome to the forums

Sorry you haven’t received any replies to your first post, personally I don’t know much about GPU so didn’t reply not wanting to give the wrong information.

I did a google regarding GPU and found some explanations in Wikipedia
“is a specialized circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory in such a way so as to accelerate the building of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display.” The operative words being “output to display”

When you render the video project to a new file the CPU will be used as you are literally creating a new video file, and indeed the processor should be working pretty hard. You are not displaying the video, other than showing in the preview window.

However should you wish to play the projects content (especially in full screen) then I assume the GPU will come into its own speeding up the display. The same as viewing fast moving graphics.

As I say I don’t know that much about GPU but this is how in interpret the information. Used to display not creating files

[mclain1]

Hello Trevor, Thanks for your reply…
You are correct in your research and assumptions as to what GPU can do. VS X4 claims to support GPU optimization for video rendering and special effects. I would highly recommend you enabling that feature if your hardware and drivers are supported. What that means, your CPU will off load those task and let your modern video card do the work. That relates to a massive speed increase when rendering your videos or doing special effects. Depending the type of CPU/GPU you own and the source video length/quality you’re using, this can be the difference from minutes to hours. In my case, editing a 20min long, 1080p video at high bit rate could be a time consuming process to render.

relating back to my question.

During my initial testing of VS X4, I noticed my CPU was still doing all the work even though I had enabled GPU optimization. I just didn’t know if those features were disabled do to it being a trial version or driver support issue.

[BrianCee]

No functions are disabled in a trial -- it is a fully functioning 100% working copy of the programme - just that it is time limited and has a reduced number of 'extras' like menu templates etc. In fact it is possible to download the trial and then pay for an activation code to turn the trial into a full working copy - but in general we have found people get odd problems doing that for reasons unknown - so if asked most of us 'old timers' would recommend that you do not do that but if you do decide to go permanent you buy new complete with serial number either as a download or on disc and un-install the trial.

[39_Steps]

mclain 1-
A quick glance at your system specs suggests that your computer motherboard may be "stuck" using the non-discrete Intel HD2000/3000 graphics instead of your ATI gpu card, even with the Motherboard chipset that you have listed.

I don't have any hands on experience with this setup, but there are multiple reports of issues preventing automatic switching between graphics processors with similar setups. Is it possible that there a menu option in the bios that can lock you into the discrete ATI/AMD gpu when rendering in Corel? Another possibility is that the core i7 cpu is so fast that the gpu never seems to be used with your settings.
http://communities.intel.com/message/142641

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the- ... -tested/17