Hi, Sorry for the long first post!

I was tasked with creating a VMix machine for a production company I used to work for a few months back, which I have done and was working fine. However they have finally tried to push the machine to the max on a big job they just had and came across some issues. I am new to VMix so I am not sure on whats used most by the software (eg cpu speed or ram or gfx!). Obviously something is holding it back but I wouldn't know what to upgrade to help out.

So here is the spec I built for them, I went off the VMix reference systems.

Asus Prime X299-A II Intel X-Series ATX Motherboard
Intel i9 10900X
ddr4 3200mhz 32gb
Rtx 3060ti 12gb
Samsung 980 M2 SSD 1TB x3
Decklink Quad 2
PSU 850w
Master MasterLiquid 240 Liquid CPU Cooler
Case with lots of Fans!

And this is what my client sent me after the big production they tried to run.

To set the scene as it were, we were using the system to do the following:

SDI - 7 camera input, one out
We started using 4 cameras for replays
1 master record with full audio mix w graphics to external HDD
1 clean record with no GFX and no commentary to same drive
1 NDI connection from another PC for the GFX input/scoring etc
2 channel full mix audio in via Behringer USB connection from the audio desk
Stream out direct to Restream system
External output enabled via the SDI out on the quad-deck
We had a stream deck connected to cut cameras with

The CPU was maxing out and we had to stop using the replay system as it started stuttering on replays;
We also had to delete replays while live, as the operator said the system couldn’t cope with storing the replays. Beats me, as I thought they would be recorded to the external HDD we were using? And there was plenty of space on the HDD. But we had to stop that recording and using the replays as I say which was a major issue of course.

So on the 2nd night, we opted to use the 7 cameras straight into the Atem system that I then cut, and we used just one camera input separately from the master cut out of the atem, for replays. So Vmix had only 2 SDI inputs. We had to use the rest the same as first night on the Vmix system. That worked fine for the first hour, and all was looking great – then again, the replays began stuttering about 80 mins into the show. We then stopped recording the replays, which meant we couldn’t use any again for a while, and deleted all we had stored

And then it recovered enough to use for a while, then the operator saw the CPU maxing again and so we stopped replays again. The match ended after about 110 minutes. We had wanted to record the commentators audio separately as well, but we felt that would have pushed the system even further, so we didn’t and wish I had of course afterwards given requests;

We also wanted to use the replays for social media clips while live, but there was no we could risk exporting them to a stick or drive while we were live given the way it was behaving.

And it had been suggested we have callers coming in over vmix call as well and I had to basically say no to it!



They had been renting a system before I built this one that they said managed to do all this before. Unfortunately I wasn't there so I am not sure what actually hapened and the guy using it isnt the best with technology.

With the replay storage, I said they should have recorded to the M2 drives as they will be quicker, also there's a possibility they could have had the drive plugged into a USB2 port...

Now my question is whats the best route to go down in terms of upgrading? If it is the CPU that's maxing out then then would moving to a i9 10980XE be better? Slower speeds but more threads?

i9 10900X which is 10 core/20 threads, 3.7ghz-4.7ghz
i9 10980XE which is 18 cores/36 threads 3.0ghz-4.6ghz.

Could add more ram there's 32gb in it at the moment (4x8gb sticks), but I believe it has 8 slots so could double it up to 64gb.

The Gfx card is a Rtx 3060ti 12gb, Could upgrade to Rtx 3080ti.

Thanks!

Hi,

If your PC is properly configured
(see motherboard diagram)

Slot pcie_1 3.0 x16 = rtx 3060ti
Slot pcie_2 3.0 x16 = decklink quad 2
M.2_1 3.0 x4 = Windows
M.2_3 3.0 x4 = Replay Rec (LQ or SQ quality max) format and empty
1To too little for HQ

see the load, then see to add ndi input
M.2_2 3.0 x4 = PGM Rec (with and without GFX) format and empty

no ssd on the SATA 6G_1 connector

not use external storage for replay

if no better, external encoder and recorder for pgm