Video Card GPU Decision Craziness

Nuts. Just nuts. Trying to decide what to do. I run Vegas Pro 11 and After Effects CS6.

I would like AE to prerender faster so I can see what I'm doing without waiting for each step, and I would like to see better preview frame rates in Vegas. Is there any hope? Seems like there is a "chance" I might see some improvement with a dedicated GPU, but as my processor already is pretty kickass and sports onboard graphics, the improvement, if any, especially with Vegas, will be negligible, according to many many Google search results.

I'm looking for information from folks who run a system similar to mine.

I have nVidia 240 or something like that, but it does nothing, naturally, as I spent my money on other aspects of the system. Now I'm fed up, and ready to improve the video card, as well as possibly double the RAM.

I have heard that nVidia GTX 570 is pretty badass, but that the 660-680 series is more efficient, although a different architecture (Fermi) more designed for gamers than video editors. AE can take advantage of this, but Vegas can't.

I would just like to be able to see what I'm working on - the system supports multiple instances of Vegas while rendering AND AE working/rendering, plus Filezilla uploading, and Chrome with 15+ tabs, and Excel but even when all other processes are shut down, Vegas can't preview if any effects or scaling applied.

Does anyone have FIRST HAND info about this? Thanks. Thanks. Thanks!

Here are my system specs:

CPU: i7 2600K (Sandy Bridge) 3.4GHz Quad Core 8MB
RAM: 16GB DDR3 1333Mhz
MB: Asus P8Z77-M Pro
C: 80GB Intel 360 SSD
3 separate 1 TB working drives (Caviar Black SATA)
Seasonic X-560 560W Power Supply (which limits some of the choices of video card)

After Effects typically uses CPU for rendering, except for very specific effects that can utilize GPU. I do not have Vegas experience, PPro CS6 here, and the cuda acceleration is amazing from our GTX 580. Just hit it with about 40 layers of HD with various effects, and it plays it smoothly without rendering. Amazing. The superfast SSD doesnt hurt either, and we keep our media files there while working on a project. Good luck!

I have the GTX 560Ti version and am very satisfied with it. I read comments on 6xx series that the price difference(when compared to 560 and 570) is not jusitified by the performance gap. It looks like Nvidia somehhow limited the GPU performance of the new cards in order to drive pro consumers to their Quadro line.

Also, read this:

http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5.htm

Thanks you guys for that info. I heard the same thing, but also that the Quadro line does not perform well enough to justify the price!

This is a cool article: http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/AfterEffects.htm

Except for the lengthy times it takes me to view what I'm doing until actually rendered, especially with Warp Stabilizer, AE renders fast enough for me.

I like to describe and keyword clips while they are rendering, and fill in data on a site or three during that time too, especially since I frequently have two Vegas renders going at the same time AE working or rendering.

My biggest fear is that of disappointment, since Vegas is known for its choppy previews, that I would not see that big of an improvement after spending another big chunk of dough on gear.

It never ends though, does it?

I purchased the gtx 680 zotac 4gb and love the card. it definitely helps with everything and handles all the avchd I can throw at it. Very happy with that +CS6