Posted 26 October 2023

Video editing PC

Hello, I was wondering if or anyone else can recommend me a pre built PC capable of running the Adobe suite and Topaz Video AI comfortably (Topaz minimum specs are https://docs.topazlabs.com/video-ai/system-requirements).

I don't need a DVD writer or WiFi as I already have an external drive and dongle.

I'm looking for just a main SSD drive (480gb or 1tb) but with the capacity to transfer a hard drive and 2 SSD drives from an old machine.

I have no interest in gaming so it doesn't need to be capable of running games!

Many thanks!

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30th Oct 2023
Have a look on scan for system ideas. You don't have to buy it from them.

Custom video editing systems -
scan.co.uk/3xs…ops

I'd agree you probably want an amd/ati video card. Whether that be integrated or a card. As opposed to intel integrated iris or arc. Otherwise Nvidia secondary.

Have you read up on the software and recommended system specs other users have? (edited)
30th Oct 2023
That would be my recommendation. Always happy to offer advice but basically going to be doing your research for you as I don't know much about video editing setups. Gaming setups are still going to do a great job, but it can be better.

What is your current machine? Wondering on expectations. The reality is that you could have a £2k machine and want better, but you could also want a £500 machine and be happy with it. And don't forget, a £2k machine performance from 2 years ago that people were ecstatic about will be half that price now.. you don't always need the latest tech.
27th Oct 2023
If it were me I would be looking into a Ryzen rig with memory. Ryzen because you get a lot more cores compared to Intel for similar prices which is great since video editing relies on more cores to use. Maybe go on AM4 since it's still great and it'll fit in with your budget - and going to a X570 (dual pci-e gen 4 support) would be helpful too.

GPU suggestion would be the Intel Arc series (take your pic of which one). All of them has AV1 encoding/decoding which is extremely helpful. That's what I did when I got my Arc A380. You can read more about it here from NVIDIA themselves.

The system with the 4060TI will also have it, but seems weird to get that if you're not gaming at all.

The Intel one from Palicomp won't have that benefit since NVIDIA only has AV1 encoding on the RTX 4000 series (AMD alternatively has it on their RX 7000 series).

Adobe doesn't support AV1 yet, but external plugins such as Influx make it possible to use. You'll benefit this for Topaz specifically and the Intel ARC also offers h.264 & HEVC (h.265) encoding if you don't want to use Influx.

Using my Intel ARC A380 I've been able to render a 10 minute 4K video (at 18000 kbps bitrate) in 7.5 minutes using Premier Pro + Influx which isn't bad, so it might interest you.

As an example:
uk.pcpartpicker.com/lis…YdH (edited)
Author
29th Oct 2023
Thanks, this is helpful. Pricing up a similar kit to what you have suggested comes in just over 1k at Palicomp. I'm not sure I'm ready to order the parts and put it together myself
2nd Nov 2023
, have you got any further with this?
I assume you want prebuilt? How much can you tack on yourself?
Do you care about fan noise etc? I want a really quiet machine and most pc's are a lot nosier than laptops etc so worth thinking about before you just buy one. OF course, if your PC is a distance from you then it may be irrelevant.

You could even start at a cheap base price like this and then add a GPU yourself.

hotukdeals.com/dea…812

Like you said originally, perhaps will offer an opinion but video work priority muddies the water a bit..
26th Oct 2023
Any budget in mind?
Author
26th Oct 2023
Ideally I'm looking to spend up to £700 but I could go higher if needed.
26th Oct 2023
Bar "RGB", the spec for video editing will be similar to that of gaming.
A decent GPU will reduce the time you spend waiting for it to compute.

Used will be even cheaper.. Just look for a decent PC build from Sarden at that price and update here if you have any you want people to compare on your behalf..
Author
26th Oct 2023
I'm looking at this one but upgrading the RAM to 32GB. Would I be able to add in a hard drive and more SSDs to this machine?
26th Oct 2023
Which one?
26th Oct 2023
If you can't build one yourself or don't know anyone who can do it for you.

Simply goto a decent pc builder and buy a pre built system for video editing like AWD, Scan, or similar.

You know what the minimum and recommended specs are for the SW you want to run and use.

Look for the recommend specs and see how much it is. If it's out of your budget alter components between the recommend and minimum to get the price down.

If you can't afford the minimum specs required. Seriously save up some more or spend more money. There is no point in saving money in the long run. If the resulting system is painfully slow to use.
Author
27th Oct 2023
Thanks - I've just turned 50 and the last time I had my hands inside a PC we were measuring RAM in megabytes and you had to wear a special thing on your wrist to ground yourself before opening up the case

I've upped my budget and am looking at the following:

1. This deal posted by hotukdeals.com/sha…018 making all his recommended changes, upping the RAM to 32Gb 3200 Mhz and adding a Soundblaster sound card since I am also doing some audio editing, and removing the hard drive since I already have one I can add in - total cost £943. Looks like this motherboard will have a spare SSD slot for me to add that in as well.

2. This one palicomp.co.uk/gen…en5 upgrading to the INTEL Core i7 12700 - 12 Cores - 20 Threads - 2.1/4.9Ghz Turbo, 32GB DDR5 5200Mhz - ADATA Lancer, removing the hard drive and adding the sound card - total cost £1015.39

Any idea which is the best deal?
Author
5th Nov 2023
Yes, I worked with Palicomp to put together a pre build that meets my needs - got it set up yesterday and I'm very happy with the performance on video editing.