I’m wanting to upgrade my W10 machine to W11 and I find that my computer has hardware insufficiencies.  So I’m going to purchase a new computer.  Looking forward to Black Friday, I’m hoping to spend $1000 or less.  I find many choices.  My primary concern for posting here is for recommendations for editing video (Studio 22 and 23).

First – what are the most important links in the chain CPU, GPU, or RAM for video editing?  Machines in my price range (and with other hardware needed) are heavy in one of the 3.  I don’t have a good understanding of relative importance.

CPU - Should I consider only Intel i7 or is i5 sufficient?   And speed/number of cores?  There are several models that are high in one specification but light on another. i7-4790/i7-12700/i5-13400 (10-Core)/i5-12400

RAM – Can I get by with 8G to begin?  I can add sticks if the MOBO has expansion slots.  Is “type” important (SDRAM/DDR4/DDR5/GDDR5)?

GPU – integrated or in an expansion slot?  Internet searches have found computers within my cost limitations: 

·         NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER™, 6GB

·         NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050 (8 GB GDDR6 dedicated)

·         NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4060, 8GB

·         nVidea Gforce RTX 4070

·         Intel UHD Graphics 730

·         Intel® UHD Graphics 770

·         Integrated: AMD Radeon™ Graphics

Are there others that I should consider?

I’m not asking for brands and not even recommendations unless there are items that I need to stay away from.  I don’t want to get a W11 computer that doesn’t operate as well as my W10, which is:

·         64-bit operating system

·         i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60GHz  

·         32.0 GB DDR3 RAM

·         NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745 

 

One essential information is missing in your message to provide a relevant answer : what k7bd of footage are you willing to edit ? Full HD, 4K ? h.264 or h.265 ?

My hardware is listed below. What I have is a computer that can boot up in either Win10 Pro or Win11 Pro. If your current PC hardware will work with Win11, I would do the same thing. Have two separate boot drives. But, what would happen if you did a clean installation of Win10 on a fresh SSD/NVME? 

Minimum RAM for you to use with video editing on Win11 would be 16GB. Right now, with only Firefox open and other boot up software (Bitdefender, Malwarebytes, and other necessary programs), I am slightly over 9GB of RAM usage.  You will struggle with 8GB. In addition, RAM should be supplied on two matching sticks. Adding RAM later can have compatibility issues. They have to be the same make/model with the exact same specifications. Current RAM is DDR5 for current gen CPU's. Older hardware support DDR4. Faster the RAM the better. But you have to remember, everything works together in a PC. Fast RAM that isn't supported will default to a slower speed, effectively a waste of money. Also, consider what you might be doing in the future. What about expandability of the computer? Will it take newer hardware?  

 I personally don't know how well PS works with integrated Intel GPU's. But, if you are only using that, it will use the RAM from your computer. So again, another reason to avoid 8GB. And the RAM in the computer is slower than that on a graphics card. The fastest card you listed is the 4070. It has more memory and more "future proof" than the others. AMD's integrated graphics on their current CPU's and their APU's I guess will work. But I haven't seen anyone using them nor seen testing of them with PS. 

When shopping, think of getting a gaming PC spec as a starting point.  

Mostly *.mt2s but frequently import *.mov, wmv, or MP4 files.  I'd like Studio to edit that raw video to all of the formats that you cite.  I don't export to 4K yet but may in the future.

m2ts, mov, wmv, mp4 are containers formats. They tell nothing about resolutions and codecs used in the video streams that they embed.

Thanks Tony.  You have an impressive setup.  I don't think that I can duplicate it for less than $1000.

I'd rather stick with W11.  I have 11 on a newly purchased laptop but I do most of my work on my desktop.  I appreciate your comments on RAM.  I'll get 16GB and hopefully with a MOBO that I can expand.  If I get 2 matching 8 GB sticks I guess that I'll need to replace them both with 16GB sticks if I decide to expand in the future?

Yes, I've noticed that gaming machines have good video specs.  I don't do gaming, but I'll continue to look at those for that reason.  I'll also look again at the 4070 and check the benchmarks against some of the other GPUs.

Lee,

I bought the Ryzen 7 1700X 1 month after it came out. The motherboard I bought back then 2017 can handle everything I currently have if I chose to install it on it. But I gave that computer to the wife and built from the "ground up", a new computer.

That's a lot of years and upgrades that were possible. Can't say the same for Intel. That's the Ryzen 1000 series, 2000 series, 3000 series (I have the 3900X 12 core 24 thread CPU in the box at the moment), and finally, the 5000 series that could work with my extremely old, original B350 Gigabyte motherboard with just a BIOS update. 

I went Win11 because it supports the new hardware scheduling with multicore/thread CPU's. Let's just say, I don't like it at all. Win7 is what I would like. I don't like the hand holding, the data mining I would not be aware of, and other issues. But what else can I do. 

As for gaming machines. They are a blend of power  between CPU, GPU and RAM. They make excellent video editing machines for the masses, and they can play games. As for RAM, buy as much as you can. It's relatively cheap. And say you buy 16 with 2 sticks of 8GB or 32GB with 2 sticks of 16GB, trying to add additional RAM is problematic. Especially down the road, where new models come out, old ones are fazed out. I have 2 16GB sticks, 2 empty RAM slots, and can't find 2 16GB sticks of the same Corsair Vengeance Pro RAM.... If I want to go to 64GB (which I do), I have to buy 2 32GB sticks. Also, there is a slight performance hit when you use all 4 RAM slots.

Unless I get a serious warning I plan to order a Dell model i3020-7367BLU-PUS in the morning.  It's within my $$ constraints and has the following characteristics:

• 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-13700F processor (16-Core, 30MB Cache, 2.1GHz to 5.1GHz)
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1660 SUPER, 6 GB GDDR6 Graphics 
• 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
• 16 GB DDR4, 3200 MHz Memory
• DVD-RW and SD card reader
• Realtek Wi-Fi 6 (2x2/160) Gig+ and Bluetooth 5.2
• Supports 2 monitors and has a plethora of USB slots

512GB system drive is small. At least 1TB is what I would get. You will be surprised how quickly 512GB fills up. I have a 1TB NVME C: drive. Only the essential programs that I personally use occupy it. I have "only" 500GB free of the (after formatting) 953GB.

Cooling is also important along with airflow. Intel CPU's tend to run "hot". So without a good air cooler and case ventilation, it will throttle back and go slower. That's not what you pay for. This is one reason why I haven't bought a pre-built desktop in literally, decades. I build my own. The case I am using is highly regarded for it's airflow. The CPU cooler is one of the best. So without a look inside the case, I would maybe consider another source. Dell is not known for using "quality" parts. Does the RAM have cooling? How many fans in the case?  So you have an additional storage drive? Maybe consider, if you are Intel bound, the 13600K?

Do your "due diligence" and research everything. 

Thanks Tony. I especially appreciate your comments about cooling. I was not aware of that and I'll try to add cooling capacity to the case if it doesn't have it. 

I'm not timid about building a new computer. I've replaced everything in my existing and previous boxes except the MOBOs.  But I found that buying the individual components is more expensive than pre-built. I'm also not confident in compatibility nuances. 

 I further agree with your comments on storage. My choice of minimal storage was deliberate. I have 10 TB or more HDDs, many external, and a couple of SSDs so I don't need to buy more. Same with keyboards and mice.  But I do want DVD-RW and surprisingly most of the computers that I saw didn't have them.  I do have an external Blu-ray burner but it's just inconvenient.  I've come to rely on on-board burners.

I could go into more detail but this already is too long.  If needed I may take the cover off the case and use an external fan.  We'll see.... 

Anyway I do apprerciate your input! 

So bottom line is that I'll buy the Dell and try to beef up the cooling. My opinion of Dell is low also but the specifictions on this one are good, $300 off Costco's regular $1200 price and Costco extends the warranty to two years.  So I'll take my chances

 

Make sure to uninstall the bloatware that Dell puts on your computer. And with Costco, they are great at taking something back if it's not right. I miss that place.

If the case isn't an airflow case, you can not "brute force" ventilation. 

As for storage, I've moved off of mechanical and USB3 drives to internal SSD's since they are now cheap enough and much faster than mechanical and USB3. I only use the USB3 as a backup now.

Report back how things go!

Tony P:

Make sure to uninstall the bloatware that Dell puts on your computer. And with Costco, they are great at taking something back if it's not right. I miss that place.

If the case isn't an airflow case, you can not "brute force" ventilation. 

As for storage, I've moved off of mechanical and USB3 drives to internal SSD's since they are now cheap enough and much faster than mechanical and USB3. I only use the USB3 as a backup now.

Report back how things go!

Thanks for your help Tony.  I had to return Costco HP computer because it had a bad microphone/headphone port.  Lucky me!  I thought about your recommendations and purchased for the same price at Costco: 

• CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme Gaming Desktop
• Intel 13th Generation Core i5 (i5-13400F)
• 32GB Memory
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB
• 2TB SSD

 

No problem! Welcome to the world of modern computing! And depending on your motherboard specs, you might be able to upgrade it later to a more powerful CPU.

You computer has a 13th gen CPU. There is a  difference between it, and the latest 14th gen, but is it something you will notice in everyday life? I don't think so.

Have you did an export test to compare differences in speed?