What computer is everyone using to edit 4K video?

[beads555]

i7 4770k
16gb Corsair Dominator RAM
500GB SSD drive
Nvidia 780ti

It churns outs 4k like a dream

- Adam

Sure it does

 

[GadgetGuy]

Whats the point of dropping preview resolution?
I mean other than faster preview.
Any downsides?

You'll want to do any color grading on higher resolution files, but for assembly and trimming and cutting clips, proxies are ideal.

 

[OOO]

iMac 27 inch (Late 2014):
4.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
32GB 1600MHz DDR3 memory
4GB AMD Radeon R9 M295X GDDR5 memory
3TB Fusion Drive

 

[okestone]

I see a lot of threads on forums about people having problems viewing and editing drone videos. They are asking about what computer parts to upgrade or if they should just bite the bullet and buy a new computer.
For all you that are having problems viewing and/or editing 4K videos let me tell you my story. Read all the way through, in the end it is very simple!
I am no PC genius but I did build my desktop PC about 4 years ago before I started drone videography. I used a lot of used and leftover spare parts that were just laying around, plus a few new ones that were necessary. I used an ASRock 970 Extreme3 motherboard with AMD FX-4100 processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti GPU, 2 sticks of 4GB RAM (8GB total), cheap, run-of-the-mill 3TB HDD. After I started editing video, I added a 2nd display, so 2-21" monitors now.
Now, with this setup, I could view and edit 1080p videos just fine. With 2.7 resolution files from my P3S it would stutter a little bit when viewing but would edit OK as long as I was downsampling the output to 1080p. When I bought a P4 and started filming in 4K, then, when trying to view 4K files it (the PC) would fall on its face! Not even close!
Now I didn't mind spending $300-$400 on upgrading whatever was necessary, but I didn't want to spend $200 here, and $300 there and still not be able to view and edit 4K video. I researched and read everything I could find trying to figure out which direction to go with no ideas. Some people would say you need more RAM, some said more CPU, others GPU.
Finally I just closed my eyes and bought an AMD FX-8370 (Vishera) processor, the latest and fastest CPU that would fit in the motherboard, for $200 bucks.
With that one single upgrade, I can now view, full screen, 2 different 4K videos on 2 different monitors at the same time, with NO stuttering, jerking or lag! Smooth as butter!
I hope my experience helps point someone in the right direction. It is my understanding that most video editing programs use the CPU to do the bulk of the work. With the exception of DaVinci Resolve, which uses the GPU.

 

[John Locke]

I see a lot of threads on forums about people having problems viewing and editing drone videos. They are asking about what computer parts to upgrade or if they should just bite the bullet and buy a new computer.
For all you that are having problems viewing and/or editing 4K videos let me tell you my story. Read all the way through, in the end it is very simple!
I am no PC genius but I did build my desktop PC about 4 years ago before I started drone videography. I used a lot of used and leftover spare parts that were just laying around, plus a few new ones that were necessary. I used an ASRock 970 Extreme3 motherboard with AMD FX-4100 processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti GPU, 2 sticks of 4GB RAM (8GB total), cheap, run-of-the-mill 3TB HDD. After I started editing video, I added a 2nd display, so 2-21" monitors now.
Now, with this setup, I could view and edit 1080p videos just fine. With 2.7 resolution files from my P3S it would stutter a little bit when viewing but would edit OK as long as I was downsampling the output to 1080p. When I bought a P4 and started filming in 4K, then, when trying to view 4K files it (the PC) would fall on its face! Not even close!
Now I didn't mind spending $300-$400 on upgrading whatever was necessary, but I didn't want to spend $200 here, and $300 there and still not be able to view and edit 4K video. I researched and read everything I could find trying to figure out which direction to go with no ideas. Some people would say you need more RAM, some said more CPU, others GPU.
Finally I just closed my eyes and bought an AMD FX-8370 (Vishera) processor, the latest and fastest CPU that would fit in the motherboard, for $200 bucks.
With that one single upgrade, I can now view, full screen, 2 different 4K videos on 2 different monitors at the same time, with NO stuttering, jerking or lag! Smooth as butter!
I hope my experience helps point someone in the right direction. It is my understanding that most video editing programs use the CPU to do the bulk of the work. With the exception of DaVinci Resolve, which uses the GPU.

You virtually doubled your performance, going from 2 cores to 4 cores, along with a 10% clock boost. Glad that all worked out. Below is how the two compare for general performance. Notice the power consumption went up about 30% with the AMD 4 core CPU. AMD has really good graphics technology (not as relevant here since you are using the GPU), but they consume more power than Intel processor of the same performance. Look at the age of your original (2011) versus the 4 core unit (2014). You can compare any processor for general performance here, using Passmark. I find this very handy to pass judgment on various CPU's. Below shows 2015 vintage Intel CPU of equivalent clock rate with 4 core having 20% more performance, with lower power, but at double the price. BTW, the pricing in the Passmark website isn't relevant to today's price for FX8370.

 

[okestone]

You virtually doubled your performance, going from 2 cores to 4 cores, along with a 10% clock boost. Glad that all worked out. Below is how the two compare for general performance. Notice the power consumption went up about 30% with the AMD 4 core CPU. AMD has really good graphics technology (not as relevant here since you are using the GPU), but they consume more power than Intel processor of the same performance. Look at the age of your original (2011) versus the 4 core unit (2014). You can compare any processor for general performance here, using Passmark. I find this very handy to pass judgment on various CPU's. Below shows 2015 vintage Intel CPU of equivalent clock rate with 4 core having 20% more performance, with lower power, but at double the price. BTW, the pricing in the Passmark website isn't relevant to today's price for FX8370.

View attachment 104395

Thanks for your input John. I use Sony Movie Studio to edit videos. I am pretty sure somewhere in those settings I could select/unselect the GPU to render videos and I unselected it. Your thoughts about that? I guess my point was, I was able, (luckily), to salvage a PC that was about to go in the trash to a machine that could easily perform the job I needed it to for only $200.

 

[bdooley]

Just ordered this gaming laptop from Computer Upgrade King:

ItemSKUQtySubtotal

MSI GP73 Leopard i7-8750H GTX 1070 120Hz 17 inch Gaming Laptop LT-MS-0320 1 $2,234.00 RAM 1 x 32GB (2 x 16GB) 2400MHz DDR4 (LT-RAM-0021-x2) $130.00 LT-RAM-0021-x2 M.2 Solid State Drive 1 1 x 1TB M.2 NVMe 2280 SSD (MSSD-0093) $150.00 MSSD-0093 M.2 Solid State Drive 2 1 x 1TB M.2 NVMe 2280 SSD (MSSD-0093) $220.00 MSSD-0093 RAID 0 1 x None (None) $0.00 None Data Hard Disk Drive 1 x 2TB 5400rpm 7mm Hard Disk Drive (Thin) (LT-HDD-0031) $35.00 LT-HDD-0031 Priority Service 1 x Standard Processing & Service (PS-02) $0.00 PS-02

Subtotal $2,234.00

A little pricey but I wanted something that will last me for a while. Could have tried building a desktop for less but I decided not to because I have never done that before. If this does not do the trick for 4K editing I will be extremely disappointed! Also added an ASUS 28 inch 4K monitor for $300 and change.

 

[Calsun]

DaVinci Resolve is free for a single user license and as with many editors the company provides suggested specs for the computers used for best performance. Adobe products now make use of more cores but I believe it is 10 cores at most so having a processor with more cores than that is not going to improve performance.

There are form factor problems with the newer GPU's that can take up to 3 of the PCI Express slots on the motherboard. I have two laptops but for serious work I use a tower PC that has a 650 Watt power supply and can take most of the full size video cards. The laptops are for travel use only.

 

[John Gowland]

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)
Memory 16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.0GHz, with 64MB of eDRAM
Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 1536 MB
512GB SSD but lots of external HDs
You may laugh but I find iMovie creams 4K at H.265 and I can carry it with me at 3 pounds.
With heavy use it crashes about once every 2 months or so.
Its a laptop