Decent cheap PC for video editing?

[Jim85IROC]

Instead of running Lightworks and dealing with lockups and crashes, this time I decided to just use Movie Maker for my latest Youtube video. It took hours last night to import the clips, and tonight after I finished editing, the pc keeps shutting off during the export. So now I get to start all over again in Lightworks and deal with more lockups.

My PC is a 7 or 8 year old Asus with an Intel I-something processor. How much horsepower do I need to edit 4k videos without this nonsense? I'm only doing 1080p now, but I'd like to be able to do 4k soon. Can I get a desktop for under $500 that can handle this? I don't need cutting edge, just sometging functional.

 

[Rekreant]

Right now you can get an i5 8400k for around 300$ with mobo. It would handle 4k, but it would not be very fast for that. A lot of this depends on what type of hard drives you already have, how much ram you plan to get. Im happy to help give you pointers as Im a pc enthusiast, Id offer to sell you my current rig but I need more money to buy the new top of the line option. To be honest with you though, 500$ for editing 4k is going to be hard to achieve. With that 8400k and 16gb or ram you are already at 500$. If youre editing 4k youre gonna want 32gb and a Titan or equivalent gpu, and those cost 500$ used. You could either upgrade to doing 120fps 1080p, or spend closer to 1500$ to be able to edit 4k.

 

[Jim85IROC]

I'm definitely not spending $1500. My Youtube endeavors to date have made me exactly $21.66, so pouring that kind of cash into it just isn't feasible.

Since I'm going to be dealing 99% with 1080P, let's focus on that. If I dabble in 4K, I'm willing to deal with it being slow as long as it doesn't lock up and crash.

I was looking at a Dell that's got an i5 2400 and 8GB of RAM, and figured I could chuck in another 8GB to give me 16GB. The PC comes with a 2TB hard drive and a 120GB SSD, so I figured it should work pretty decently. Is that processor sufficient? I figured it's got to be lightyears ahead of my 8-ish year old laptop.

EDIT: I just researched the i5-2400 and realized that the processor is from 2011. That's probably close to what my old dinosaur laptop has.

Looking on Amazon, there seems to be a few i5-8400 systems around the $500 mark. I'll have to start looking at some of those.

 

[STANG KILLA SS]

i bought my first gaming PC from walmart .com
was that same $500 (3 years ago now)
it was cyber power brand. still use it for my home PC and video editing.

 

[Jim85IROC]

i bought my first gaming PC from walmart .com
was that same $500 (3 years ago now)
it was cyber power brand. still use it for my home PC and video editing.

care to share the specs, and what resolution video you're editing? That will give me a good measuring stick to see what I may really need.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

I'm not as much of a PC nerd as I used to be so I can't help with specs. I can say watch Woot and Slickdeals.net for great deals.

I actually bought a factory refurbished Dell from Woot and it's served me well as a SolidWorks workstation and a PC gaming rig for a few years now.

EDIT: The reason I bought the factory refurb instead of new is because it was 1/2 to 3/4 the cost of a brand new unit with the same specs and it came back with the same or similar warranty as new. I figured I had nothing to lose. The case did come with some scratches, but everything else was flaweless.

 

[Jim85IROC]

Dell refurbs are something that I've definitely been looking at. There seem to be some good deals out there, and I'm not the least bit opposed to a refurb.

3D modeling is another reason that I need a new PC. Fusion 360 and Cura both bog my computer down and will sometimes result in a crash.

 

[Jim85IROC]

Anybody have an opinion on this?

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883101688&ignorebbr=1

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Anybody have an opinion on this?

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883101688&ignorebbr=1

You need a good graphics card for solid modeling and video editing. Integrated graphics will really hold you back.

 

[Rekreant]

If youre going to go with a prebuilt machine I strongly recommend cyberpower or ibuypower. I think given your budget you would be very pleased with an 8400k. I know it sounds harsh that i listed some very expensive parts, but the parts Im listing are actually entry level parts. Computers that are capable are very expensive. The CPU I run alone costs 900$, plus 400$ for the motherboard, and its 5 YEARS OLD.

 

[Rekreant]

that base newegg model you listed would be fine if you added at least another 8gb of ram and a good graphics card. Also bare in mind that uses Optane memory, which is the most expensive memory on the market right now.


Also Dell is trash, you WILL regret it if you buy one.

 

[STANG KILLA SS]

I strongly recommend cyberpower or ibuypower.

I ditto that


all my editing is 1080p

this is the computer I bought
iBUYPOWER Black Gamer Power PC,WA550B,8GB Memory - Walmart.com

the link above is actually updated. they have upgraded the computer and lowered the price since I bought it. my version has 4130 processor (still quad 3.8 ) and mine has Nvidia GT630 (Still 2gb) and I paid 498. the one above has upgraded those items and looks like added more USB ports. and possibly others.

they delivered it to the walmart next to my work for free.

they also have some larger more powerful models I think for an extra 100-200. one thing I was very positive was that I wanted windows 7 not windows 8. that made my search harder.

my only complaint about the computer above was that the mother board wasnt fast enough/compatable with the processor, so i never got the full 3.8. but its never neen an issue. still plenty of power and not crashing to make 20 minute edits. "thumbsup"


also to whoever said add more ram. dont. anything over 8gb is a waste. even for hardcore high graphics gamers like myself.
also look for something like the one i posted that has a seperate video card. 2gb is a plenty.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

that base newegg model you listed would be fine if you added at least another 8gb of ram and a good graphics card. Also bare in mind that uses Optane memory, which is the most expensive memory on the market right now.


Also Dell is trash, you WILL regret it if you buy one.

Why do you say that? People have always trashed Dell and I've yet to have a single issue with one. Haven't even had one die on me in all of the years. They just get older than they are worth.

 

[soze]

I'm actually looking into getting something myself. For the past few years, I've been working off my Surface Pro 4 i7 with 16gb ram. It performed great for what I was using it for... coding.

Where it really lags is the integrated graphics. I run an external monitor most of the time, and it makes the surface work harder since it's a large 3440x1440 34" monitor. (Native resolution isn't far off, but powering external seems to tax it more).

Anyway, now that I've gotten into video editing, I'm looking for something with a beefier GPU. That and I've figured out that my SP4 is docked 99% of the time, so I don't really need a laptop.

I'll probably build my own unless I find something comparable, but I was looking at a Micro ATX/Mini ITX form factor, or something small... that could have a solid GPU for video editing. I don't want a huge tower. I plan to get tiny box and mount it underneath my standing desk. I originally wanted something the size of a Mac Mini/PC equivalent, but found out that none of those have the GPU horsepower needed, so I need to upsize the form factor a bit in order to get a decent GPU.

 

[Rekreant]

I ditto that


all my editing is 1080p



my only complaint about the computer above was that the mother board wasnt fast enough/compatable with the processor, so i never got the full 3.8. but its never neen an issue. still plenty of power and not crashing to make 20 minute edits. "thumbsup"


also to whoever said add more ram. dont. anything over 8gb is a waste. even for hardcore high graphics gamers like myself.
also look for something like the one i posted that has a seperate video card. 2gb is a plenty.

If you are editing video I disagree on the ram part. Right now my windows 10 install uses 5gb of ram just to run windows. If you are editing an hr long 1080p video, you will easily be able to go up towards the 9-12 range. If I play a triple A game, say Fallout 4, I hit 9gb.

 

[Rekreant]

Why do you say that? People have always trashed Dell and I've yet to have a single issue with one. Haven't even had one die on me in all of the years. They just get older than they are worth.

The big problem is they dont build for expandability, and their support is terrible. They will often give you the minimum required parts to make the machine work, and then you are stuck with their planned obsolescence. Much like buying an apple computer they are not upgrade friendly outside of shipping the thing to them and paying their markups. Anyone who builds their own pc's or uses them for intensive tasks or games talks crap on Dell for these reasons and all the bloatware they add on.

 

[Rekreant]

I'm actually looking into getting something myself. For the past few years, I've been working off my Surface Pro 4 i7 with 16gb ram. It performed great for what I was using it for... coding.

Where it really lags is the integrated graphics. I run an external monitor most of the time, and it makes the surface work harder since it's a large 3440x1440 34" monitor. (Native resolution isn't far off, but powering external seems to tax it more).

Anyway, now that I've gotten into video editing, I'm looking for something with a beefier GPU. That and I've figured out that my SP4 is docked 99% of the time, so I don't really need a laptop.

I'll probably build my own unless I find something comparable, but I was looking at a Micro ATX/Mini ITX form factor, or something small... that could have a solid GPU for video editing. I don't want a huge tower. I plan to get tiny box and mount it underneath my standing desk. I originally wanted something the size of a Mac Mini/PC equivalent, but found out that none of those have the GPU horsepower needed, so I need to upsize the form factor a bit in order to get a decent GPU.

The problem you can run into with microATX and a beefy GPU is heat. If you water cool the card you can do it, if you are really into the micro stuff I would recommend looking into LinusTechTips. They do a build on a micro system with a 1080ti card that works but does thermal throttle sometimes.

 

[tuanies]

If you are editing video I disagree on the ram part. Right now my windows 10 install uses 5gb of ram just to run windows. If you are editing an hr long 1080p video, you will easily be able to go up towards the 9-12 range. If I play a triple A game, say Fallout 4, I hit 9gb.

It really depends on what editing tool you're using. If you're using the GoPro editor or MovieMaker? Sure 8GB is plenty. But when you start getting into Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere / After Effects, they'll suck up RAM like no other.

I'm at 44% RAM usage on my 32GB of RAM.

Also don't skimp on storage, opt for a good SSD as that helps with processing image previews and such.

 

[Rekreant]

I'm actually looking into getting something myself. For the past few years, I've been working off my Surface Pro 4 i7 with 16gb ram. It performed great for what I was using it for... coding.

Where it really lags is the integrated graphics. I run an external monitor most of the time, and it makes the surface work harder since it's a large 3440x1440 34" monitor. (Native resolution isn't far off, but powering external seems to tax it more).

Anyway, now that I've gotten into video editing, I'm looking for something with a beefier GPU. That and I've figured out that my SP4 is docked 99% of the time, so I don't really need a laptop.

I'll probably build my own unless I find something comparable, but I was looking at a Micro ATX/Mini ITX form factor, or something small... that could have a solid GPU for video editing. I don't want a huge tower. I plan to get tiny box and mount it underneath my standing desk. I originally wanted something the size of a Mac Mini/PC equivalent, but found out that none of those have the GPU horsepower needed, so I need to upsize the form factor a bit in order to get a decent GPU.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGIb0tws_e4

 

[JatoTheRipper]

The big problem is they dont build for expandability, and their support is terrible. They will often give you the minimum required parts to make the machine work, and then you are stuck with their planned obsolescence. Much like buying an apple computer they are not upgrade friendly outside of shipping the thing to them and paying their markups. Anyone who builds their own pc's or uses them for intensive tasks or games talks crap on Dell for these reasons and all the bloatware they add on.

Their bloatware is a problem. I immediately format the HD/SSD and install plain Windows. Very easy to do.

As far as expandability goes I've rarely upgraded PCs. I buy what I want, use it for 5+ years and then move onto something new. Even PC builders I know pretty much start from scratch when they build their next computer. Not much in PCs is worth a shit after a few years.

Above I mentioned HD and SSDs. These days I wouldn't get a PC without an SSD or I'd immediately upgrade it. SSDs add a lot of speed and most people don't realize that.