Should I upgrade my Video Editing Computer

[smillerlou]

Hi all,

First time poster here! Hope someone may be able to help me. I built a computer back in 2011-12 specifically for video editing.  At the time it was pretty powerful.  I'm trying to figure out if it would be worth it to upgrade or not.  I run Windows 10 and use mainly Adobe Premiere Pro CC.  I now have a mavic pro and Panasonic GH5 so I'm now dealing with more 4K footage.  My computer seems to be plugging along fine, but I just wanted to see if you guys think I would benefit a great deal if I upgraded mobo, proc, video card and/or memory. Here are the specs:

 

Mobo: Asus P9X79 PRO LGA 2011 Intel X79

Processor: Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge # 6-Core 3.2Ghz LGA

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 32GB  (4x8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM  DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Video Card: EVGA 02G-P4-2678-Kr GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x 16 HDCP

 

It's been around 7 years so I was thinking that I should start looking into upgrading, but would love to avoid it if won't make much difference. Any help is appreciated!

 

smillerlou

[iRileyx]

I'd upgrade the video card, everything else should still be fine.

[Alexzz_]

the videocard should be the first thing to upgrade because its the easiest and will probably give the most noticable boost in performance.

[Eduard the weeb]

video card probably and maybe monitor ( you didn't say what it was ) but being an editor being able to see what your putting out at its highest quality is always nice.

[smillerlou]

5 minutes ago, CUDA_Cores said:

when it comes to computer upgrades let me put it this way: you will know when to upgrade. 

 

Yes, your PC is nearly 7 years old, but it's still doing the task at hand just fine. If your PC was incredibly slow and took days to render a short 1080p clip, then depending on your tolerance for how long you are willing to wait, it's probably time to upgrade. The fact that you are here asking "should I upgrade" means you don't have to. 

 

For example my grandma uses a core 2 duo PC from 11 years ago and it still works perfectly fine. It has windows 7 installed and all she needs to use it for is facebook. Even if we replaced it with a new computer for $500, it wouldn't "feel" any faster to her.

 

The same can be said for upgrading a PC. If your computer is cripplingly slow, you will know it's time to upgrade. If your PC still is doing it's job just fine, there is no need to upgrade. 

 

Also good choice on intel's HEDT platform! Even today there are still guys out there rocking x58 because of how damn long the platform lasted. 

Yeah it is definitely not cripplingly slow.  Thanks for the reply and I think I may just look at upgrading the video card or not. 

[omponx]

You didn't say how your drive is set up, so I'll prolly just state the obvious. Have you upgraded to an SSD recently?

I also have a video editing comp and here's my drive setup:

1x 240G NVMe SSD for OS and softwares

1x 120G NVMe SSD for Cache and render/export outputs

1x 500G SSD for Media Libraries

2x 1T 7200 RPM Drives with Raid 0 for projects (I use FreeFileSync for a real-time file sync between it and an external USB 3.0 drive. So I guess it's sorta kinda like a Raid 5)

 

I know it might not be the most optimal setup, but it's been working well for me and I'd like to know how yours is set up.

 

* I agree with the others. If you're really looking for an upgrade, the GPU is the first one to do. GTX 1080 or a Radeon equivalent will prolly do just fine (AFAIK, Quadro is only useful if you're doing a lot of 3D stuff or at least a Ray-Traced 3D in After Effects)

[smillerlou]

42 minutes ago, omponx said:

You didn't say how your drive is set up, so I'll prolly just state the obvious. Have you upgraded to an SSD recently?

I also have a video editing comp and here's my drive setup:

1x 240G NVMe SSD for OS and softwares

1x 120G NVMe SSD for Cache and render/export outputs

1x 500G SSD for Media Libraries

2x 1T 7200 RPM Drives with Raid 0 for projects (I use FreeFileSync for a real-time file sync between it and an external USB 3.0 drive. So I guess it's sorta kinda like a Raid 5)

 

I know it might not be the most optimal setup, but it's been working well for me and I'd like to know how yours is set up.

 

* I agree with the others. If you're really looking for an upgrade, the GPU is the first one to do. GTX 1080 or a Radeon equivalent will prolly do just fine (AFAIK, Quadro is only useful if you're doing a lot of 3D stuff or at least a Ray-Traced 3D in After Effects)

Yeah I realized I forgot to put that in there, but I think I'm good with my drives. I don't remember the exact make order models but: 

 

System Drive: 200GB SSD

Scratch Drive that I edit on: 500GB SSD

Cache Drive: 120GB SSD

Drobo: for long term project storage

 

Thanks for the video cards suggestions.  I was actually just trying to find a good one! That GTX 1080 is pricey!  Might have to bite the bullet though:)

[smillerlou]

On 12/5/2017 at 1:25 PM, smillerlou said:

Yeah I realized I forgot to put that in there, but I think I'm good with my drives. I don't remember the exact make order models but: 

 

System Drive: 200GB SSD

Scratch Drive that I edit on: 500GB SSD

Cache Drive: 120GB SSD

Drobo: for long term project storage

 

Thanks for the video cards suggestions.  I was actually just trying to find a good one! That GTX 1080 is pricey!  Might have to bite the bullet though:)

 so  I got the GeForce 1070 and it's way better than what I had.  I'm not getting anymore Lumetri errors when exporting my time lines.  Thanks to you and everyone else for the help!