Do I need to upgrade?

TVeblen · 03 Nov 2014

TheThrasher said:

Hey guys! So I wanted to know something here. I edit alot of videos and play games. Now when editing videos, it gets kinda laggy. I wanted to know if I need to get a new CPU or GPU. Here's the info on picture:
https://i.imgur.com/eUzF5qb.png

Editing video is a processor heavy task. Adding more RAM will certainly improve your current processor's functionality, but nothing will improve the speed and smoothness of video editing more that a more powerful processor and more cores (most better video editing programs will take advantage of more cores).

The GPU is not really a key factor in the editing process. Editing really comes down to crunching numbers.

So it makes sense to try adding RAM, but if the process remains draggy then you need a bigger boat.

whs · 03 Nov 2014

I can only confirm what TVeblen says. I do a lot of video editing and on different computers with different CPUs - two quadcore i5 and Q6600 and an i7 that has 8 cores. The i7 does the jobs a LOT faster than the quad cores - more than twice as fast.

RAM may play a little role (the i5 has 6GB and the i7 has 8GB) but the number crunching is mostly dependent on the CPU.

Digerati · 03 Nov 2014

So the GPU and the CPU is fine?

You already have 8Gb of RAM which is a fair-sized chunk. Many experts consider 8Gb the "sweetspot" for your money. That is, less and performance suffers, more RAM and performance gains are marginal - if noticeable at all. Your graphics card only has 1Gb of RAM on board. While I agree that much of the crunching in video editing is done by the CPU vs the GPU, the more capable the graphics card, the faster the CPU can hand off tasks to the GPU - and it takes very little CPU horsepower to hand off tasks.

You certainly can add more RAM and it likely will help - some. But since you are starting out at 8Gb, if me, I would look at a new graphics card. And if video editing is a priority, you might even look at getting a workstation graphics card - though obviously, the best ones can be real budget busters.

The main downside to upgrading the graphics card is power. A graphics card can easily be the most power hungry device in your computer so it is common to require a bigger PSU when upgrading graphics. So research any card under consideration to ensure your PSU is big enough. And if you find you need a new card, make sure it is 80 PLUS certified to ensure a flat efficiency rating across the full range of expected loads. I like Seasonic, Antec and Corsair PSUs.

Also, video "editing" can be a bit disk intensive too - depending on the type and what you are doing with it. SSDs are ideally suited for Page Files so adding a SSD and moving the Page File to it may help there too - especially if RAM is a limiting factor.

TheThrasher · 05 Nov 2014

I think I'll go with these: https://www.komplett.se/corsair-veng...2913#!tab:info

TVeblen · 06 Nov 2014

Give it a try and let us know if you see any improvement.