Help with new desktop PC for video editing

[Toilet Duck]

Morning all,

I need to get a new home pc for general stuff plus video editing. I've just got a GoPro Max 360 camera so it needs to be able to cope with 360 degree video.

My old windows 7 pc is dying and not compatible, it must be around 15 years old so I want to replace completely rather than upgrade.

I know pc stuff has gone through the roof price wise, I don't mind spending what I "need" to to get something half decent, but I don't really know what that amount is? If I say a budget of max £2k to include everything from scratch (including mouse, keyboard, two monitors, operating system etc), would that be enough to get something that will be up to the job? Will it be good enough for gaming if I wanted to dabble in that (I currently DON'T play games but MAY have a go at some point)?

I'm useless with pc stuff so would be grateful for any help. Would consider building something rather than buying "off the shelf" if it's not too complicated.

Any help much appreciated

[2fast748]

£2K sounds a good budget but it will get eaten up pretty quickly these days.

This is a good site for parts prices (and availability) https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/

Try https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs for prebuilt systems or https://www.overclockers.co.uk/pc-systems

For video editing I'd say lots of fast storage (M2), memory (32GB minimum) and an above average graphics card are keys.

Maybe a single ultra-wide monitor might do the trick?

[xeny]

Would be handy to know which video editing package you plan to use, as some benefit from better graphics cards, others better CPUs etc.

[Magnum 475]

I'm trying not to say this, but I can't help myself.. at that budget, have you considered a Mac? The M1 Pro processors have dedicated video processing hardware on board and handle workloads like that without even getting warm. Even 4k video editing doesn't get the fans to come on with my M1 Pro.

[Toilet Duck]

Many thanks for the replies, much appreciated.

If buying components, I wouldn't know what to pick as I am clueless with this sort of stuff. I wouldn't know what cpu, motherboard, graphics card etc to pick.

The current software I use is mainly Photoshop/Adobe stuff, and cyberlink powerdirector. GoPro's own software that you can download won't work on my ancient pc as you need windows 10 minimum.

Regarding a Mac, I don't want one of those. A friend has one and they are mighty impressive, but for multiple reasons I want to stick with a windows pc

A single (wide) monitor would be ok I guess. I currently use two monitors and like the flexibility of that (video editing software on one screen, source files on the other etc) but it's not a deal breaker.

Again, appreciate any help choosing what to buy.

[mikef]

I just sold a spare gaming PC that would do what you want for half your budget - AMD 5600X, two NVME SSDs plus large HDD and two SATA SSDs, RTX 3070 GPU, 32GB RAM, AIO cooler, lots of fans. I had it on PH classified for a month and not a sniff

Maybe look nearly-new, that would leave enough for a decent widescreen monitor

[Derek Smith]

I do a lot of video editing and have done so for years. Many years. I go back as far as Pinnacle Studio 6 or so. I stuck with it for years, but it seemed to become less stable as the years went by and the sophistication went up. I am currently on PowerDirector, but am now moving on to Resolve. There was Serif video editing in there somewhere. I used a clunky, slow but reliable one professionally for my job, way back in the early 2000s. Each had their own quirks and strengths. When I first got PowerDirector, the rendering speed was welcomed, but others appear to have caught up.

My experience is the forum pages for the specific software you are using give specific advice with regards best hardware combinations. Different software makes different demands.

There are some universals though: more RAM the better, best CPU and GPU you can afford, and SSDs. BIG SSDs. I also have large capacity HDDs, all of which soon fill. However, some software makes more demand on GPU and others CPU. They all show that you could have bought more RAM. I've got 64gig.

Have you got a preference of video editing software?

[Derek Smith]

With regards monitors, I use two 27". I can spread the interface across two when required, and then back to one when not. A flexible interface is a necessity, although I think it is largely the norm nowadays.

[anonymous-user]

Also it’s worth trying DaVinci Resolve.

The free version has plenty of features and there’s a plug-in so that you can reframe the 360 video in real-time on the computer without relying on the app.

For example you can take one 360 file and create multiple virtual cameras and cut between them as well as animate the panning.

I have one of these cameras and it works really well

You do need a LOT of memory and CPU power though. I use a 12 core Mac Pro and even that gets pretty hot at times!

[sgrimshaw]

PC Specialist's PCs come out well in reviews.

Their Studio Pro is £1,520 which leaves enough for a couple of 24" or 27" monitors and a decent mouse/keyboard.

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/desktop-pcs/video-e...

[Toilet Duck]

mikef said:

I just sold a spare gaming PC that would do what you want for half your budget - AMD 5600X, two NVME SSDs plus large HDD and two SATA SSDs, RTX 3070 GPU, 32GB RAM, AIO cooler, lots of fans. I had it on PH classified for a month and not a sniff

Maybe look nearly-new, that would leave enough for a decent widescreen monitor

Ah that's a shame! I've never looked on the classifieds here . I would definitely consider used, but again I'm not too clued up on what I'm looking at.

Derek Smith said:

I do a lot of video editing and have done so for years. Many years. I go back as far as Pinnacle Studio 6 or so. I stuck with it for years, but it seemed to become less stable as the years went by and the sophistication went up. I am currently on PowerDirector, but am now moving on to Resolve. There was Serif video editing in there somewhere. I used a clunky, slow but reliable one professionally for my job, way back in the early 2000s. Each had their own quirks and strengths. When I first got PowerDirector, the rendering speed was welcomed, but others appear to have caught up.

My experience is the forum pages for the specific software you are using give specific advice with regards best hardware combinations. Different software makes different demands.

There are some universals though: more RAM the better, best CPU and GPU you can afford, and SSDs. BIG SSDs. I also have large capacity HDDs, all of which soon fill. However, some software makes more demand on GPU and others CPU. They all show that you could have bought more RAM. I've got 64gig.

Have you got a preference of video editing software?

Many thanks indeed. I posted above, but currently I'm using mainly Photoshop/Adobe programs and Cyberlink Powerdirector. Not sure if Powerdirector supports 360 video editing so may have to use alternative software.

I also use RaceRender for importing data logs from my car and converting to graphical overlays which I then import into Powerdirector.

I don't mind spending a fair bit to "future proof" for a few years.

Tobermory said:

Also it’s worth trying DaVinci Resolve.

The free version has plenty of features and there’s a plug-in so that you can reframe the 360 video in real-time on the computer without relying on the app.

For example you can take one 360 file and create multiple virtual cameras and cut between them as well as animate the panning.

I have one of these cameras and it works really well

You do need a LOT of memory and CPU power though. I use a 12 core Mac Pro and even that gets pretty hot at times!

Thanks, I will give DaVinci Resolve a go
.

sgrimshaw said:

PC Specialist's PCs come out well in reviews.

Their Studio Pro is £1,520 which leaves enough for a couple of 24" or 27" monitors and a decent mouse/keyboard.

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/desktop-pcs/video-e...

Thanks for the link. If something like what you've linked to is the "best bang for buck" then I would be happy to order one

[Derek Smith]

I’d recommend PC Specialist as well. I normally build my own, still do, but a needed a desktop for a job and they supplied. It was well built, well priced and they gave lots of help. I was so pleased, I bought a laptop from them. Their cable routing showed that they do take care when they build.

You can’t future proof a computer of course.

You’ll have little problem with the interface of Resolve with your experience of video editing software, particularly PowerDirector. It’s a bit out there for some things, but there’s a logic to it, but it is a step up. I would not recommend it to anyone other than an experienced editor.

As someone said, you need a decent CPU – I’ve got a Ryzen 9 which stays quite calm – and lots of RAM, and you can upgrade from a merely adequate GPU when prices return to somewhere near their 2019 level.

Stick with Resolve. The free one is superb, really comprehensive. I’m going for Studio, but that’s only because it comes free with a dedicated Resolve keypad, their Speed Editor. It's a fun bit of software. My eldest is in TV and they use Resolve. I've been in his control room and it looks like a step up from the Enterprise.

I’ve got a trackball, well two in fact, one for left hand and the other for . . . well guess. I find them much more user-friendly with video editing.

I'd appreciate it you'd let us know what you choose and how you get on, please.

[CarCrazyDad]

You would need to find out what editing software and suites you are using

Some require CPU processing, some GPU

Most video editors require a discreet GPU these days to perform well - meaning for 4K editing you'd need to be looking above a 3060Ti or AMD 6700+

Linus Tech Tips does some good reviews and comparisons

[anonymous-user]

Are you sure you don’t want a Mac though?

An M1 Mac mini and a couple of 1080p 24” screens (you won’t need 4k if your doing 360 as 5.7k in 360 renders to 1080p at best) would be a nice system well inside your budget

[mikef]

Toilet Duck said:

Ah that's a shame! I've never looked on the classifieds here .

Apparently no-one does

[Magnum 475]

Tobermory said:

Are you sure you don’t want a Mac though?

An M1 Mac mini and a couple of 1080p 24” screens (you won’t need 4k if your doing 360 as 5.7k in 360 renders to 1080p at best) would be a nice system well inside your budget

And once you've had Mac, there's no going back!

Not sure how the base M1 is for video editing though - I don't think it gets the on-chip video hardware that the M1 Pro has. I may have to try some video editing on Mrs Magnum's M1 Air to see how it compares. My M1 Pro breezes through 4k editing without even getting warm.

Edited by Magnum 475 on Friday 13th May 17:18

[TameRacingDriver]

Mac seems a no brainer to me, much faster than almost any PC for this use case, much more stable, better software available. It's not for no reason that most creatives use Macs. As said, Mac Mini for within budget, then get a Windows PC for games if that's what it's needed for.

I personally have a PC but games is the only reason why. Otherwise I would never have a Windows PC, mainly as Windows is a bit crap, much like all Microsoft software.

[HRL]

mikef said:

Toilet Duck said:

Ah that's a shame! I've never looked on the classifieds here .

Apparently no-one does

I thought they only used things for sale on here were cars!

[mikef]

HRL said:

mikef said:

Toilet Duck said:

Ah that's a shame! I've never looked on the classifieds here .

Apparently no-one does

I thought they only used things for sale on here were cars!

So here's the weird thing - if you mention in a thread that you have something for sale the mods jump on it as unauthorised advertising. If you then put it into the classifieds no-one knows that exists. I'm not even sure you can link to the ad.

The first person I mentioned the PC to in person bit my arm off to buy it

[BobToc]

Toilet Duck said:

Would consider building something rather than buying "off the shelf" if it's not too complicated.

I’ve built my own once every 5 years or so and it’s a piece of cake for anyone vaguely competent (like me!).