Pc upgrade help, PLEASE.....

Prowrench78 wrote on 4/21/2018, 8:02 AM

I am looking to upgrade and need some real world help. I want to build a rig with decent render times that is able to smoothly render transitions and some small effects like color correction. I have searched threads and read many things on here. I have a few questions.

1. Does MEP 2018 run correctly on Windows 10? Meaning does it use ram and cpu to its best capacity?

2. I have an Intel i3-4160 2 core , 4 logical core Hyperthreaded cpu , 8 gigs of DDR3 1666 ram IIRC. I need an upgrade to even begin to render videos.

Which manufacturer is best for this software Intel or AMD?

I am lead to believe Intel by the optimization for their onboard graphics.

Coffee lake CPU or Ryzen?

3. Is a GPU card a necessity or just for smoothing preview playback?

4. Is 16 gigs DDR4 2400 overkill and will not be fully used? OR is 8 gigs of DDR4 3000 better?

I am thinking an I3-8300 4 core 4 thread or the I7-8700 or MAYBE Ryzen R5 2600X that was just released, but that means buying a GPU...

Thanks for any help!

Comments

johnebaker wrote on 4/21/2018, 11:40 AM

IMO

Yes
MEP is designed to take best advantage of the Intel i5 or i7 series with integrated GPU so look for a gen 7 or 8 with integrated GPU - avoid any other processor without an integrated GPU and Intel hex core with/without integrated GPU (you gain very liitle for the extra expense of the extra cores.
Not yet if and when MEP can take advantage of NVENC then it may be useful.
16GB should be the minimum amount of RAM especially if you are working with Full HD or 4k video - MEP will decide how much to use.

. . . . I am thinking an I3-8300 4 core 4 thread or the I7-8700 or MAYBE Ryzen R5 2600X that was just released, but that means buying a GPU...

IMO the i5 or i7 are better - Ryzens give you no significant advantage - points 2 and 3 above.

Other things to consider:-

Use a good power pack at least 650W or more.
Two hard drives are better than one - one for the system and programs, the other for data, use 7200 RPM, avoid 10000 RPM drives they are expensive, noisy and power hungry.drives.

IMO, and after a lot of testing, there is no real advantage in using SSD drives. The computer may start up quicker however when video editing they offer no significant advantage as the bottlenecks are elsewhere, aside from the significant extra cost, if and when they fail it is usually catastrophic.

HTH

John EB

Prowrench78 wrote on 4/21/2018, 12:44 PM

Thanks John, So a hex core Intel offers little to no advantage for MEP? Is a 4 core 8 thread (hyperthreads) better than 4 core 4 thread? Thanks for the great info! I really appreciate people such as yourself who offer good advice.

I was looking at the newer I5s but it looks like they are all 6 core now. I3 are 4 core.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_Lake

The i3 8300 looks like a good value but if a six core would help I was thinking the I5 8600. It is hard to decide when a good chunk of change is on the line...LOL

cnitteberg wrote on 4/21/2018, 3:21 PM

I just wonder, is this the same way for Video Pro X or does it handle hardware differently.

johnebaker wrote on 4/21/2018, 4:21 PM

. . . . I was looking at the newer I5s but it looks like they are all 6 core now . . .

Don't know where you are looking, there are plenty of 4 core models available. Here is the list of i5 7th gen and i5 8th gen

Hyper threading is useful where applications can make use of it, you still only have 4 cores though.

Plenty of quad cores in the 8th gen if you do not want to run to the expense of a hex core, and I personally would not consider using an i3.

@cnitteberg

VPX is the big brother of MEP - they use the same/similar 'engine', though with fewer functions in MEP.

HTH

John EB