Video Card Suggestions

Vidnoob wrote on 2/5/2017, 6:22 AM

I'm new to 4k video editing and while working with movies and playback there are lags every few seconds. I know my video card is not the best but here are my PC specs:

Windows 10 64 bit running on Crucial SSD m4 256GB Sata 3 6 Gb/sec (OS & Apps)

Working HD Seagate BarraCuda ST2000DM006 2TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 7200 rpm

CPU Core i7-2600K running @ 3.8

16 MB Ram

Onboard Video 2560x1600p Intel HD Graphics 3000 Core 850 MHz Memory 2108 MBytes

Samsung S940B 1280 x 1024 8ms

I know my video card is a major bottleneck but I thought using the "proxy" files would make this viewing process smooth. BTW just viewing the video at 3840 x 2160 sputters also.

What video card would fix this issue? How much ram on the video card? Is that my only bottleneck?

Thanks for helping and I did try some searches prior to my post and it's good to rely on the people that have "already been there"!

Comments

lindsay-vagg wrote on 11/8/2017, 12:45 AM

I see no one has responded to your enquiry... :-( As I too suffer from this...

emmrecs wrote on 11/8/2017, 3:40 AM

@Vidnoob and @lindsay-vagg

First, my apologies that no-one has responded to the original question.

Unfortunately I suspect the reason for the lack of responses is that there are no really specific answers to give! The ability of any computer and software to smoothly play video files, especially those in HD or UHD, depends on a combination of HDD read speed, CPU (the faster the better, I would always recommend the "best you can afford" in the Intel i7 range, not AMD), the amount of usable RAM and a "suitable", mid-range graphics card. If you do a search for posts by forum members "Scenestealer" or "John EB" you will find numerous references to questions similar to this, with, frequently, very detailed replies on their thinking.

HTH

Jeff

johnebaker wrote on 11/8/2017, 4:01 AM

. . . . Is that my only bottleneck? . . . .

Unfortunately not:-

Adding a video card to your computer is may solve the preview issue however there are other issues with your computer specification:

The processor is below minimum spec for 4k editing - Movie Edit Pro (MEP) requires a as a minimum a 4th generation, ie i5-4xxx or i7-4xxx quad core processor with integrated Intel GPU for Hardware Acceleration (HWA) - the Intel HD Graphics 3000 does not support this.

The SSD drive, IMO, is too small, MEP requires significant free space for temporary files as a minimum 2x the total size of video added to the timeline. I have found that speed advantage for video editing using a SSD drive for OS and Apps vs a fast SATA 6 hard drive is minimal.

IMO you need a new or upgraded PC:

A modern Intel i5 or i7 processor, not an AMD - they require an extra graphics card, MEP is designed to take maximum advantage if the Intel GPU, an extra graphics card is not necessary.
A fast large hard drive for the OS and Apps to allow for headroom for MEP to create the necessary temporary files when rendering video

You do have the advantage that the existing working drive can be used in the new/upgraded PC.

HTH

John EB

RogerGunkel wrote on 11/8/2017, 5:17 AM

John EB is absolutely correct! Filming in 4k will create very large files and a lot of processing power to edit or even play smoothly. My own system uses an i7 6700 quad core 8 thread processor and 16 Gb of DDR4 ram. I was running an nVidea graphics card, but removed that as I get better performance from the Intel graphics. My 16Gb ram really needs upgrading to 32Gb, but runs 2-3 4k video streams without a problem providing there aren't too many effects on a long timeline.

Your SSD is really too small for 4k editing and as John says you would be better off with a much larger SATA drive instead., but the other drive is fine. Working in 4k is a whole new ball game compared to HD and you really need the latest Intel CPUs, lots of fast ram and big drives giving plenty of headroom.

Roger