Video & photo editing is crucial for videographers and photographers. If you see properly there are tons of video editing software that can get you the best quality results but sometimes there are devices that do not fully support them as they are supposed to. You need a powerful video editing PC that can withstand multiple software to run without any lagging.
Any device can handle normal video editing including smartphones. Video editing on a smartphone is a great idea when you want to make it quick. But, if you are a perfectionist, you wouldn’t like the limited editing capabilities on a smartphone. You need a much bigger screen and a powerful device to handle high-quality picture and video content.
Here’s where you should consider buying the best PC for video editing. A high-end PC will manage high-resolution footage without slowing down the entire system. In this post, you will get to know some interesting technical specifications that any good quality video editing computer needs. If you want to build a custom PC for video editing refer to these specifications and fuse everything together. Or if you want to go for pre-made PCs look for the below specifications to enhance and fasten your video editing performance.
Operating System
Before you can look for the specifications, you must be clear about the operating system you wish to use. There is multiple software that is compatible with Windows as well as Mac. Operating certain software such as Final Cut Pro is only available on Mac OS. Thus, you must be aware of the compatibility of each software with your PC operating system.
Once you are clear with the above, you can start considering other factors such as processing power, screen resolution, storage, etc.
Some of the common specs to look at while buying a computer for video editing are as follows;
RAM/Memory
Random Access Memory allows users to access multiple programmes at the same time. Whether you are editing an email, a document or an image all these tasks need memory to store your edited stuff. But, there are certain restrictions when it comes to video editing on computers. You, by default, need at least 16GB of RAM to enjoy a decent real-time editing experience.
The highest you can go is up to the motherboard as well as your bank’s limit. If you are working on motion graphics or 8K quality, 64 GB could be very useful. In simple words, the more RAM the better the editing experience. In my opinion, you should go for computers having a memory capacity of at least 16GB to 32GB. This is neither too much nor too less. This is the optimal capacity of RAM you will need in video editing. You will be able to run multiple programs and still have stable functioning throughout your working stage.
Storage
This is another component you should consider before buying a computer for video editing. When it comes to data storage you will have two options: SSD and HDD. Both these options are amazing for video and photo editing but SSD offers at least 512 GB or more is much preferred than HDDs. While HDD provides a higher storage per dollar, however, it might bottleneck the real-time editing performance. A hard drive can work fine for storing unused video footage or archiving. If your budget allows, I would even recommend you to use SATA SSD as secondary video storage.
In short, the operating system and the editing software should be installed on a fast SSD such as PCIe Gen4x4 or PCIe Gen3x4 with at least 512 GB or higher storage capacity. If you cannot afford a PCIe SSD, a SATA SSD is a great cheaper alternative. Otherwise, if you’re budget-restricted, HDDs are always there for you, unavoidable as it is economical, offers optimal storage capacity in which you can store all your large files and projects.
Processor/Cores
Professional video editing success depends on how efficient your CPU is. Now that our major focus is video editing I would say the more CPU cores you have, the better the video editing performance would be.
Nowadays, most of the processors in the market are fairly powerful for video editing. Depending on what kind of workload you’re putting on the computer, you might need more CPU cores, for example, doing warp stabilising or effects. Our general recommendation would be:
- Intel Core i7-12700(K) or i7-11700(K)
- AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
Intel Core i5 and Ryzen 5 would work just fine if you’re short on the budget, otherwise, Intel Core i9 and Ryzen 9 would be an excellent investment for future high-resolution video editing.
Graphics Card
A graphics card is one of the most important components of the PC when it comes to video editing, especially the one with a high capacity of VRAM. Modern professional editing software is capable of utilising the GPU for hardware acceleration during editing as well as rendering.
Our recommendation is to get an NVIDIA GPU as most of the editing suite works relatively well with it. One can get started with the RTX 3060 with 12GB VRAM even though the memory bandwidth is a bit on the lower side. If your budget allows, you can always opt for higher-end cards such as the RTX 3070 or RTX 3080.
Screen Resolution and Size
One of the most overlooked components, when someone builds a PC, is the monitor. Since we’re getting a video editing computer, the display is more important than ever since the high resolution and the colour accurate panel would directly affect how the video outcome.
Choosing a monitor is like stepping into a deep rabbit hole of endless options. Again, you should choose one according to your budget. The number one consideration would be the colour reproduction of at least 99% sRGB colour gamut.
While the screen size is fairly subjective to your setup and personal preference, the minimum recommended screen size would be 24-inch. Ultra-wide monitors are a great option as well since you can display a longer timeline on the screen. If your desk space allows, multi-monitor setup is recommended as you can display more windows at the same time.
Conclusion
Video editing will go perfect as long as you have the right device with you. If you are planning on customizing or building your own PC specifically for video editing and gaming then I would suggest you have a look back at this article and emphasize RAM, storage, CPU, GPU and display. If you got your choices right, the PC would serve you well for years of editing.
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