Which hardware upgrades does my computer need for better video editing performance?

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ErikN

Newbie Joined: May 06, 2015 18:01 Messages: 4 Offline

Solved by

May 06, 2015 18:28

I recently posted a PowerDirector-related question to a computer hardware forum (link: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2611840/improving-video-editing-performance-powerdirector-add-graphics-card-build-computer.html), receiving some good general comments. However, I'd also be grateful for suggestions from a more powerdirector-y perspective, which is why I now turn to you.

Briefly (please refer to the above link for details), I experience lags in basic editing and playback in PowerDirector 13 running on a somewhat old computer (parts list below). My question: which hardware upgrade(s) would in my case have the greatest effect on performance? (Replacing CPU/motherboard, adding a dedicated graphics card, etc.)

Note that I have no need for advanced effects, and I also don't mind if rendering is on the slow side. I just want simple operations such as moving/resizing clips, applying colour corrections etc. to run smoothly, so that editing doesn't become too frustrating. But if building a whole new computer is what it takes to get there, I will do that.

In any case, your input is very much appreciated!

Kind regards,

Erik,

Sweden

-----

Current setup:

Motherboard: Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 (SATA 3Gb/s)

CPU: AMD FX-4170 BE 4-CORE 4.2GHZ 12MB

RAM: 16GB 1333MHZ DDR3 CL9

PSU: AC-FSP460, 460 W

OS: Windows 7 Professional 64 bit

Drives:

- Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD (system drive)

- A-Data Premier Pro SP900 128GB SSD (Lightroom catalogue, Photoshop scratch disk)

- OCZ Vertex 460A 240GB SSD (current projects)

stevek

Senior Contributor Location: Houston, Texas USA Joined: Jan 25, 2011 12:18 Messages: 4663 Offline

May 06, 2015 18:35

Erik, Please post Part B as described here so we can get a better overall undersatandingh of your computer.

Part B here http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/40225.page

Look at your Widows start up. Do you need all the programs started at boot? msconfig.exe or a trial of "Soluto"

Have you adjusted your antivirus for minimum disruption -- not scan anyhting already on your computer? .
.
BoilerPlate: To posters who ask for help -- it is nice to thank the volunteers who try to answer your questions !
Anything I post unless stated with a reference is my personal opinion.

ErikN

Newbie Joined: May 06, 2015 18:01 Messages: 4 Offline

May 06, 2015 18:49

Enjoy!

I will look into possible antivirus and Windows start up issues. Thanks for the tip!

Filename	ErikN_Diagnostics.zip	Download
Description
Filesize	12 Kbytes
Downloaded:	273 time(s)

Salamand3r

Newbie Joined: Apr 14, 2015 20:41 Messages: 19 Offline

May 06, 2015 20:10

As much as I hate to say it....you may want to look at building a new computer.

The most important things you could do to speed things up are a new CPU and a dedicated GPU for hardware acceleration, however in both of those cases you are probably going to run into power issues either from the voltage regulators on the motherboard if you upgrade the CPU, or from your power supply if you install a beefy OpenCL GPU.

Although in theory that motherboard should support an 8-core CPU, the voltage regulator module (hereinafter "VRM") is a 4+1 phase with no cooling whatsoever, active or passive - completely inadequate to keep juice going to the CPU during long renders or even long preview sessions.

The built in GPU on that board is even less suited to intensive tasks, if it even actually fully support OpenCL.

As I said, while upgrading one or both of those parts will provide you with an order of magnitude more performance, either or both would require additional parts in support. You would be monetarily better off just biting the bullet and replacing the core of the system all at once.

As for good news, if you stick with an AMD system or an Intel 1150 platform, you won't need to replace the RAM, and your SSDs, case, and other peripherals should be fine to use with a new motherboard/PSU/CPU/GPU.

If you want a recommendation for a setup, I'd actually recommend something close to mine in terms of the best price/performance ratio -

Any Asrock or ASUS motherboard with 8 phase power delivery - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157281 is a good choice.

AMD 8-core CPU - I don't recommend the 8350/8370 or the 9000 CPUs, the 8320 is the sweet spot, and if you feel adventurous it overclocks to the same speeds as the 8350/8370 with no difficulties whatsoever. Invest in a quality CPU cooler - an All-in-one watercooler is a great way to go. Rendering and editing can put heavy loads for long periods, and heat is the ultimate enemy of your CPU - it may also cause the CPU to throttle down under load, so a good cooler guarantees that you will be running at full speed at all times.

For a GPU, get something from AMD - right now the prices are rediculously low on their top cards, and they have far, far, far superior OpenCL performance than nVidia cards. The R9 290 (non-X) is the sweet spot, but the 270X and 280X are reasonable choices as well. Try to find one with a non-reference design cooler - non-reference cards run cooler and quieter.

As for the power supply, anything above 650W from a reputable manufacturer - Silverstone, EVGA, Corsair, and a few others (jonnyguru.com is the premier power supply review site, check there if you need to).

As for the rest, salvage everything else. If you live near a Microcenter, buy your motherboard/CPU there - you will probably save 40% off of what newegg charges.

Any other questions, feel free to ask. Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 case | Ultra X4 850W PSU | Asrock Fatal1ty Killer 990FX | AMD FX8320@4.7gHz | Coolermaster Nepton 240m | 2x HIS R9 290 GPUs | 24gb G.Skill Ripjaws 1600mHz DDR3 | OCZ ARC 100 480gb SSD | Various WD Black and Seagate drives to the tune of ~20tb | I have been building systems for over 16 years, however my opinions can be and sometimes are incorrect. Please, call me out if I say something asinine.

Skibum

Member Joined: Nov 10, 2009 01:41 Messages: 97 Offline

May 06, 2015 20:34

Tom's Hardware is an excellent site and they gave you very good advise. Time to upgrade. If you don't know how to build our own you could order one from CyberPower. http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ Asus X79-Deluxe, Intel i7-4930K, EVGA GTX 980ti, G.Skill memory 16GB, Corsair HX1000 PSU, OCZ Vertex4 SSD, OCZ Vector180 480GB, (2)Western Digital Black 1TB(RAID0), Western Digital 2TB, LG Blue Ray Burner, Lite-on DVD Burner, Logitech G19 keyboard, Window

Salamand3r

Newbie Joined: Apr 14, 2015 20:41 Messages: 19 Offline

May 06, 2015 20:50

Quote: Tom's Hardware is an excellent site and they gave you very good advise. Time to upgrade. If you don't know how to build our own you could order one from CyberPower. [url=http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/

]http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/

[/url]

Problem with Tom's these days is that it's overrun with trolls. Linustechtips is personally where I'd go for advice.

And yeah, ordering a premade is always an option - since the OP listed all his/her components however, I assumed at least a passing knowledge, and with that the possibility of a custom build. Personally, since there are videos of 5-year-olds building PCs, I have a hard time justifying ANYONE spending the premium for a premade system - unless you are talking about Falcon Northwest or Puget which are truly in a league of their own. Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 case | Ultra X4 850W PSU | Asrock Fatal1ty Killer 990FX | AMD FX8320@4.7gHz | Coolermaster Nepton 240m | 2x HIS R9 290 GPUs | 24gb G.Skill Ripjaws 1600mHz DDR3 | OCZ ARC 100 480gb SSD | Various WD Black and Seagate drives to the tune of ~20tb | I have been building systems for over 16 years, however my opinions can be and sometimes are incorrect. Please, call me out if I say something asinine.

Salamand3r

Newbie Joined: Apr 14, 2015 20:41 Messages: 19 Offline

May 11, 2015 22:08

Switching to Intel may be a valid idea, depending on what happens between now and when you rebuild your PC. I selected AMD simply to keep the price down, but if you have more to spend, an Intel 5820k on the LGA2011-v3 platform would be a good way to go - the downside is the forced upgrade to DDR4. Moving to an LGA1150 platform, i.e. the 4770K/4790K route will allow you to preserve your current RAM, but will also limit the upgrade path, as well as not offering a substantial performance benefit compared to an AMD when taking the price into consideration.

And yes, the Extreme9 is a superior board, although the Fatal1ty Killer is actually nice (despite it being a "gaming" board) for working with audio since it has a built in headphone amplifier. If you use an external DAC that's not going to be an issue, obviously. Asrock started as a subsidiary of ASUS, and in my opinion they have kept their quality to almost the same level. The Sabertooth is basically the best AM3 board available, but the price reflects that - if you are going to fork out the greenbacks for a Sabertooth, then you may as well move towards Intel.

Finally, I would get a beefier video card than that. The R9 290 offers vastly superior OpenCL for a very small price increase. Not the 290X - the price premium on the X version is not commensurate with the performance increase.

PS That cooler should be good for the CPU - however, check out the Thermaltake Water 3.0 Extreme - more cooling performance for a similar pricepoint. Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 case | Ultra X4 850W PSU | Asrock Fatal1ty Killer 990FX | AMD FX8320@4.7gHz | Coolermaster Nepton 240m | 2x HIS R9 290 GPUs | 24gb G.Skill Ripjaws 1600mHz DDR3 | OCZ ARC 100 480gb SSD | Various WD Black and Seagate drives to the tune of ~20tb | I have been building systems for over 16 years, however my opinions can be and sometimes are incorrect. Please, call me out if I say something asinine.