welcome to the forum.
here's my penny for you but you have to do some home work.

CPU cpubenchmark score ≥10000 for 1920x1080 FHD & 3840x2160 4K.
memory - ≥16GB RAM 2666MHz
GPU - ≥2GB VRAM; speed check it out at cpubenchmark ≥5000. ex. (GTX 1050Ti 2GB)
Best NVMe M.2 SSD -> https://www.pcgamer.com/best-nvme-ssds/ ≥ 500GB
Best SATA III SSD -> https://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-ssd-for-gaming/ ≥ 500GB
HDD -> ≥7200RPM 128MB cache 6G SATA III 1TB or bigger
* Power Supply -> ≥450W

higher the CPU & GPU numbers less pain and higher the wattage means a hole in your wallet.
you will feel it especially if you're running under w10... ^^

happy happy joy joy

PepsiMan
'garbage in garbage out' 'no bridge too far'

Yashica Electro 8 LD-6 Super 8mm
Asrock TaiChi X470, AMD R7 2700X, W7P 64, MSI GTX1060 6GB, Corsair 16GB/RAM
Dell XPS L702X i7-2860QM, W7P / W10P 64, Intel HD3000/nVidia GT 550M 1GB, Micron 16GB/RAM
Samsung Galaxy Note3/NX1

Quote welcome to the forum.
here's my penny for you but you have to do some home work.

CPU cpubenchmark score ≥10000 for 1920x1080 FHD & 3840x2160 4K.
memory - ≥16GB RAM 2666MHz
GPU - ≥2GB VRAM; speed check it out at cpubenchmark ≥5000. ex. (GTX 1050Ti 2GB)
Best NVMe M.2 SSD -> https://www.pcgamer.com/best-nvme-ssds/ ≥ 500GB
Best SATA III SSD -> https://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-ssd-for-gaming/ ≥ 500GB
HDD -> 7200RPM 128MB cache 6G SATA III 1TB or bigger

higher the CPU & GPU numbers less pain and higher the wattage means a hole in your wallet.
you will feel it especially if you're running under w10... ^^

happy happy joy joy

PepsiMan
'garbage in garbage out'

So I can't "cheat" and get a 14000 cpubenchmark score with 8GB RAM and bad GPU ?
I thought very good CPU with 8GB RAM, bad GPU and 250 SSD might do the trick

Quote So I can't "cheat" and get a 14000 cpubenchmark score with 8GB RAM and bad GPU ?
I thought very good CPU with 8GB RAM, bad GPU and 250 SSD might do the trick

You certainly can cheat, and you can use pretty much any PC to use with PD and still get quality output. Ultimately, the difference is a trade-off in the amount of time and frustration versus the cost of newer and more powerful hardware needed to make and produce your project.

Pepsiman's benchmarks are meant to show you where the sweet spot is in terms of building a machine able to take on the most common challenging video projects, and they'll give you an idea for what that system might cost.

If you go big on the CPU you'll already have a good hardware encoder H.264/AVC and HEVC/H.265 built in (at least with Intel chips - I don't know about new AMDs) and that will easily do the job for you, especially if your clips are in a fairly standard format and you aren't applying FX or significant color corrections to them. You can get away with 8GB of RAM and you don't need to even buy a low-end GPU.

You don't say if you'll be working with HD, 4k or 360 degree videos, but a fast CPU is probably your best friend here. If you use 4k or higher clips, you may need to turn on Shadow Files to have a smooth editing experience, but otherwise I think you'll be fine.

In the worst case, it'll take you longer to produce these vids than if you had a high-end GPU and more RAM. If you've cut your 25GB HD movie down to 10 min and it's only cuts and titles, you might be able to produce that in 7-8 minutes vs 2-3 min with a $$$ GPU. I'm using very rough numbers but I don't think you'd see a 5x or 10x difference in speed, and even if it took 20 min to produce that may not justify the expense of a new card for you.

So if you want to go cheap, your approach will work and then you'd have to try everything out and see how it works for you. The output quality (no choppiness) will be the same no matter what machine you buy, so if it's slow to edit or takes too long (whatever that means to you) to produce, then consider adding a high-end GPU and more RAM.

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

I love it thanks!
What about SSD ?

If you're really on a budget and you're going to be working with regular clips (not 4k/5k with high bitrates), you won't notice much difference in editing with HDD or SSD. However, your whole PC will boot and run much quicker from an SSD.

If you have to use two disks (because the 250GB will only have 200GB or so for all your non-Windows docs, clips, etc.) the cheapest approach for big storage would be an HDD. Higher spindle speed drives (Pepsiman wants to see >=7200rpm) are better at data transfer than the cheapest 5400rpm drives, and they shouldn't cost too much more.

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

Quote If you're really on a budget and you're going to be working with regular clips (not 4k/5k with high bitrates), you won't notice much difference in editing with HDD or SSD. However, your whole PC will boot and run much quicker from an SSD.

If you have to use two disks (because the 250GB will only have 200GB or so for all your non-Windows docs, clips, etc.) the cheapest approach for big storage would be an HDD. Higher spindle speed drives (Pepsiman wants to see >=7200rpm) are better at data transfer than the cheapest 5400rpm drives, and they shouldn't cost too much more.

Now that I know that I won't need that much for what I wanted I become greedy and I'm like "hmmm maybe I could edit some 4k too...

I can get the mkv files in two different formats:

"title movie + Blu-ray 1080p AVC DTS-HD MA 5.1"
Total bitrate = 25-40 Mbps (mostly around 25 Mbps)
23.976 fps
MPEG-4 AVC Video 15000-40000 kbps
1920x1080 (1920x800 + black bars)

"title movie + Blu-ray 4k UHD 2160p HEVC DTS-HD MA 7.1"
Total bitrate = 50-85 Mbps
23.976 fps
MPEG-H HEVC Video 35000-60000 kbps
3840x2160 (3840x1600 + black bars)

Is there a big difference in regards to the hardware needs between the 1080p mkv files and the 2160p ?
What if I upload the 2160p in 1080p on youtube ? What if I upload them in 2160p ?

The movies are always in 24p so I guess I'll stay in 24p for youtube, right ? Or I can covert them to 30p but the only advantages that I can think of is if people's devices are better suited to read 30p than 24p.
Or maybe there are advantages related to Powerdirector such as it can really smooth 24p into 30p or even 60p; like it can almost create new frames/images in between ?

Quote ... Is there a big difference in regards to the hardware needs between the 1080p mkv files and the 2160p ?
What if I upload the 2160p in 1080p on youtube ? What if I upload them in 2160p ?...

it only effects time so how fast do you want them is the ? youtube accepts video resolutions up to 4320p(8K).

Quote ... The movies are always in 24p so I guess I'll stay in 24p for youtube, right ? Or I can covert them to 30p but the only advantages that I can think of is if people's devices are better suited to read 30p than 24p. ...

youtube accepts 24p/i, 25p/i, 30p/i, 50p/i n 60p/i(Hz) framerates. if you want smoothy then shoot them in 60p.

let us know which set up you're getting. we can assist you further in getting a most bang for the Euro! ^^

happy happy joy joy

PepsiMan
'garbage in garabge out' 'no bridge too far'

Yashica Electro 8 LD-6 Super 8mm
Asrock TaiChi X470, AMD R7 2700X, W7P 64, MSI GTX1060 6GB, Corsair 16GB/RAM
Dell XPS L702X i7-2860QM, W7P / W10P 64, Intel HD3000/nVidia GT 550M 1GB, Micron 16GB/RAM
Samsung Galaxy Note3/NX1

Quote I want to be able to choose carefully and exactly which frames I want to keep without any choppines.

This sentence is key, if in fact that is your desire or requirement. The choppiness also depends on type of edits you do. If your source can be 85Mbps as you quoted, and you are expecting smooth playback through maybe applied transitions or other added editing features to place your audio files without creating local render preview, about your only PD option is to use proxy files. Now keep in mind, to create proxy files with PD is entirely a CPU load. So, it appears you are talking 120+min of source content, time to create these proxy files will not be small. A 10000 passmark CPU rating as was mentioned will take ~30+minutes for proxy file creation. During this time any timeline editing will be rather slow, often not suggested for editing robustness. Only you can judge the acceptability of that approach. Proxy file creation between CPU's scales roughly with passmark ratings.

With such a requirement and the mention that produce time is less important, my approach would be dump as much funding as you can into your Intel CPU, it's that simple for the most editing bag for investment. SSD for OS and programs, any reasonable 7200rpm drive will work fine for editing files as HD I/O will be near 200MB/sec, no issue at all for proxy file playback. The iGPU or any mid-range GPU will playback these proxy files just fine.

Jeff

I was writing some builds from what I can get on https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/

It's the ".be" I will order from but same equipment is there (.be has only french and dutch language)

I'm a little lost. There's at least a few variations.

This is the cheapest.

* 595 Eur
* Case: PCS 6003B
* CPU: i5-8500 (CPU Mark 11898 )
* Motherboard: Asus H310M-A
* 8 (1x8) GB RAM Corsair DDR4 2400 MHz
* NO GPU (Integrated Graphics)
* 1TB 7200 RPM, 32MB Cache
* Corsair 350W

I can also keep the same but upgrade the CPU (i5 8600(k), i7 8700(k)), is that not out of control ?

This one is more balanced.

* 953 Eur
* Case: PCS 6003B
* CPU: i5-8600k (CPU Mark 12778)
* Motherboard: Asus Prime Z370-P II
* 16 (2x8) GB RAM Corsair DDR4 2400 MHz
* 2GB Nvidia Geforce GT 1030
* 250 GB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD
* 1TB 7200 RPM, 32MB Cache
* Corsair 350W

There are some options for overclocking. But then it costs around 1100 Euro
because I am assuming that I need a better case for cooling purposes, power supply, processor cooling,..

If it's only to have a marginally better pc it's never worth it for me. And time is not an issue either when editing. Only choppiness I don't like because it frustrates me and I want to enjoy the editing :)

By the way, thank you all for your comments it helps me tremendously!

A few comments on your two options.
1) I don't think it's a good performance/cost trade to purchase a new editing platform with a spinning HD (unless RAID) for OS and programs. The benefit of SSD or the like for WIN responsiveness, program launches, and the like is well worth it going forward.
2) To be bluntly honest, if someone is recommending a GT1030 for PD editing platform, I'd find a different builder or build yourself. This card offers no editing benefits, actually stepping backwards while spending more. It has no NVENC encoding technology so can't be used for hardware encoding if desired, any current Intel CPU iGPU even gives you Quick Sync with PD which may fit some production use scenarios.
3) A 350W PS really limits what you can do going forward without more replacement cost. For example, adding a higher end GPU if needs change, say a Nvidia 10 or 20 series supporting NVENC typically brings a recommendation of ~550W PS.
4) I wouldn't bank on overclocking with PD. Several have reported issues with strange behavior, encoding hangs, crashes. I'd plan without it and then tweak if desired to find what's stable with your other build components. Proper unlocked CPU, MB and CPU cooler for stability and thermal management a must.

What is your current platform you are trying to improve upon?

Jeff

I have a 4 year old laptop.
My editing aspirations are recent.

i5-8500 or i7-8700 ?
with
Asus H310M-A
16GB (2x8) 2400MHz
iGPU
250GB SSD
1TB HDD
550W

Jeff n optodata has good recommendations for you.

it's me. i'd go with i7-8700K cpu and because of my personal experience minimum 500GB SSD is recommended!
or go for the 1TB SATAIII 7200rpm 128MB cache HDD for now and later get a 500GB SSD...

'it's better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it' ^^

happy happy joy joy

PepsiMan
'garbage in garbage out' 'no bridge too far'

Yashica Electro 8 LD-6 Super 8mm
Asrock TaiChi X470, AMD R7 2700X, W7P 64, MSI GTX1060 6GB, Corsair 16GB/RAM
Dell XPS L702X i7-2860QM, W7P / W10P 64, Intel HD3000/nVidia GT 550M 1GB, Micron 16GB/RAM
Samsung Galaxy Note3/NX1