Intel i7 Dual Core Processor - Ok to use for Premiere Pro?

[Dean.Sonetirot]

Hi everyone,

I am looking into purchasing the following laptop from Best Buy as below:

HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 15.6" 4K Ultra HD Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - 512GB S...

The only thing I'm worried about is the processor being dual-core (and not quad-core). From my research, quad-core is always better for video editing. However, since it has a 2.9-GHz 7th Gen i7-7500U CPU, would this laptop be sufficient for editing 4K resolution files in Premiere Pro?

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

-Dean

[JFPhoton]

WARNING!! ....WARNING !!!

DO NOT BUY  a dual core processor computer for use with PPro !!!

The performance will be so excruciatingly slow, that you will pull all your remaining hair from its follicles, and you will be BALD !!

I started using PPro in 2009 and mistakenly thought that the "minimum system requirements" printed on the box would be adequate to run PPro.....BIG MISTAKE !!

I tried to use a "core two duo" CPU and suffered a fate worse than DEATH !!

PPro needs BOTH a high frequency CPU and a multi-threading CPU with higher core counts. If in the market for a laptop there are many quad core, ( 8 thread) intel i7CPU based machines available....these would be a MINIMUM that you would want, along with an NVidia GPU with at least 4 or 6GB of video memory and preferably 32 GB of system memory. Fast storage is also required....a larger m.2 PCI Gen. 3 x4 NVMe drive is the simpleist solution....like the Samsung 960 Pro,or, Evo for less money.

However, a major development is happening right now. AMD will be launching their brand new multi-core Ryzen series CPUs. Many of these CPUs have a total wattage use of only 65 watts and that means six ,or, even 8 core versions may appear in laptops where 4 cores is the current limit with intel. You may want to hold off just a little....the Ryzen CPU release is going to be a major development as the high performing chips will be MUCH CHEAPER than the current intel CPUs.

[Dean.Sonetirot]

JFPhoton Thanks for your input. Looks like I will be shopping for one with a quad-core then. What do you think about the Asus Zenbook Pro UX501VW? (linked below).

ASUS ZenBook Pro UX501VW | Notebooks | ASUS Global

[RoninEdits]

look for a newer laptop with a gtx 1050 4gb or 1050 ti 4gb. the new gtx 1000 series video cards from nvidia are much faster, 2x faster than the gtx 960m in the asus laptop you linked. an i7-7700hq is the newer cpu from intel, likely to be matched with the newer nvidia video card. along with 16gb+ of memory and some ssd storage will do well. some laptops will have a pcie m.2 ssd with speeds above 2000mb/s, while some have the option to add one like the samsung 960. those super fast pcie m.2 ssd's will be fast enough to run everything. otherwise with sata ssd's it might be better to have two, an external samsung t3 is another way to easily add another ssd. those laptops start at around $1k-1.2k, but ssd's options can run up costs.

[Dean.Sonetirot]

RoninEdits​ Unfortunately my budget is $1500 and under. The Asus laptop with GTX960m fits my budget.

[RoninEdits]

so $1350-1480 is outside of your $1500 budget and your going to go with a slower laptop with a gtx 960m, because it "fits your lifestyle"? hmmm  well played.

[Dean.Sonetirot]

RoninEdits​ I think you misunderstood. The "lifestyle" comment was a reply to Bill, where he suggested a 17" laptop. Then I replied to him (not you) explaining that I need a 15" for portability purposes. I don't want a big, bulky laptop.

[RoninEdits]

yeah i got that... still, the options bill and i recommended for 15" laptops are available under $1500. as low as $1270 if you add the samsung 960 yourself, for a system similar to the zenbook (minus the 4k screen) but with newer/faster hardware.

[Dean.Sonetirot]

RoninEdits​ thanks for the suggestions. At this point, I just need to decide whether or not the 4K Display is worth it (even though it has a GTX 960m), or a 1080p Display with better graphics card as you and Bill suggested.

The reason I was leaning towards 4K was because a lot of my devices can record in 4k and I would like to have the option to watch 4K videos on YouTube sometimes.

[RjL190365]

My take on a 15" display:

Maximum resolution of such a display should be FHD (1920x1080) rather than 4K (3840x2160), IMHO. This is because even the largest text would become unreadably tiny in such a small, high-rez display even by people with the absolute best eyesight. What's more, Premiere Pro will not run properly on any configuration whose text is scaled up to be readable at high resolutions and smaller displays (the effect will be similar to trying to run Premiere on a system whose display falls below Adobe's minimum display resolution requirements - having critical parts of the interface irrecoverably hidden).

[RjL190365]

Like Jim stated above, you do NOT want a dual-core CPU-powered laptop for Premiere, especially since it will perform slower than a desktop i3-powered PC of the same CPU generation.

What's more, that laptop's GeForce 940MX is a weakling, having only 384 CUDA cores and a really lousy 64-bit memory bandwidth. That laptop's GPU is also likely to be the lousy DDR3 variant with a memory throughput of less than 15 GB/second. Couple that with its built-in 4K display, and you definitely have a mismatch between the GPU and display since the GPU is too weak to push 4K adequately.

That results in that PC being a colossal waste of money, especially since it costs a whopping $1,500.00 USD.

[Dean.Sonetirot]

RjL190365​ Noted.... any laptops you recommend for $1500 or less to use with Premiere Pro?

[Bill_Gehrke]

Here is a way to get exactly what you want.  Take look at this customizable ASUS GL553VD-DS71. I added to it M.2 PCIe 960 EVO 500GB super speed SSD and the 250 GB SATA III 950 EVO SSD plus I threw in backup discs.  It is only 16GB  but some later date you could probably easily add more memory  It came out to be $1360 for a cash sale price whatever that means.  Have them install your OS on the SATA SSD.  I just went back and checked the 32 GB RAM upgrade and it only bumped the price to $1495

I would Personally I go for a 17" screen model but that probably is because of my much older eyes

[Dean.Sonetirot]

@Bill Gehrke I've decided on a 15" laptop because of my lifestyle. I'm younger and need better portability.

Also.... is it safe to say that only gaming laptops are suitable for editing? That's the trend I'm noticing. Personally, I don't like how gaming laptops look

[Peru Bob]

To add to the previous comments:

You must have great eyesight to edit 4K on a screen that small.

[Dean.Sonetirot]

"on a screen that small".... uhmm.... tons of people edit on 15" laptops (Macbook Pro, Dell XPS 15, just to name a few).

But I will most likely export the files at 1080p. I think the 4K display is fine for occasional use of watching YouTube videos in 4K.