New Editing PC for Premier

[glenpinn]

I am needing to get my Son a new Editing PC for his film work, and he uses the latest version of Premier, as well as DaVinci Resolve for some grading when Premier can't do what he needs it to do.

He shoots in 1080p ProRes HQ @ 80Mbps, and has started shooting in 4k for some projects as well, using his Shogun external recorder.

We have a budget of around $2000au ($1500us) and i really want to get him a Dell, because they are fairly reasonably priced compared to building your own, and they provide onsite warranty, and he knows nothing about fixing computers, and this will be handy for him.

I have found 2 systems from Dell, the XPS for $1749 with a GTX-1070 8gb card, and the Inspiron for $1399 with a GTX-1050 2gb card, the rest of the specks are similar except the hard drives.

XPS 8920 Small desktop tower for $1749

http://www.dell.com/au/p/xps-8920-desktop/pd?oc=a210395au&model_id=xps-8920-desktop

GTX 1070 8gb graphics card that DaVinci Resolve recommends

i7-7700 processor

16gb of 2400Mhz ram

256gb SSD (windows) + 2tb normal hard drive

windows 10

has a Wifi + bluetooth

tray load dvd drive

460w power supply

height is only 390mm so it is fairly small

1 year on site warranty

no monitor

Inspiron 3668 small desktop for $1399

http://www.dell.com/au/p/inspiron-3668-desktop/pd?oc=z211237au&model_id=inspiron-3668-desktop

GTX 1050 2gb graphics card (which DaVinci Resolve recommends)
i7-7700 processor
12gb of ram
1tb normal hard drive
windows 10

has a Wifi + bluetooth

tray load dvd drive

460w power supply
height is only 350mm so it is fairly small

1 year on site warranty

this includes a Dell Professional P2217H 21.5" 1080p Monitor
http://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-22-monitor-p2217h/apd/210-aiif/monitors-monitor-accessories

I can get that same Inspiron 3668 from the Dell refurb shop for $1056 but without the monitor, and the 1 year warranty.

Pre-configured New & Refurbished Systems - Inspiron Desktop | Dell Australia

If we got the Inspirion, i have a 256gb SSD to install windows 10 onto, and i have a 500gb SSD that i can add to store his working files on, and he can output all his exports onto a 2gb USB3 portable hard drive.

QUESTION: for editing ProRes and color grading using Premier and DaVinci Resolve, does he need the GTX-1070 8gb graphics card as others have told him he should have, or will he be ok with the GTX-1050 2gb card, which he can upgrade to a 1070 later on if needed.

My Sons friend is an editor and he has a similar custom built PC to the above XPS PC to do his work on, except he has a i7-7700k cpu and a GTX-1080 8gb graphics card, and my son tells me it works fine for his own whork when he has had to use it.

Any help or advice much appreciated.

[RoninEdits]

dell, and others like hp, will be releasing amd ryzen systems soon. dell's will be the inspiron gaming pc. they will offer an amd 6 core cpu, but should be similarly priced as the intel 4 core. they should also offer an amd 8 core for a bit more. both of those amd processors will offer more power to work better with 4k media in premiere and resolve than the 4 core intel cpu. 16gb of ram would be a minimum.

for the video card, you will want one with at least 4gb of memory. the gtx 1050 ti 4gb would be the minimum. if you don't want to spring for the gtx 1070, the gtx 1060 6gb or RX 580 would be decent options as well. if the video card you end up with isn't fast enough, resolve has several performance/cache options to help with performance.

[glenpinn]

Hi, and thx for your reply.

Is the i7-7700 quad cpu ok for the moment at least, with the 16gb ram and the 1070 8gb card, as i need to order a PC ASAP, and his friends new PC has the 7700k version, which is unlocked and can be overclocked, but the 7700 cant, which we don't want to do anyway.

We was told that the new pro version of resolve requires the 1070 6gb or 8gb card for color grading, not sure how correct this is, but i do know they recommend this as the minimum card.

My son mostly uses Premier for basic grading, but sometimes uses the free version of Resolve as well, not sure if he will get the new pro version tho.

Finally, if he shoots in 1080p or 4k ProRes HQ at a very high bitrate, what is the best format type to edit this footage in, can it be edited and graded in ProRes format, or should it be converted over to an intermediate format first.

A lot of his stuff ends up being exported to 1080p h264 (not sure if Premier exports to x264 like my editing software can)

Cheers.

[RoninEdits]

if you have to get something asap and that's all that fits your budget, then the i7-7700 is ok. i see it as a bad investment, as it will take a new motherboard to upgrade the cpu. alot of the off-the-shelf systems also use proprietary hardware, so it could require a new case and/or power supply to replace the motherboard.

codecs like prores, dhnxhd/r, or cineform are good to edit and color with as they will help lower the burden on the cpu. a windows pc can read prores, but not create or write prores without workarounds that often don't work right. premiere and resolve also have built-in proxy systems, that can either create proxies or transcode to new codecs like dnxhd/r or cineform. if using proxies, both programs can use the original media when exporting to keep full quality.

lots of people use less than the gtx 1070 for resolve, it would help with performance but its not required. the only thing required if using a gtx card, is that its a newer generation. nvidia drops support for older cards to force people into buying new ones, and resolve and premiere go along with that and don't work with older gtx cards. if resolve isn't used very often then it makes more sense to go with a lower tier video card for premiere, especially with only a 4 core cpu. the system should be balanced, it doesn't make sense to spend a small fortune on a mid-to-high end video card only to pair it with a 4 core cpu...

most companies license official h264 for their software, and do not use x264. adobe uses h264 and its decent.

[glenpinn]

Ok so if i an reading this right, if i use a i7-7700 quad core, i don't need the GTX-1070 8gb graphics, but i can use something else in the 10xx series as long as it has at least 4gb of v-ram, and if i was to get a PC with a more powerful CPU such as a 6 core or 8 core, then it will need a card such as the 1070 8gb or better.

The Dell XPS that i mentioned only comes with the 1070 card, no option to downgrade it, the same as the Inspiron, the 1050 card is the only one it ships with, however both computers can have the graphics card upgraded by the purchaser if they want to, and the Inspiron i know can take a GTX-1080 8gb without any issues.

If i spend $1399 on the Inspiron, and the 1050 2gb card is no good, i will need to spend $400 to upgrade to a 1070 card, and i will need to buy a 256gb SSD to dump windows onto, plus add my own 500gb SSD for his work files, and the single 1tb HDD will probably need to be removed, or replaced with a bigger drive for exporting and storage.

The XPS is clearly the PC to get, and require no upgrade at all, except i will add my 500gb SSD to the PC for loading his work files onto, and then export his final edits to either the internal 2tb drive, or an external drive.

Cheers

[glenpinn]

Ist it right that Windows should be on an SSD with apps, and working files on a bigger and faster SSD, and export to another big SDD, or onto a decent 7200rpm 3.5" Hdd.

[RoninEdits]

a ssd just for an export drive isn't necessary.

[glenpinn]

So a 256gb SS for Windows and Apps will be ok, and a fast 500gb or 1tb SDD for working files, then export the output files to the normal internal drive, or external USB3 portable drive.

I only asked because there are so many people out there who claim it is best to export to an SSD as well so you have no bottleneck in any of the drives.

Also, i think we will buy the following Dell Inspiron for $1119au (they dropped it from $1399 yesterday) and let my son test the GTX-1050 2gb graphics card, and if no good for his work flow, we take it out and put in a GTX1070 8gb card, which we can buy for around $500au.

http://www.dell.com/au/p/inspiron-3668-desktop/pd?oc=z…

Will add one of my 256gb SSD and image windows 10 from the 1tb internal drive, and format that for export, and add my 500gb Sandisc Ultra 2 SSD for working files.

[RoninEdits]

the export drive likely won't be a bottleneck in that computer unless exporting to a raw/uncompressed format. its far more likely to be bottlenecked on the cpu and/or video card. normally the focus is on good performance while using the software to edit or color grade, and exports aren't a main focus unless its a dedicated render machine processing a queue... 

[glenpinn]

Ok, thanks, well this system, except for the 1tb Hdd and the 1050 2gb graphics is around what my son can afford right now, given he may have to spend $500au on a new 1070 8gb graphics card if that 1050 card turns out to be no good, and the 256gb and 500gb SSD's i already have to put in it.

so i basically just need to know if this pc (especially cpu and graphics) will be fine with Premier 2017 for editing ProRes and exporting to h264/x264.

He will not be upgrading anything on this in the future, if he wants to get a more powerful pc, we will get a brand new one that will be the newest and current generation hardware.

Cheers