<p>Are you using it just for Video Editing or are you doing 3D graphics work as well ??</p>

<p>You will need to look at the minimum and recommended specs for the software you are using and make a decision really. It is hard to give a clear cut answer to these questions, as it would also depend on your budget. If you have £10000 spend then go for the biggest baddest you can get but if you only have £500 then you might be limiting yourself.</p>

<p>Minimum (basic usage) hardware
32-bit dual core 2Ghz CPU with SSE2 support.
2 GB RAM.
24 bits 1280×768 display.
Mouse or trackpad.
OpenGL 2.1 compatible graphics with 512 MB RAM.</p>

<p>This is quite a low requirement but the more complex work you do it will take longer to render, so getting more Ram, CPU and GPU will make things run quicker.</p>

<p>A Quad core CPU
8+ GB ram
A decent GPU (2gb+)</p>

<p>The above specs are pretty much standard for most basic gaming PC's but this is where I would start, you will need to decide on how much work you are going to do and what kind of work as 3D modeling and rendering can take a while to render depending on the complexities you are doing.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T15:28:51.147Z
Just video editing. In particular, will a GPU make a big difference in video editing and transcoding? No 3D. No gaming. Just video editing in Blender and lots of ffmpeg usage.
Mephisto
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T15:31:12.520Z
Why not use a NLE software like Davinci Resolve v14 which is a much better video editing platform with some great performance and exporting presets and it is free as well. the 3 biggest things you will need to have is CPU, Ram and GPU for most editing software
Adam Mann Pro
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T15:41:12.650Z
Because I've invested many hour already in Blender up to the point where I feel comfortable using it. So the GPU makes a difference in video editing, then? (No 3D). Are you using Linux?
Mephisto
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T15:44:01.970Z
Blender = Ram and GPU then will give you the best results, CPU would be the next bit as FFMPEG uses the CPU
Adam Mann Pro
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T16:01:56.470Z
Thanks! Are you using Linux? I'm a bit outdated, but some years ago there was no support for GPUs. Maybe that has changed?
Mephisto
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T16:03:32.393Z
Nope I use Mac, you will have to probably ask more on the Linux or Blender forums for more specific GPU's which are supported
Adam Mann Pro
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T16:04:44.557Z
Thank you very much. Btw, that Davinci Resolve seems interesting, and I will have a look at it. Good luck.
Mephisto
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T09:21:19.160Z
2017-12-15T09:21:19.160Z
Adam Mann Pro
<p>I've learnt and done some video editing in Blender and I would like to buy a computer that gives me more power. What should I look for? As much RAM as possible? Will a GPU card make a difference?</p>

<p>Remark: It's only video editing in Blender, and lots of encoding with ffmpeg. No 3D or gaming. I'm particularly interested in knowing wether the GPU would make a substantial difference in that context or if it's better to simply aim for as much RAM as possible.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T21:12:58.967Z
Considering the additional details in the comments below (you are just video editing, no 3d stuff), i have still to ask for your input and output formats (codec, bitrate, framerate, resolution). With the current info you gave, you do not need a strong GPU, in blender it is just used for 3d stuff. For ffmpeg you could get one that supports NVENC and NVDEC. Current recommendation: Fastest harddrive you can get (M2 ssd), Fastest CPU you can get (Quad minimum, Clock speed over number of cores). 16GB RAM should do it, the RAM speed dont matter a lot.
Harry
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-16T18:48:39.377Z
@Harry I encode my 1920x1080p60 projects first in Blender as H.264 "lossless" (I guess it means the highest quality available, the files are ridiculously big) and LPCM audio in AVI container, then I transcode with ffmpeg to the final formats, usually at least two, one for DVD pal and another as 1080p60 H.264+AAC in MP4 container for archival purposes. I will probably use H.265 and VP9 in the near future too. That's all. I want real time speed when moving the cursor over the footage in Blender, and also transcoding speed. Does the GPU matters?
Mephisto
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-16T18:54:44.233Z
@Harry I modified my comment to add that information. Please see it again, please. Input codec is usually h.264
Mephisto
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-16T19:14:54.457Z
thanks for the details, you might want to edit yout question and add these details. one more query: i need to know your input framerates
Harry
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-16T19:37:24.440Z
@Harry The input frame rates are 59.94p and sometimes 30p, 29.9p, 25p and 23.98p. I also do deinterlacing 1080i 60 -> 1080p 60 from camcorder footage (h.264+ac3 on AVCHD container) with ffmpeg before importing it into Blender.
Mephisto
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-16T19:43:10.523Z
@Harry I also do a lot of filtering with ffmpeg on crappy smartphone footage (e.g. handshake stabilization) that comes usually as h.264+ac3 1270x720p30
Mephisto
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-17T01:17:35.960Z
Wow, you do a lot of stuff and i detect lots of different questions, mostly about what GPU can help you where. I can't answer this question about blender, consider my first comment as the direct answer. Anyway for all your other format conversion and filtering stuff you'll have to look into the options for each and every standard conversion operation you do and check what GPU support it can serve. For good results you dont just add different standards into one timeline and let the NLE decide automatically what to do. Current perspective: Nvidia with pascal (GTX1060)  helps for start
Harry
<video><editing><software><hardware><blender>
What kind of desktop computer is required to edit video in Blender?
Mephisto
# What kind of desktop computer is required to edit video in Blender?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-12-15)

I've learnt and done some video editing in Blender and I would like to buy a computer that gives me more power. What should I look for? As much RAM as possible? Will a GPU card make a difference?

Remark: It's only video editing in Blender, and lots of encoding with ffmpeg. No 3D or gaming. I'm particularly interested in knowing wether the GPU would make a substantial difference in that context or if it's better to simply aim for as much RAM as possible.

**Tags:** video, editing, software, hardware, blender

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Considering the additional details in the comments below (you are just video editing, no 3d stuff), i have still to ask for your input and output formats (codec, bitrate, framerate, resolution). With the current info you gave, you do not need a strong GPU, in blender it is just used for 3d stuff. For ffmpeg you could get one that supports NVENC and NVDEC. Current recommendation: Fastest harddrive you can get (M2 ssd), Fastest CPU you can get (Quad minimum, Clock speed over number of cores). 16GB RAM should do it, the RAM speed dont matter a lot.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 I encode my 1920x1080p60 projects first in Blender as H.264 "lossless" (I guess it means the highest quality available, the files are ridiculously big) and LPCM audio in AVI container, then I transcode with ffmpeg to the final formats, usually at least two, one for DVD pal and another as 1080p60 H.264+AAC in MP4 container for archival purposes. I will probably use H.265 and VP9 in the near future too. That's all. I want real time speed when moving the cursor over the footage in Blender, and also transcoding speed. Does the GPU matters?  
> **username_0**: @username_1 I modified my comment to add that information. Please see it again, please. Input codec is usually h.264  
> **username_1**: thanks for the details, you might want to edit yout question and add these details. one more query: i need to know your input framerates  
> **username_0**: @username_1 The input frame rates are 59.94p and sometimes 30p, 29.9p, 25p and 23.98p. I also do deinterlacing 1080i 60 -> 1080p 60 from camcorder footage (h.264+ac3 on AVCHD container) with ffmpeg before importing it into Blender.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 I also do a lot of filtering with ffmpeg on crappy smartphone footage (e.g. handshake stabilization) that comes usually as h.264+ac3 1270x720p30  
> **username_1**: Wow, you do a lot of stuff and i detect lots of different questions, mostly about what GPU can help you where. I can't answer this question about blender, consider my first comment as the direct answer. Anyway for all your other format conversion and filtering stuff you'll have to look into the options for each and every standard conversion operation you do and check what GPU support it can serve. For good results you dont just add different standards into one timeline and let the NLE decide automatically what to do. Current perspective: Nvidia with pascal (GTX1060)  helps for start  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-12-15. Score: 1

Are you using it just for Video Editing or are you doing 3D graphics work as well ??

You will need to look at the minimum and recommended specs for the software you are using and make a decision really. It is hard to give a clear cut answer to these questions, as it would also depend on your budget. If you have £10000 spend then go for the biggest baddest you can get but if you only have £500 then you might be limiting yourself.

Minimum (basic usage) hardware
32-bit dual core 2Ghz CPU with SSE2 support.
2 GB RAM.
24 bits 1280×768 display.
Mouse or trackpad.
OpenGL 2.1 compatible graphics with 512 MB RAM.

This is quite a low requirement but the more complex work you do it will take longer to render, so getting more Ram, CPU and GPU will make things run quicker.

A Quad core CPU
8+ GB ram
A decent GPU (2gb+)

The above specs are pretty much standard for most basic gaming PC's but this is where I would start, you will need to decide on how much work you are going to do and what kind of work as 3D modeling and rendering can take a while to render depending on the complexities you are doing.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Just video editing. In particular, will a GPU make a big difference in video editing and transcoding? No 3D. No gaming. Just video editing in Blender and lots of ffmpeg usage.  
> **username_2**: Why not use a NLE software like Davinci Resolve v14 which is a much better video editing platform with some great performance and exporting presets and it is free as well. the 3 biggest things you will need to have is CPU, Ram and GPU for most editing software  
> **username_0**: Because I've invested many hour already in Blender up to the point where I feel comfortable using it. So the GPU makes a difference in video editing, then? (No 3D). Are you using Linux?  
> **username_2**: Blender = Ram and GPU then will give you the best results, CPU would be the next bit as FFMPEG uses the CPU  
> **username_0**: Thanks! Are you using Linux? I'm a bit outdated, but some years ago there was no support for GPUs. Maybe that has changed?  
> **username_2**: Nope I use Mac, you will have to probably ask more on the Linux or Blender forums for more specific GPU's which are supported  
> **username_0**: Thank you very much. Btw, that Davinci Resolve seems interesting, and I will have a look at it. Good luck.  

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