Build a VIDEO EDITING Computer for Adobe Premiere Pro (2022 Guide)

Published on March 2, 2022

Tips and Tricks

computer build, Video Editing Computer, workstation

Computer for Video Editing

Building a computer for video editing is different from gaming or 3D animations. One of the biggest misconceptions is that video editing requires a good graphics card. While in reality the processor or CPU is more important.

Video editing eventually comes down to the software and how it utilizes your hardware. Adobe Premiere Pro still uses much of the processor for things like playback of H.264 media files or some video effects.

The much more powerful GPU is however being taken advantage of more and more. With every new update to Premiere Pro (and other Adobe apps) we see performance increases.

As an example a lot of video effects are already GPU accelerated. This means that they can work with real-time playback as the GPU takes over the processing.

Hardware Tests in Premiere Pro

Pugit Systems is a company that does hardware tests in Premiere Pro. They benchmark various components to see which one performs better. It’s interesting to know that even within Premiere Pro, different editing methods could benefit from different hardware.

One example is if you’re editing H.264 media files or RED RAW. The latest 12th generation Intel CPU’s seem to give better performance with compressed H.264 files, which RED RAW works better on AMD Threadrippers.

Budget Computer Build

Like with most things: the more you spend, the better the performance. Although that’s true to an extend, keep in mind that at the high end level the differences will be minor.

You’ll notice a much bigger performance increase between a $200 CPU and a $800 CPU than a $3000 CPU and a $6000 CPU. If you’re looking at high end components, definitely read the articles and lab tests from Pugit Systems.

If you have a small budget for an editing workstation, it’s recommended to spend most of your budget toward the CPU and start off with minimal RAM memory. Memory modules are easily expandable, you simple add new modules.

Upgrading something else like your CPU requires you to throw away your old CPU and swap it out with a new one. In other words, you will throw away your money.

Computer Case and Cooling

The computer case has 2 big functionalities: cooling and noise. Although cooling is not entirely up to the case. Cooling is all about where you install the fans and how your airflow is. But since most cases come with their own fans, it’s worth mentioning.

The second functionality is noise. This is a personal choice of course. Do you want to reduce the noise that your PC makes? Then look for a case that has acoustic treatment and can block out some that noise. Of course, this will make the case more expansive.

If you can live with a noisy computer and like to save some money, then don’t mind this feature.