Video and audio editing - memory upgrade?

[MrDavid]

Hi folks, i love to do video editing with adobe premiere, but as videos are recorded more often in HD even from my smartphone i feel like there is not enough power anymore.

My system is Biostar Hi-Fi A85W motherboard with AMD A8-6500 and 4 GB DDR3.

Anyway if i am looking in the task manager there is always enough Memory free during video editing (no swapping).

Now i am wondering if a memory upgrade to 8 GB would really make sense in that case? Or could it be a too slow CPU?

Thanks for your help already

 

[Mushkins]

It's both really. It's not the editing portion that really requires the power and tons of memory, it's when you go to finally render the finished product. More memory means more space available for the program to work with bigger chunks of data and have it "ready to go" for when the processor decides that part is up to be rendered next. A faster processor obviously does the rendering faster, pushing those pieces down the conveyor belt.

Good hardware can be the difference between a rendering taking a few hours, or it turning into an overnight job (or worse in major production studios).

 

[Elixer]

What video card do you got ? You could get one of the newer AMD or nvidia ones, and it will help with adobe premiere.
I would say 8GB of RAM at a minimum is needed for any type of editing.
Then of course, you need fast storage, so a nice 256GB SSD should be used as well.

 

[MrDavid]

Currently I am only using the intergrated graphics card from that CPU. I am not planning to do any Gaming so that should be fine..

Can I just add another 4 GB of RAM without any problem or do I have to get one of those memory bundles? How much can it help to add more space here, especially compared to a faster processor.

A CPU upgrade does not sound so good to me, as there are faster processors only for big money available. If I could already feel a performance boost just by ading more RAM it would be a nice try at first....

 

[tosaytheleast]

Well if you are not really thinking about a bunch of upgrades (RAM, CPU and GPU), then you could start in your RAM. Obviously Adobe Premier is a demanding software so a 4GB RAM is just enough, Adding another 4GB stick should free some space in your memory and I guess would give a boost in your system's performance. Not dramatically but ideally.

 

[Cerb]

Since the amount a machine has can vary so much, and swapping is really bad, Premier will be fairly conservative about how much RAM it is using. Doubling your RAM certainly won't hurt, whether it helps in Premier or not.

Also, try to make sure it's using OpenCL with your IGP (you may or may not need beta drivers for this), to help free up some CPU time.

You should also have a setting somewhere in Premier to allot a certain amount of RAM for Premier.

More than anything, though, you need to learn how to use Task Manager (and Resource Monitor) to see what's really eating up your time. There will be enough data there, but you'll have to keep them running while you esdit, and swap to them every now and then, and see what's changing as you edit, v. other use of the PC.

 

[MrDavid]

Thank you for your advice. Can you help me to find the beta driver to speed up the performance? as mentioned my board is a Biostar Hi-Fi A85W, but i couldnt find any information about what you are saying

Also i just opened the task manager and clicked around a bit. The Memory details are saying there like 60 % of RAM used and 1 GB of SWAP. is that a good or a bad sign?

How much RAM should i define for premiere?

 

[MrDavid]

I just played around with the settings and I think i could improve the performance a bit already. Swapping went down to half with the same project files, so that might be a good start already.

I also ordered some memory for now. The price for another 4 GB is really low so I think its worth a try.

What is missing is the openCL and beta bios. I dont really know how i can set this up :/

 

[Cerb]

What is missing is the openCL and beta bios. I dont really know how i can set this up :/

I don't use the Adobe Creative Suite, and I'm not sure what the deal is, exactly, but the OpenCL acceleration is not available to some people running 64-bit Windows, with WHQL Radeon drivers. However, the beta drivers usually ungray it, and then it works.

 

[Zodiark1593]

In my experience, when actively editing video, memory is used to store the preview, letting you view what you're doing, and can use as much as is set. During actual rendering (at most, 10 minute videos here) the most memory my video editor has eaten is about 1.5 GB, though results will likely vary depending on length, resolutions, and effects applied, and possibly even the cpu itself.

I have 6 GB of RAM in my system btw, and I highly suggest the RAM upgrade, particularly if you want your PC to still be useable even during rendering. My web browsers alone can chew up 1.5GB+ when im going through numerous tabs.

 

[Blain]

I would say 8GB of RAM at a minimum is needed for any type of editing.
Then of course, you need fast storage, so a nice 256GB SSD should be used as well.

I agree as long as the OS being used is a 64-bit version.

 

[MrDavid]

Thats really good help, guys. I just installed the extra memory in the system. Glad to know there is no problem with that!

SSD sounds reasonable but does not yet fit in my budget...