What should I upgrade next (for video editing)

[funkytwig]

OK, so I am thinking of upgrading my computer (full specs on left). I edit with FCPX mainly but also sometimes get some Premiere Pro CC projects. i only have 16GB so going to 32GB is a no brainer. i was thinking of going to a 6th gen 4Ghz CPU but have been advised (on this site) it is not worth it. My goal is to be able to edit 4k more smoothly. I can just about edit 4k prores proxy but GH4 camera files are too mutch, but i think I would need a dual socket Motherboard and a cople of 4Ghz CPUs to do this, but beyond my budget (I think).

So if I dont upgrade the CPU/Motherboard the graphics card seems the best option. I have heard for FCPX it is best to use ATI cards, and for Premiere nVidia. As FCPX is my weapon of choise I am wondering how well ATI cards woth with Premiere CC.

My Motherboard has two full sized PCIx slots but only one is 16*, the other is 4*. Was wondering if 4x was actualy any use, is it worth maybe just geting a 2nd single hight GPU (or maybe getting 2 new GPUS, on of these can be doble slot). Do both the GPUs have ot be the same. also not usre if my PSU is up to funning dual GPUs, think its a 550 and has 2 graphics cards power leads (currasntly I think my 660 Ti needs both).

So what do people advise?

Ben

 

[HorrificSquid]

I edit 4k and a lot of GH4 and the likes footage, from my recent experience the industry seems to be shifting to Premier over FCPX. Premier (and the rest of the Adobe Suite) does not require graphics card support, it uses the system resources, it only uses the graphics card if you have selected to use it for a slight boost in RAM. FCPX does require graphics card support, like you say ATI cards are the way you need to go for FCPX. If I were you I'd get the one card for FCPX as it's not needed for Premier, and will probably work anyway if you did want to use graphic card support. Hope this helps.

 

[funkytwig]

BBC news has adopted FCPx and there has been at least one BBC documentary project cut on it. My last few projects were cut on FCPx and it is a joy to use and enables me to cut quicker. I Recently did a 10 day edit of a 30 min doc about the oceans and our impact on them. It was OK but I really missed FCPx. My preference is FCPx but I edit with what people want. Première Pro does use GPU acceleration for some things, just not everything. It originally only supported CUDA but the latest few versions also support OpenCL. I still want to know if upgrading to a 6th gen i7 would give me much benefit, the other option is go from a i7-3770 to a i7-3770K and overclock it. I am also wondering which ATI card to get. I am getting the feeling that I probably should peruse this on the FCPx and PP forums. The reason I was asking here is I use a hackingtosh and am looking for info on both editing packages.

I am also interested in if adding a second GPU would be the way to go and if I do is mixing cards an option (I am guessing mixing CUDA and OpenCL is not a goer).

Regards,
Ben