hpmoon
Introduction
So here we are in 2016, when 4K/Ultra-HD footage is becoming sort of inevitable. HD video editing had already pushed computers to the limit, but 4K isn’t just a doubling of that resolution: it’s literally four times as many pixels to crunch. And to deal with it, cameras are compressing files down more than ever, taking much more computing power to unpack on-the-fly when you’re editing. Can you buy a complete computer system off-the-shelf (or online) that keeps up?
Filmmakers are a niche market to computer manufacturers, even where there’s crossover with gamers. So, they don’t design systems that target the unique demands of video editors. What are these demands, and for each, what is the current state-of-the-art?
- Fast central processing unit (CPU) with overclocking: Intel Skylake
- Fast storage drives: Solid State Disk (SSD)
- Dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU) card: Nvidia GTX 900-series
- Large, fast DRAM memory: DDR4
- Expansible operating system (OS): Windows 10
That last item on the list is ammunition for warfare, pitting nerds against hipsters, but if you’re in the Church of Jobs anyway, read no further. This case study simply focuses upon building a Windows system, and my choice isn’t about loyalty or style: just getting maximum power. Laptops are totally out of the game: their portability isn’t worth it.
But setting aside an OS war, our first fork in the road is choosing the CPU, and there are basically two kinds, in the whole world of computers we’d use: AMD and Intel. For reasons and arguments not worth fleshing out, it’s best just to say that they are always neck-and-neck, but Intel always edges out AMD. Famously upgrading their CPUs within a “tick-tock” time frame, Intel recently launched their Skylake CPUs (the “tock” of a bigger boost in their product line), numbered in the 6000s. I went with the Core i7-6700K, which is a middle ground between their current fastest and slowest CPUs, while that “K” suffix means the chip is unlocked, allowing “overclocking” which we’ll get to soon.
This is a picture of the motherboard I stripped clean, before upgrading. One of the great things about building your own system is, you don’t need to throw everything away. Blu-Ray drives and hard disks and fans and cases remain as compatible as ever. Re-using them is frugal and environmentally friendly!
Introduction
So here we are in 2016, when 4K/Ultra-HD footage is becoming sort of inevitable. HD video editing had already pushed computers to the limit, but 4K isn’t just a doubling of that resolution: it’s literally four times as many pixels to crunch. And to deal with it, cameras are compressing files down more than ever, taking much more computing power to unpack on-the-fly when you’re editing. Can you buy a complete computer system off-the-shelf (or online) that keeps up?
Filmmakers are a niche market to computer manufacturers, even where there’s crossover with gamers. So, they don’t design systems that target the unique demands of video editors. What are these demands, and for each, what is the current state-of-the-art?
- Fast central processing unit (CPU) with overclocking: Intel Skylake
- Fast storage drives: Solid State Disk (SSD)
- Dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU) card: Nvidia GTX 900-series
- Large, fast DRAM memory: DDR4
- Expansible operating system (OS): Windows 10
That last item on the list is ammunition for warfare, pitting nerds against hipsters, but if you’re in the Church of Jobs anyway, read no further. This case study simply focuses upon building a Windows system, and my choice isn’t about loyalty or style: just getting maximum power. Laptops are totally out of the game: their portability isn’t worth it.
But setting aside an OS war, our first fork in the road is choosing the CPU, and there are basically two kinds, in the whole world of computers we’d use: AMD and Intel. For reasons and arguments not worth fleshing out, it’s best just to say that they are always neck-and-neck, but Intel always edges out AMD. Famously upgrading their CPUs within a “tick-tock” time frame, Intel recently launched their Skylake CPUs (the “tock” of a bigger boost in their product line), numbered in the 6000s. I went with the Core i7-6700K, which is a middle ground between their current fastest and slowest CPUs, while that “K” suffix means the chip is unlocked, allowing “overclocking” which we’ll get to soon.
This is a picture of the motherboard I stripped clean, before upgrading. One of the great things about building your own system is, you don’t need to throw everything away. Blu-Ray drives and hard disks and fans and cases remain as compatible as ever. Re-using them is frugal and environmentally friendly!