Video Editing PC: Occeasionally running really low frame rates.

[Seedsy]

Case PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i5-2400 Quad Core (3.10GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard ASUS® P8H67-M LX SI (NEW REV 3.0): M-ATX, USB 2.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, 2 x PCI
Memory (RAM) 8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card 1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 440 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11
2nd Graphics Card NONE
Memory - 1st Hard Disk 1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st Hard Disk Partitions 80GB, 120GB, 800GB
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply 450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
USB Options 4 PORT USB 2.0 EXTERNAL HUB + STANDARD USB PORTS

Had this PC going on 2 years now and begging to notice that it can have quite a bit of lag when editing video (rendering times still excellent mind) it can also lag up when browsing in the internet or anything really.

Thinking its a graphics issues. What are people thoughts.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[nathanjrb]

Your processor should be fine, but you could upgrade the graphics, bump the RAM up to 16GB (if supported) and swap your primary drive for a SSD.

 

[Tom DWC]

I doubt it's graphics related, assuming the card is still working correctly. Much more likely to be the hard drive slowing up after the PC has been on awhile and started to handle a lot of data - the Caviar Green's are fairly slow drives, very power efficient but not all that great for performance.

As nathanjrb mentioned above, an upgrade to an SSD is an option (and will make by far the most difference to the system's overall responsiveness) and you could then use your hard drive as a secondary storage drive. An SSD has the benefit of reducing the necessity of the RAM as well because it can cache so quickly (though 8GB is more than enough).

There is software available to port over your Windows installation to the new drive but it isn't usually free and a manual reinstall is always the most efficient method. If you're comfortable doing so then it's the best way to go about it.

 

[nathanjrb]

Thanks Tom! However I wouldn't say 8GB RAM is 'more than enough' when it comes to video editing. At least 16 to be safe.

 

[Tom DWC]

Thanks Tom! However I wouldn't say 8GB RAM is 'more than enough' when it comes to video editing. At least 16 to be safe.

I used to think the same but I read an article in one of my mags this week (CustomPC, I think) that compared 4GB VS 8GB VS 16GB RAM and I found the benchies really suprising, for image and video editing there was a significant performance increase going from 4GB to 8GB as you would expect, but going up to 16GB made virtually no difference in the encoding and rendering tests (handbrake, cinebench, autodesk maya). They actually found the CPU was the limiting factor when rendering out before the RAM became limited. The only exception was heavy photo editing which saw a small increase.

This goes against what I thought and they did have an SSD in the test rig which can cache so fast the system becomes less dependent on the RAM. So I guess the SSD then the GPU would be more beneficial initially than the RAM.

It would be interesting to see if it worked out the same over a wider variety of programs though, surely there must be some that see a significant benefit, especially for professional use.

 

[nathanjrb]

I used to think the same but I read an article in one of my mags this week (CustomPC, I think) that compared 4GB VS 8GB VS 16GB RAM and I found the benchies really suprising, for image and video editing there was a significant performance increase going from 4GB to 8GB as you would expect, but going up to 16GB made virtually no difference in the encoding and rendering tests (handbrake, cinebench, autodesk maya). They actually found the CPU was the limiting factor when rendering out before the RAM became limited. The only exception was heavy photo editing which saw a small increase.

This goes against what I thought and they did have an SSD in the test rig which can cache so fast the system becomes less dependent on the RAM. So I guess the SSD then the GPU would be more beneficial initially than the RAM.

It would be interesting to see if it worked out the same over a wider variety of programs though, surely there must be some that see a significant benefit, especially for professional use.

That's interesting - and what you've said absolutely makes sense. Personally speaking, I use mostly CS6 (to a professional level) - quite often I have numerous pieces of software working away at the same time. I have monitored my RAM usage whilst editing and have regularly seen it approach 16GB, if not exceed it. I currently have 32GB of RAM and have yet to see my system come near to touching it (as you'd expect). I guess it all comes down to just how much work you are carrying out, and to what level. Seedsy - I would say it's worthwhile monitoring your usage and seeing where your improvements can be made.

 

[Seedsy]

Cheer Guys for the Useful Information tempted to look at the SSD route now, thinking around the 120gb route (if thats enough).

What is important to look for in an SSD in terms of speed and price, any particular models you would recommend?
Tend to Max out at around 6.5gb Ram Usage so that's not likely to be the problem.

 

[PC RY90RY]

you should up grade the graphics card that graphics card is a few years old now and technology moves really quickly usally you don't have to upgrade a graphics card if it's sold and made on the year you buy it for about 4-5 years but if their is lag then upgrade to a gtx geforce 650 ti for video editing and also you ram is abit low ram is to run your computer on the spot so it has to keep up and have plenty of space to ram 16Gb
hope this helps

 

[nathanjrb]

Cheer Guys for the Useful Information tempted to look at the SSD route now, thinking around the 120gb route (if thats enough).

What is important to look for in an SSD in terms of speed and price, any particular models you would recommend?
Tend to Max out at around 6.5gb Ram Usage so that's not likely to be the problem.

120GB should be enough, but I went with 240GB because often I am editing with files that total 80-100GB. If you install your OS on the SSD you will experience much faster boot times - but also sacrifice some of the space on the drive. The SSD increases read/write speeds during editing, hence making it faster. I tend to keep all my files on the SSD and work purely off that (media cache/scratch disks all pointing that way.) then once I'm finished with the project for good, I put all my footage back onto the HHD in case I ever need it again. This is effective but risky for workflow sakes (premiere pro can lose the media 'map') so if you do this you have to have rigorous organisation or make sure you are 100% finished with the project. This is the way I do things, it works for me but if you Google around there's probably a better way to do it!