2 Options: Upgrade to 8GB RAM or buy new laptop for graphics editing (Adobe Premire, After Effects)

Hi guys, I've survived well on a Dell Inspiron Laptop with 3GB 3GB: http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-15-6-Inch-Black-Laptop/dp/B002PY7OKI
until now that I'm attempting to do some video editing with Adobe Premier and after effects.

I'm attempting some medium level work, just some crisp 5-10 min video a Youtube channel.

Would upgrading to 8GB solve the lock ups I'm seeing now? Should I get a Mac or another machine for this purpose?

thanks,
Ethan

 

Hm, I think that a Pentium Dual-Core is pretty weak, by today's standards, for graphics editing. That being said, I think you should get a different laptop than a Mac. In fact, the only reason why you might want to get it, is because the screen is great. But you can always buy a dedicated monitor with great color reproduction (much better than most laptops). I have a bias against Macbooks, but if you like that brand of machines, I say go for it

Obviously the focus here is going to be on getting you a decent CPU and a good screen. If you can hang in there for another month, Haswell is coming up, and it's a 15% max improvement over the current Ivy Bridge laptops.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Thanks for the quick response! I actually have a nice ~30" dedicated screen, so no problem there.

I guess my decision comes down to this: With 8GB RAM, would the Dell Inspiron 1545 perform "okay" with Adobe Premier and AE? or would the machine still struggle and I would be better off starting from scratch on another machine?

thanks again,
Ethan

 

Definitely get a new laptop (or desktop). I had a T9400, which is faster than a Pentium, and it was already slow (basically 100% maxed out, hence the lag), upgrading to 8 GB DDR2 didn't help much - a Core 2 Quad upgrade did the trick.

Even an i5-2540m will be a lot faster than your current processor, so you can get the cheapest (but high quality) laptop you can find with this CPU (of course, an i7-2620 or higher is better, quad is best).

Also, DDR3 RAM is much cheaper than DDR2, you can upgrade to 8GB for cheap.

Personally I'd recommend a Precision workstation or a Samsung Series 7 (np700, 17.3 inch) if you want something that looks nice (though the latter has overheating and Wifi problems, so do your research)...

 

Thanks for the tips. Something like this looks good for $629: i7-3517U processor, 8GB DDR3 installed:

Dell Factory Outlet: Error

 

Yes: new/current (or at least 'more current) platform recommended vs. simply adding more RAM to current system.


16GB+ RAM with an IB or SNB QC and Win8PRO x64 Highly recommended.

 

Yeah, that's a good processor/ram config (sorry, can't see the actual laptop, link error). But wouldn't an upgradeable laptop be more useful? You could get one with a dual core i7, then upgrade to more RAM and a quad in the future. Of course, you'll lose in mobility...

 

Sorry for the bad link. Check out this deal I see linked on the Dell Outlet twitter. Would this handle the Adobe video products ok? It has the i7 processor, 8GB of the DDR3 memory:

Inspiron 15z-5523 with touch screen
Save $350 on any Dell Outlet Inspiron 15z-5523 with touch screen priced at $825 with coupon* code below!

Was $825.00 Now $475.00
Certified refurbished
Moon silver
Intel® Core™ 3rd Gen i7-3537U processor
8GB memory
500GB hard drive
DVD/RW
1.0MP HD camera with mic
15.6 HD LED display touch
Windows 8
Intel® Centrino® Wireless 2230, 2x2bgn + Bluetooth

 

oh yeah, the link is: Dell | Dell

 

Before you commit to buying a new laptop for this, have you checked your RAM utilization while editing? You can get a number of free programs to do so, or just open up task manager and check it there. All odds are that you're going well into your pagefile and maybe even maxing that out. If you're running a 64-bit OS that can utilize 8GB of RAM (the Amazon page says yes), there's a good chance that's all you need to get your stuff running adequately for now.

The processor's going to hold back your editing speed, but I think you could get by fairly well on that machine with 8GB RAM. Rather than buying a cheap machine now as a knee-jerk response to running into a problem like this, my suggestion is that you upgrade your current machine to do what you need (if, as in this case, it can be done cheaply) and start researching and saving for your next machine.

Also, be wary of tilleroftheearth's advice - he's a great resource if you need a powerful machine for maximum processing and productivity in a time-is-money sort of way, but he's the wrong person to listen to if your computing needs are more mundane because he will always suggest spending more for more performance, even if that performance is unnecessary for your needs. I like the guy as a member of the forum, but I would never follow his advice unless I were in a situation where computer performance were more important than the money it costs to achieve.

 

If you're serious about Adobe Premier and After Effects, do yourself a favor and buy a quad core Intel. i7-3630QM is fine, i7-3720QM even better, because those dual core ULV CPU's will be faster than your current system, but still slow for processing for that software. Those programs love more cores than anything else, so going with a dual core is not a wise idea. 8GB RAM should be sufficient.

 

:rolleyes2:Fat Dragon,

prejudiced much?

I don't always recommend spending 'more for more performance'.


You do know the minimum spec's for Premiere Pro and After Effects right?

When Adobe is recommending 8GB RAM then you know that is the minimum to get any work done before you're dead.

Also - quad core, Windows 8 and 'multiple 7200 RPM HDD's - RAID0' recommended.

Yeah, I'm not over recommending here...

And your so called 'advice' about my input is in poor taste too imo.

 

It's good enough if you're starting out, however I'd really recommend you go either with a quad core or with a laptop that can be upgraded - once you start working with more effects (especially on FHD videos), the processor (and RAM) will start slowing everything down again. The "U" processors are soldered to the motherboard and also slower than their normal "M" counterparts (i7-2620M, etc.)...

@Fat Dragon - I can tell you from experience he's hitting 100% on the CPU when doing pretty much anything in AE or Premiere. Even 4 GB are still (barely) enough for very simple work, but the Pentium T4xxx series are just too slow (slower than the first generation Core i3-380m even)...

 

My apologies. My experience reading your advice is that it often varies quite significantly from what I consider budget conscious because our philosophies of budgeting are clearly different. I'll refrain from making such a personal statement in the future, which probably was indeed in poor taste, and limit myself to expressing an alternate point of view without the personal tinge.

My reading of the original post might be different from yours - I see someone asking if his computer can process a 5-10 minute YouTube video. It might be that the OP is going to be doing this kind of work regularly and really needs the power of a new computer. It might also be that this is a professional job and needs to be done by a certain deadline. If it's a single, personal video, however, one slow processing job doesn't really justify buying a new machine. But then, to me, "time is money" is only true when I'm at work. I'm happy to let my computer spend more time processing a personal project after work.

 

Thanks so much for the discussion, it's really helping my decision.

The task for now would be to put together a 5-10 min youtube with some nice After Effects add-ins and slow motion (via Twixtor or an open source). It's just a personal side-business project for now, but would hopefully develop into a massively successful site. I should be so lucky.

Anyway, jotm's right, I'm hitting 100% CPU usage with just 40% of my 3GB physical memory. This is just playing a video in Premier, so I would think editing, exporting or something more complex would ignite this budget laptop.

So far I've learned I need the following:

- Strong CPU, preferrably quad-core
- atleast 8GB DDR3 memory
- Windows 8 <- How important is this, will 7 suffice?

Does Video Card matter or is that more a concern for gaming?

Just saw this one for only $325:

Inspiron 17R - 5720

Processor: Intel Core 3rd Generation i5-3210M Processor (3MB cache, up to 2.9 GHz)
Windows 8
Dell Outlet Inspiron 17R - 5720 Laptop
1 TB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive
6GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz
Intel HD Graphics 4000

Would this knock out an HD Youtube video for me with some room to grow?

 

The configuration is pretty good (and suspiciously cheap ). Don't know if you can upgrade it to a quad core, though. The video card barely does any work at all, everything's still CPU-bound, so any card should suffice...

 

Quad core... Quad core... Quad core... Did I say quad core?

Sent from my YP-G70 using Tapatalk 2

 

Stick with Windows 7. Windows 8 is not as usable until (if) MS decides to give us back the Start menu we've been accustomed to for the last ~20 years.

I'm in full agreement a quad-core processor is necessary.

My advice is to look in the Dell Outlet for a Latitude. Reason A is that you'll more likely find Windows 7 there, and the second reason is that the Latitudes and Precision Mobile Workstations are better built than their consumer machines. They are also more likely to come with an extended 2 or 3 year warranty. All depends on your budget of course ...

 

I would have to say that a quad core would be best for CPU choice here.
Also... DELL can be very expensive.
Have you considered other brands?

 

It seems I was wrong about the possibility of your current machine being able to do what you need - I always thought since these programs have been around for so long, they would scale well, so they could run on weaker PC's, but it would just take a long time. I was also assuming this was a one-shot, but it sounds like your intention is to do video editing going forward. In that case, I agree that you're going to want a quad-core. If it's current-gen, you should look at those with a 0 or a 5 as the final digit (i.e. i7-3650QM or i7-3635QM), since those are the full-power versions. Most everyday computing uses a mere fraction of a processor like that, but for intensive stuff like editing, the more's the merrier, and low-power versions typically cost the same anyway.

 

Thanks everyone, I ended up with this one for $450:

Dell Outlet Inspiron 17R - 5720

Has decent processor (i5), 8gb ram, windows 7. I'll have to add an SSD at some point too.

I would have gone for a quad-core i7 processor if budget was $1000+, but this will have to do for now.

 

sorry im so late to the party but THIS is completely incorrect. the Mercury rendering engine used for video rendering is HEAVILY GPU biased. OP later on if you get into a bit heavier editing you will probably want a fast CUDA GPU ( Quadro Preferably ) for Premier CS6, for the 6.5 on Adobe is dumping CUDA like it did with all the rest of the applications and you want a really good OpenCL enabled GPU ( FirePro, Quadro or Radeon )

 

I know, but Mercury only works on certain GPUs (it can be enabled for most GPUs with a hack, though). Also AE CS6 is still mostly CPU-bound aside from several effects and third party plugins, with the good news being that Adobe is switching to OpenCL as you said...

 

Listen^^. Any GPU with 896 will now work. And AE is a GPU centered software. Without a good one, you will reach a brick wall very quick.