GPU question...

Do you need a powerful GPU for video editing? I want to buy a notebook for my brother and he intends to do quite a lot of video editing; I could sell my notebook to him( an Asus W3J with a 256MB X1600) but I think I could get him a notebook with better specs but with an integrated graphics card for the same amount the wants to pay me. Does he need a dedicated GPU? Is the X1600 too much for what he wants to do?

Thanks a lot.

 

While a good GPU isn't necessary, Adobe Premiere will take advantage of the hardware if it's there. More than that, ATI X1000 series parts allow you to use their AVIVO software to hardware-assist video encoding.

 

A cheaper x1400 or 7400 would suit his needs fine.


and you don't need a gpu for video editing, but it sure helps and it will help to run vista areo glass (all desktop items are 3d rendered with the gpu, so a dedicated might help as integrated is crap)

 

A faster processor will help quite a lot when video editing. So, something like a Core 2 Duo T7200 which is the best price to performance ratio, is something to consider. A faster graphics card is good aswell, but it doesn't necessarily mean the editing and rendering will be faster.

A faster graphics processor is something that would be needed in gaming, so if your brother wants to game a little, he can, so long as he has a capable graphics card.

 

Adobe media editing programs are vey memory intensive applications. A RAM upgrade would be more beneficial than a CPU upgrade. I cant see why the program wouldnt work well on an integrated GPU, but the extra power given a dedicated card takes a lot of stress of the CPU making the whole PC a lot faster.

 

Thanks for the replies