Help me help my friend with selecting a CPU for video editing

[Mondozei]

So my friend has a really old PC. I recommended he got a new GPU first, since he does moderate 1080p gaming. He is price-sensitive, but not to the extreme.
My recommendation was a 750 Ti, and he is very happy, both with performance for his needs and the newfound quiet compared to the past.
He was also grateful for not needing to spend tons of tons outside his core needs. Now it is the turn of video editing rather than gaming.

Now, he bought a 150 dollar video editing program after he got the new GPU. He doesn't know a huge amount about computers(again, a mostly casual user), so he was surprised to see that his semi-pro video editing program even crashed from time to time and when it did work, it worked really slowly.

His processor is an AMD Phenom II X4 920. His Mobo is a AM2+ mobo(as would be expected) so he needs to upgrade his mobo as well. He got only 4 gigabyte of DDR 3 RAM(1333 Mhz), so that one has to go up as well.

But he is not a pro video editor, and he is not made out of budget. Would 8 gigabyte of RAM be enough for video editing or does he need more(remember, for casual use)?

What processor to buy? I've been thinking about either FX-8350 or an i7 processor. He has a total budget of about 500 dollars. Would FX-8350 be enough for casual use and give a good experience for video editing?
What about Haswell-E? Would it be within budget?

 

[erunion]

If he never used the PC gaming, I'd say get the 8350. But since he does game, I recommend intel. i5 4670k should keep him under budget.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2013/06/12/intel-core-i5-4670k-haswell-cpu-review/3

 

[AtenRa]

What Video Editing program did he buy ??

 

[NTMBK]

If he has DDR3 memory, he doesn't have an AM2+ board. Find out the exact model, and check whether it can support an FX-8320.

 

[NTMBK]

If he never used the PC gaming, I'd say get the 8350. But since he does game, I recommend intel. i5 4670k should keep him under budget.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2013/06/12/intel-core-i5-4670k-haswell-cpu-review/3

He only has a 750ti, the FX would work just fine for gaming.

 

[Makaveli]

What Video Editing program did he buy ??

Agreed this is the most important information and it was left out.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Agreed this is the most important information and it was left out.

Yea, seems like something else is going on. Not enough ram maybe? A phenom II is not the fastest, but it seems like is should be decent for video editing.

 

[Yuriman]

If he can drop in an FX chip, I'd recommend that. If he can't, get him a Haswell i5 non-K, or if budget permits, a non-K i7 or an equivalent 8-thread Xeon (about $50 cheaper). I typically pair non-K chips with B85 chipsets.

 

[Mondozei]

What Video Editing program did he buy ??

Hitfilm Ultimate. He did an upgrade for 169, not the full 399 price.

http://hitfilm.com/ultimate

 

[Makaveli]

Hitfilm Ultimate. He did an upgrade for 169, not the full 399 price.

http://hitfilm.com/ultimate

Hmm based on these requirements his current rig should do.

 

[Mondozei]

Well, the crashes could be a software issue, but he also says decoding is painfully slow. Maybe they lowballed the recommended specs in order to maximize the amount of people who would consider buying it? What else could it do? His processor dying? Something else?

 

[DigDog]

if you just go to pcpartpicker you'll be able to see for yourself that 500 is enough for the internals of a intel rig.
http://pcpartpicker.com/search/

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I would work with the Phenom II x4 he's got (it doesn't suck.)

When he's actually good at videography and editing (I'm assuming he's a beginner?), then he can make an informed decision about the hardware he needs.

Too many people go off half-cocked getting the "best" rig for their new hobby and then end up dumping money into the wrong things or getting bored after a little while. It's sad.

(And yes, I'm probably projecting a little.)

 

[coercitiv]

I would work with the Phenom II x4 he's got (it doesn't suck.)

I would recommend the same. However, adding more RAM and a SSD if none is used at the moment would be a good choice for an upgrade. The best way to do this would be to watch for a decent discount on a 8GB kit of fast memory and/or 250GB SSD. (the idea behind buying fast ram would be to use it in an upgraded system as well)

Multimedia editing (be it photo/video/music) tends to become very I/O intensive and is heavily impacted by the weakest link in the system. In low spec systems this usually ends up being the storage, with a little help from undersized RAM leading to page file / scratch disk usage.

If the OP wants to help his friend more, he can diagnose the situation better by watching system resource usage (cpu/ram/disk) on a typical editing session. This would help making a more informed decision.

 

[monstercameron]

the best thing you could possibly do is a fresh install of windows...that usually carries a nice speed increase.

 

[Mondozei]

You guys are awesome at helping.

So basically, more RAM and a SSD. A new processor wouldn't necessarily be that great. Still, for games, how much does his processor bottleneck him, if at all?

 

[Phynaz]

You guys are awesome at helping.

So basically, more RAM and a SSD. A new processor wouldn't necessarily be that great. Still, for games, how much does his processor bottleneck him, if at all?

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/81?vs=836

 

[Hitman928]

You guys are awesome at helping.

So basically, more RAM and a SSD. A new processor wouldn't necessarily be that great. Still, for games, how much does his processor bottleneck him, if at all?

If he's playing a little older games, he's fine. If he wants to play some of the latest games or specific older titles, his CPU could be a huge bottleneck. What does he play?

 

[Mondozei]

Update: His processor is a AMD Athlon II x4 640, not 930.

Does this change the common view among some in this thread that his processor can do the job (well)?

Edit:

Here is his motherboard: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M4N68TM_V2/

I'm guessing it can't get a significant processor upgrade.

 

[Mk pt]

That board support hexa-cores Phenom II. Just be sure to have latest BIOS update.

2x 4Gb 1600Mhz RAM [be sure that will be working @1600mhz in BIOS]
256 gb SSD

And maybe a Phenom II 955 [if found cheap] +cheap but decent cooler to oc - 3.5/3.6Ghz - and lower noise than stock cooler.
Extra Mhz + 6mb L3 cache. Not great, but in games and video editing will have a decent boost. If you find a cheap Phenom II 955, and considering selling that Athlon, maybe a nice idea.