Enhancing my editing equipment for advanced professional tasks
Enhancing my editing equipment for advanced professional tasks
Hello everyone. I'm a videographer and filmmaker based in Durban, South Africa. I've been working in videography since 2018, but really committed to it last year. My current setup includes: CPU – i5 8600K (no overclocking), GPU – AMD Radeon RX580 (ASUS Strix edition, 8GB MOBO), HDD storage – ASUS B360 Prime 2TB with two 4TB drives and a 3TB drive, SSD – 11TB Hikvision SATA SSD, PSU – 500W 32GB DDR4 RAM at 2666MHz. It's performed well so far, though I've noticed it has only 6 cores and 6 threads, which has been a limitation. This became apparent when my boss upgraded to an i9 10850K for editing RED footage for a commissioned ad. The performance was impressive—smooth at 6K timelines. Paired with the GTX 1660 in the box, it handled the work well. I've finished my current role and am now on a documentary shoot, which will pay me well while traveling for 16 days. I'm considering upgrading to a Ryzen 9 3900XT or 3900XT, but I'm curious about the cost. The RX580 seems sufficient for virtual RAM needs, so I'm not planning a GPU upgrade unless the new MOBO supports it. I don't play games much (my friends tease me for having the strong CPU), focusing instead on productivity and editing. I primarily use Adobe tools like Premiere, Audition, Photoshop, and After Effects, but as a Fujifilm shooter, I stick with Capture One. My main worry is whether upgrading to a Ryzen CPU with a compatible MOBO (preferably an x570 board) still offers good value for my workflow. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.
The top choice is a 3900x model, offering roughly a 10% boost in productivity compared to a 10850k. If the price exceeds 15-20%, it's not recommended. While the 10850k performs better on single-core tasks than the 3900x, the 5900x is currently unavailable and costs much more.
What software are you employing? I’ll aim for a Ryzen 12 or 16 core if possible; the 10850K works well too. If you have time to build proxies, that would be ideal—significantly improves editing speed even on slower hardware.
I mainly use Adobe tools like Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop, and Audition. My photo editing program is Capture One, which works well with my Fuji cameras—even the manufacturers recommend it. I’d like a 3900X or 3900XT, but honestly there aren’t many options beyond that. I just don’t feel like trying anything new; it’s not something I’m comfortable with.