The technology required to conduct professional video editing has reduced in price to a point where average computer users can afford the software and central processing units, or CPUs, that are required to edit video in the home. If you are going to edit videos on your personal computer, you will need to choose the best CPU to install. Although non-optimized CPUs will still be able to conduct some video editing, they will not be as responsive or accurate as computer processors that are designed to handle the task.
Choosing a CPU Brand
The choice of a CPU brand was once primarily a personal preference based on experience. Then, on Nov. 17, 2008, Intel began the rollout of its new Core family of computer processors with the introduction of the Core i7, and new doors opened for video editors who want to run their toughest projects through their home computers. The i3, i5 and i7 core processors have multiple CPU cores and Intel-developed Hyper-Threading technology, which allows them to conduct significantly more parallel processes than older computer chips could handle. If you plan to conduct batch video editing, the i7 processor was designed specifically to support this task.
Picking CPU Speed
If you simply want to edit family videos and not run daily video editing in parallel with other computing tasks, then a standard computer processor you can purchase off the shelf will manage the tasking satisfactorily. If you are going to conduct a significant amount of video editing, though, choosing a CPU with a speed of 3.0 GHz or faster will ensure that your editing software does not pause or fail as it processes complex tasks.
Choose a Single or Multi-Core CPU
Multi-core technology has almost made worrying about CPU speed obsolete. A computer processor with multiple cores is able to run programs in parallel with nearly double the efficiency rate of single core computers. Intel's Core i7 CPU is a multi-core processing unit designed to batch video editing tasks while using other computer programs at the same time with no loss of quality. As of 2010, AMD is also investing in providing computer processors with as many cores as it can fit into each CPU in response to the improvements that Intel has made with its core chipsets.
32-Bit vs 64-Bit Processors
Many times consumers will fail to properly consider whether a CPU is a 32-bit or 64-bit processor. The 64-bit processors are able to conduct math-based operations faster than 32-bit CPUs; however, they may not be compatible with all of the software programs you enjoy using. The speed of both processors can be equivalent if both CPUs are single core designs.
Hyper-Threading
Hyper-Threading is a term used to describe the Intel technology that permits each core, or processing unit, within a CPU to work on multiple application threads simultaneously. This can significantly boost the efficiency of Intel CPUs as they perform heavy video batch editing tasks on your computer. Hyper-Threading is available on Intel's 2010 Core processors, including the i3, i5 and i7 lines.
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