What's the minimum size computer I need?

[videofromgeorge]

Hi, I am currently using PE 10 on a laptop. I would like to upgrade to PE 12. I also just bought a new Sony camcorder. I noticed it records in Progressive AVCHD and 60 fps. Would a brand new HP Tower with 8GB memory and 2TB hard drive be sufficient? It also has an AMD quad core A8 Accelerated processor. Thanks, I want to make sure I purchase a computer powerfull enough to handle this camera.

[Steve Grisetti]

Here's a chart I've found helpful, George.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

As long as your processor rates a score of over 6500, you should be fine editing AVCHD in Premiere Elements 12.

Do you know which A8 AMD processor the machine you're looking at uses?

[Ron Hunter]

Steve, where did you get the 6500 number from? I thought my i7 was pretty good until I looked at that chart.

[Dave McElderry]

Steve, where did you get the 6500 number from? I thought my i7 was pretty good until I looked at that chart.

I've got an i7-940 2.93 GHz, and although it's a got a few years on it I'm extremely pleased with the editing performance that I get using V11. It comes in a 5471 on that chart. I do have plenty of RAM, which does make a difference.

[Steve Grisetti]

I just picked 6500 because that's what my processor rates. And I'm real happy with the performance.

Do you think we should lower the recommend benchmark minimum for AVCHD and DSLR editing to 5500, Dave?

The difference between i5s and i7s is the number of threads, by the way. The i7s have more threads, but the same number of cores as my quad core i5. i5s can be a great value! In many ways, they're faster than a lot of i7s (and much faster than a lot of 6-core AMDs).

[Dave McElderry]

Do you think we should lower the recommend benchmark minimum for AVCHD and DSLR editing to 5500, Dave?

I'm sure you're more qualified to answer that question than I, Steve. What I can tell you is that my system handles it pretty smoothly on V11. New i7 systems aren't going to be selling with my several-year-old processor anyway, so I don't think it would take much to get above the benchmark that you specified. I'm sure that a minimum amount of RAM should also be part of the equation, since the 64 bit program can make good use of it and it does make a significant difference. I'm sure that my 24GB is overkill for nearly any amateur needs, but I'd think that most people would want at least 6GB, don't you think? I only ended up with 24 because of the price points when I was upgrading to 12GB. The amount extra to just go with the full 24 was piddling.

[Ron Hunter]

My i7 processor with score=5686 handles Pre12 and AVCHD just fine. It's 2.5 years old but seems to get the job done. 8GB of RAM with Win'7 64-bit.

[Steve Grisetti]

Okay, thanks, guys. Let's set a minimum benchmark score of 5500 then.