Which new computer for DLOG-M video Editing ?

[drekko]

Hi
My work is going to get me a new laptop. I can use this for personal stuff to when I take it home. For general work either laptop will perform the same but I also like to do video editing with Adobe Premiere Pro. I edit mostly h.265 codec / DLOG-M from my Mavic 2 Pro videos

I have 2 choices :
A Surface Laptop with these specs:
16GB RAM
512GB SSD
13.5" touchscreen (2256 x 1504)
Intel Core i7-7660U
Front-facing camera
Wi-Fi: 802.11ac + Bluetooth: BT4.1
OR
Lenovo ThinkPad T480s (20L8S3EU00)
16GB DDR4 RAM
512GB SSD PCIe
14.0" FHD
Intel Core i7-8650U (1.90GHz)
720p HD Camera
Intel 8265 (2x2 AC) + Bluetooth 4.1 vPro
The lenovo has a slighly new cpu by the looks of it. But would these perform around the same ?
I think both cpu generations of these support playback of HEVC/H.265 encoding right?

 

[Mossiback]

The graphic card is not mentioned and is very important. You also might want to up the RAM to 32GB if you plan on editing 4K. I always recommend getting the computer based on the editing program's requirements.

Adobe Premiere Pro CC System Requirements

 

[drekko]

The graphic card is not mentioned and is very important. You also might want to up the RAM to 32GB if you plan on editing 4K. I always recommend getting the computer based on the editing program's requirements.

Adobe Premiere Pro CC System Requirements

I cannot make any adjustments to these as its an order through my work

The graphics cards are onboard graphics cards:
Surface has the Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640, and the Lenovo has Intel HD graphics 620. Dont think either have external GPU support

 

[simonr23]

Is it true that h265 is currently not optimising gpu in premiere pro?

I recall reading something about this and my experience hasn’t really improved, since moving from cpu only to adding a rtx2080(more for gaming, but if it could do both, yay) I’ve played with settings and my rendering times still seem very similar.

 

[drekko]

I got some better news. My boss has said I can also choose to have a Surface Book 2:

Microsoft Surface Book 2 (HNM-00009-EDU)

• 16GB RAM
• 512GB SSD
• 13.5" touchscreen (3000 x 2000)
• Intel Core i7-8650U (4.2GHz)
• 8MP camera on rear, 5MP camera on front
• Wi-Fi: 802.11ac + Bluetooth: BT4.1 LE
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 - 2 GB GDDR5

 

[Brewbud]

The i&-8650 is a 4 core. The older I7-7660 is only a 2 core. I would definitely pick the last machine offered unless you can get your boss to go for a laptop with a newer 6 core I7

 

[squashpile]

You need better video card. 2GB is not going to cut it. Editing on that is going to suck. Editing LOG on my GTX 1080 8GB, I7, 32GB, all SSD rig kind of sucks.

 

[drekko]

You need better video card. 2GB is not going to cut it. Editing on that is going to suck. Editing LOG on my GTX 1080 8GB, I7, 32GB, all SSD rig kind of sucks.

Like mentioned my boss is buying this and I only have those choices to choose from. So I guess a 2GB card is better then no dedicated video ram like the first 2 laptops

 

[Brewbud]

You need better video card. 2GB is not going to cut it. Editing on that is going to suck. Editing LOG on my GTX 1080 8GB, I7, 32GB, all SSD rig kind of sucks.

How many cores does your I7 have?

 

[simonr23]

You need better video card. 2GB is not going to cut it. Editing on that is going to suck. Editing LOG on my GTX 1080 8GB, I7, 32GB, all SSD rig kind of sucks.

I think this adds weight to my thoughts earlier in this thread. I think h265 is ‘the issue’

More is always better but I think a 1050 is still going to be a lot better than integrated graphics- even if I’m right regarding h265 and premiere pro

 

[m0j0]

Easy answer here. What is most important. Being able to play the video you are editing while you are doing it? or are you more concerned with processing the video? For me I want to be able to get through the video and view it smoothly. Two ways to make that easier for you. One is to use Adobe Premiere Pro and set up proxies. That will allow you to get through the video much easier when editing. The other way to do that is get the best Graphics card you can afford and you will need 32GB of Ram. For actual rendering processor speed and number of cores are what is important. I have an older setup with an 8 core processor. It is faster, at rendering, than most of the newer stuff that is running faster because of the core count.

To be honest all of those setups will struggle during editing. Rendering I'm not sure because you didn't indicate the number of cores and processor speed which is 100% going to be the bottleneck on most machines.

 

[CanadaDrone]

I personally wouldn't use either for video editing - the ultra low voltage CPUs combined with Intel's garbage integrated graphics (no descrete GPU listed) is not a good combination for any kind of photo/video editing. You need at least Kaby lake CPU architecture for 10bit H265.

I see later you posted something with a 1050/2GB. That is worlds better than the integrated solutions but still not amazing. The Surfacebooks are also grossly overpriced - if you are looking at those you can get a Dell XPS 15 which is better in pretty well every way IMO for a lot less money, and they come with a 1050Ti 4GB.

The following machine is regularly on sale in Canada for $1750 CAD and is even cheaper in the USA:

Dell XPS 15
512 GB nVME SSD
16GB 2666 DDR4 RAM
i7 8750H CPU
GTX 1050Ti GPU
1080P matte display (Dell is one of the few manufacturers still offering matte which is so much nicer for editing)
Massive 97Wh battery

Personally that is what I would buy, you will not beat that value anywhere provided that form factor works for you of course.

Video editing likes lots of cores and a fast GPU. I have 32GB of RAM and I have never even come close to filling it working on video but YMMV. If speed is really important to you, consider a desktop if the portability isn't a must-have.

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

I'd take the Surface Book 2. It at least has a dedicated graphics processor in it. You'll likely also need to start using proxies for smooth playback even on the new machine. I've had to learn to do the same on my laptop with DaVinci and h265s from my Mavic2. But it's not too hard to set up. Or at least less difficult than finding machine beefy enough to do the editing job with full res originals. Good luck!

 

[Mossiback]

Perhaps you could offer to pay the difference between what is offered and what you need.

 

[m0j0]

I personally wouldn't use either for video editing - the ultra low voltage CPUs combined with Intel's garbage integrated graphics (no descrete GPU listed) is not a good combination for any kind of photo/video editing. You need at least Kaby lake CPU architecture for 10bit H265.

The following machine is regularly on sale in Canada for $1750 CAD and is even cheaper in the USA:

I don't think he is buying it. When organizations make purchases that don't usually throw in the option to upgrade. Looking at his choice I don't like either solution. I would go with the system with the most cores and highest processing speed. Seeing how the options provided both have 16gb of ram and an integrated GFX card I would use an Easy equation (Cores x Processing speed = X)whichever has the highest number is what I would go with.

My .02

 

[kilomikebravo]

My testing experience with Premiere so far has been that performance is ALL about the number of CPU cores. 32gb of memory is essential for 4k. (I'm upping the ante on mine to 64gb.) I have watched my GPU while using Premiere and I haven't seen it get higher than 30 percent usage while the i7 CPU is often maxed out. So that is gonna get upped to an i9 with 8 cores and 16 threads. Add to that a super fast M.2 Samsung EVO 970 SSD for the OS. Hopefully, no more proxies.

 

[IronReel]

You need better video card. 2GB is not going to cut it. Editing on that is going to suck. Editing LOG on my GTX 1080 8GB, I7, 32GB, all SSD rig kind of sucks.

What he said... I have same setup. Unfortunately laptop editing at 16gb ram and base onboard graphics will be a long process. But if your working with short clips under a minute it'll be doable

But! Go with the Lenovo

 

[Kilrah]

The Surface Book 2 is definitely the one to get from the proposed choices.
It's not going to be stellar but it'll work for the occasional thing.