The Best Custom PC for Video Editors: A Review of Puget Systems' Workstation
Building a custom PC for a video editor is a lot like cooking your favorite dish — you need the right ingredients, carefully selected to suit your taste and needs. But instead of flavors, we're talking about CPU cores, GPUs, and enough RAM to make your head spin. If you’ve ever struggled through endless rendering times, cursed at your lagging preview window, or feared your laptop might spontaneously combust, then this post is for you.
Let's dive into Rickard's journey, where he upgrades from a struggling laptop to the best custom PC, designed specifically for a video editor's demanding workflow, thanks to Puget Systems.
The Pain of Editing on an Overworked Laptop
Let’s start by painting a picture of Rickard’s life before his shiny new custom PC. For over two years, Rickard has been editing videos for Premiere Gal on a laptop that, while decent in its prime, was starting to show its age. Long rendering times? Check. Random crashes? Double-check. The kind of delays that make you want to tear your hair out? Yup.
Actual footage of Rickard's laptop crashing on him (BP era - Before Puget era)
Rickard’s laptop wasn’t just reaching its limits — it was sprinting past them and waving goodbye as it lagged behind. Long render sessions became the norm, and it was clear that his old setup just wasn’t cutting it anymore. That’s when the idea of building a custom PC specifically tailored to the needs of a video editor came into play. Enter Puget Systems, the masterminds behind Rickard’s new workstation.
Enter the Custom PC: A Game Changer for Video Editing
When the opportunity arose to upgrade, the choice was obvious: buy a custom PC. But not just any PC — the best custom PC for a video editor, designed to handle the rigors of 4K footage, green screen edits, and everything in between. And who better to help with this than Puget Systems?
Rickard teamed up with Puget Systems, experts in creating workstations tailored to specific workflows. The result? A powerhouse of a custom PC that made Rickard’s old laptop look like a relic from the Stone Age.
But what makes this custom PC the best choice for a video editor? Let’s break it down.
What to Look for When Buying a Custom PC for Video Editing
When building a custom PC for video editing, there are a few key components you can’t afford to skimp on. First and foremost: the CPU. The CPU, or Central Processing Unit, is the brain of your computer, and when it comes to video editing, you want the best brain money can buy. For Rickard, this meant opting for the Intel Core i9-14900K, a beast of a processor that can handle complex edits and render tasks without breaking a sweat. Why not AMD, you ask? While AMD's Threadripper CPUs are fantastic, especially for raw footage, Rickard mainly edits in H.264 and H.265 formats. This made Intel’s Quick Sync technology a better fit, offering hardware-accelerated encoding and decoding that makes editing smoother and faster. (Also, AMD Threadripper is about 2x the cost, so it’s important to know what type of footage you edit most before you make the investment. If you edit a lot of RAW video, ProRes, etc then it might be a better investment).
Next up: the GPU. A powerful graphics card is crucial for accelerating rendering times, enabling real-time playback, and enhancing overall performance. With Rickard’s new custom PC from Puget Systems, these tasks became a breeze, allowing him to work in full resolution without any of the stuttering or delays he’d grown accustomed to.
And let's not forget storage.
No matter how much you have, it’s never enough — especially when you’re dealing with terabytes of 4K footage. Rickard’s custom PC came equipped with plenty of fast SSD storage (4TB to be exact), ensuring he can keep up with the demands of modern video editing without constantly worrying about running out of space.
The Proof is in the Pudding: Rickard’s Experience
So, what was the outcome of all this tech wizardry? In short: night and day. Rickard went from waiting 25 minutes for his old laptop to (hopefully) render a video without crashing, to a mere 5.5 minutes on his new custom PC. That’s a difference of almost 20 minutes per project—a massive time saver when you consider the volume of work a video editor handles.
If we do the math (and yes, we did), over the course of a year, Rickard could save 17 hours of render time on a single weekly video. For a full-time editor working daily, that’s almost 85 hours saved annually. That’s more than two full weeks of work saved, just by upgrading to a Puget Systems custom PC for a video editor.
The Final Touches: Setting Up the New Rig
After unboxing his new powerhouse from Puget Systems, Rickard had to reinstall all his essential software — Adobe Creative Cloud, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Premiere Gal Toolkit (for Pr and Ae with 1650+ FX and Transitions, just sayin’, find out more here) and the like. Thanks to LucidLink (find out more about LucidLink in this blog post), the transition was smooth, and Rickard was back to editing in no time.
And what about the old laptop? It’s not going to waste. Rickard plans to keep it as a backup for when he’s on the go.
Why a Custom PC from Puget Systems Beats Pre-Built Options
You might be wondering, “Why not just buy a pre-built computer?” The answer is simple: customization and time. If you have never built a computer before, there is a lot of trial and error and research involved, if you don’t have time — then it is better to leave that up to a pro to build it for you. Every component is chosen based on specific needs. Puget Systems didn’t just slap together a bunch of high-end parts; they asked Rickard about his workflow, the codecs he uses, his current setup etc. This attention to detail ensures that the final product isn’t just powerful—it’s perfect for the job.
Wrapping Up
Buying a custom PC for a video editor isn’t just about throwing money at the most expensive parts. It’s about creating a tool that’s tailored to your needs, a tool that can handle the demands of modern video editing without breaking a sweat. For Rickard, this new setup from Puget Systems wasn’t just an upgrade — it was a game-changer, turning hours of frustration into minutes of smooth, efficient editing.
So, if you’re still grinding away on an old machine, maybe it’s time to consider building the best custom PC for your needs. Your sanity (and your deadline) will thank you. And when you're ready to make the leap, Puget Systems is there to help you build the perfect workstation.
PS. The total cost for Rickards custom build was around $4,900 at the time of producing the video tutorial.
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