Best processor for After Effects and Premier Pro

[woooei]

Hello,

I want to buy a new windows laptop, for editing video in After Effects and Premiere Pro. I'm wondering which processor I should choose:

- i5 or i7? Does that make a big difference?
- Intel U-series or H(Q)? Does that make a big difference?

I contacted a lot of computer shops and manufacturers. But they all advise something different. So I thought it would be useful to ask it to Adobe and it's users themselves.

Thanks in advance!

[David Arbor]

Go for the i7.

"U" means "Ultra-low power"

"HQ" means "High Performance, Quad Core"

The i7 builds are likely to be HQ. For After Effects, you'll want a fast, single-core clock speed, and the i7s are higher performing than the i5s.

[woooei]

Thanks davidarbor!

In my research, I found a lot of i7 U-processors (like i7-8550). Will they perform less than a i7-7700HQ (for example)?

I found the specifications, but I don't know if it makes a big difference for Adobe Programme's.

I understand After Effects doesn't use the multiple cores. Does Premiere Pro use them? And Photoshop?

[Szalam]

After Effects does use multiple cores. In fact, the UI and the renderer run on entirely separate threads (as of the CC 2015 release).

Now, what doesn't use as many cores as people would want is the rendering. Some effects are multithreaded (such as the grain effects and camera shake deblur) and the C4D renderer is fully multithreaded for rendering the 3d geometry it creates, but a lot of the rest of AE doesn't make use of multiple threads while rendering. Now, a growing amount of AE does render on the GPU (which is massively multithreaded), but that's not relevant to a discussion about which CPU to get .

In general, for After Effects, a higher clock speed is much more important than how many cores a processor has.

[woooei]

Thanks Szalam!

In general, for After Effects, a higher clock speed is much more important than how many cores a processor has.

What's most important for AE and PrPro? The clock speed or the Max Turbo Frequency?

I hesistate between the i7-7700Q and U-5880. The first one has a higher Base Frequency, the U-5880 a higher Turbo Frequency. Which one will be the best option?

	Cores	Max Turbo Frequency	Processor Base Frequency	Cache
i7-7700HG	4	3.8 GHz	2.80 GHz	6 MB
i7-U8550	4	4.0 GHz	1.80 GHz	8 MB Smart Cache

Now, a growing amount of AE does render on the GPU (which is massively multithreaded), but that's not relevant to a discussion about which CPU to get .

What specifications do you need for a GPU, to render on it?

[Szalam]

When a processor goes into "Turbo" mode, the turbo is only for one core, so...

I'd go with the higher base frequency since the "turbo" maximums aren't that different from each other.

As for GPU, here are some tests: https://www.pugetsystems.com/recommended/Recommended-Systems-for-Adobe-After-Effects-CC-144/Hardware...

[woooei]

Thanks! Szalam

For After Effects, you'll want a fast, single-core clock speed

When a processor goes into "Turbo" mode, the turbo is only for one core, so...

I'd go with the higher base frequency since the "turbo" maximums aren't that different from each other.

So I'd rather choose for a i7-7700Q (4 cores, 2,8 GHz) than the newer i7-8750H (6 cores, 2,20 GHz)?

I was inclined to choose for the newest Intel-generation. But maybe that's not the best option for Adobe Programmes.