Help on upgrading PC hardware

[The Reformist Media]

Hi

This could be a pretty dumb question. My Apologies. I am a beginner.

I make 1080p 24fps videos with footages (Some I shoot and some taken from Web) and a lot of animations (especially data/statistical) done in After Effects.

My computer (Asus Rogstrix G731 - Laptop) isn't that powerful - i5 9300AH, 24 GB RAM, Nvidia GTX 1650 4 GB and a Single SSD for everything (OS, Adobe suite and Media).

I use Premiere Pro, After Effects, Illustrator and Audition for my work. There is a lot of back and forth between Premiere Pro and After Effects (occassionally with Illustrator too) using dynamic link. My system is struggling a lot during this and often, the After effects and Premiere Pro keeps crashing.

As I couldn't afford a new PC right now, I am planing to upgrade my laptop with the following:

1. Increase the RAM to 32 GB from 24 GB (There are 2 slots inside, 1 with 8 GB and other with 16 GB). So I am planning to replace 8GB with 16 GB.
2. Put an extra SATA SSD for Media files and scratch disk alone (There is still a vacant slot for HDD inside the laptop but it can be connected only with SATA). 

Will this help me with performance right now? Please suggest anything you could. It would be a great help. Thanks

[Kevin-Monahan]

Reformist,

See how things go after adding the SSD media drive, as it should have been added from the get go. All editors should have a 2nd SSD for media, minimum, it's standard setup protocol.

Please also look at your Memory preference. You might try switching rendering optimization from Performance to Memory. That might help too.

Other than that, working with a more powerful CPU, more RAM (especially for After Effects), and VRAM (for PPro) can all help a graphics heavy workflow. 

Hope we can assist you further.

Thanks,
Kevin

[The Reformist Media]

Hi Kevin,

Thank you for the reply.

You mentioned in the private message that it is better to connect the SSD with USB 3.0. 

Although this is possible, I thought it would be neater for it to sit inside my laptop which can be connected through a SATA cable provided with the laptop.

Is there a disadvantage using SATA instead of USB 3.0?