Build a Budget 4K Video Editing PC for Under $1000 in 2022! Intel Computer Build

It's early 2022 and you should build a budget video editing PC for under $1000! You will be able to edit videos in Premiere Pro and Da Vinci Resolve (or basically any other editing software), as well as edit photos, mix music, game, and live stream.

This video will show you all the parts you need, as well as explain why I recommend them. In addition, I have also added some upgrade parts that are a bit more expensive but should make this computer even faster.

💲 Bigger budget?! Watch my high-end video editing PC build guide: COMING SOON

🔨 FULL PARTS LIST FOR THIS BUILD

💡 PART UPGRADES (if you have the budget)

🔧 PC ACCESSORIES

Music licensing sites I recommend:

0:00 Intro & Full Parts List
0:46 Step By Step PC Build Guide
1:08 CPU - The BRAIN Of The Computer
2:09 CPU Cooler
2:53 Motherboard
4:09 Memory
6:08 SSD & Hard Drives
7:06 Graphics Cards & How To Find One In Stock
11:30 Case Options
12:39 Power Supply
13:08 Mouse, Keyboard, Monitor, Speakers Etc...
14:21 What about Apple?!

I’m required to state that I'm a part of affiliate programs for Amazon, B&H, SoundStripe, ArtList, Musicbed, and Adobe and that some of the links above are affiliate links.

[michaelhayward]

Hi Matt just wanted to thank you for your awesome video on the Budget 4k Video editing PC build. I needed to refresh my 10 year old PC to handle Premiere Pro and it rocks.

[johnhpalmer]

Hi Matt, I know this build is a year old now, more or less but am in the middle of using this build (and the other 2, along with a turnkey system, likely from Dell) as a starting point to build a decent system that will do 1080P more easily, but eventually do 4K. And, for a while have no plans on upping to anything beyond 4K at this point.

However, my present PC, a 10 year old Dell Optiplex 9020, SFF PC is struggling with Hitfilm Express at 1080P, though it does have Windows 10. Bought the PC refurbished in 2019 and it was then, 6 or so years old, not a decade old like it is now. Graphics card is an Nvidia GeForce GT 610 with a mere gig of memory on board. It was intended to get me up and running inexpensively for about a year before doing a real upgrade as the old PC, a then 10 YO Dell Studio XPS desktop that had the first gen Core i7 processor (920) and its original Western Digital blue was loosing sectors quite rapidly and corrupting Vista (yes) and it needed replacing post haste. Enter the Dell Optiplex and here we are, some 4 years later...

Most current software are looking at a minimum of 2G these days for the graphics cards, for 4K, more for the absolute minimum. I am at the moment editing using Hitfilm Express 17 (2021.2) as it has proxies (true proxies at that), but Artlist bought the company and seems to be killing it off. user forums were scrapped recently and many of the original employees of Hitfilm have left so am looking to finally make the jump to DaVinci Resolve itself and eventually, 4K. As it is, the computer running a basic 4th Gen Core i5 (a 4570) processor, running 16G of RAM and is considered itself on the margins for the software itself that I currently run, let alone do anything adequately with Davinci Resolve.

Even at 1080P, it barely will do 2 camera editing and has been known to drop frames and leave the occasional glitch. Can barely run OBS in anything more than a single camera setup. The Gopro webcam software crashes when trying to use it in OBS, so through a buddy we are looking to up the PC to something newer. Knowing this build is based on a 10/11th gen Core i5 processor and something like the RTX 1050 for graphics, I'd go with the 1660 Super, or the 2060 Super or the ti version of the 3060, the latter 2 with 8GB of VRAM and keep the graphics card to less than $400..

The only other change is going with the latest gen Core i5 processor (the 13400) and DDR5 memory and get the MB that supports DDR5, both are roughly 250 each, the board is from Gigabyte if I recall, from the Auros line.

Being who I am, I tend to run quite a bit of stuff on my current PC and yes, at 16G, it is not the speediest (it does have an SSD for OS/software, spinners for everything else, including 3 external spinners) and even if I turn off quite a few of the other programs, it'll still not be ideal, but it does seem to improve things to some extent.

So this build is being looked at as a starting point for the "low end" video editor and I'll do the $1200, and the $2000 as starting points and then configure out a Studio XPS desktop from Dell and see where we go from there using spread sheets with where to get the parts and will be the same Fractal Focus G case. I'll keep watching this space as you update these for 2023, hopefully.

[starcitycreations]

Hey Matt! I followed your video and built a computer. Thanks so much! It works great and perfect for my editing needs!

[mr_nemo]

4K needs 8 cores CPU, 32 GB of RAM and 8 GB VRAM graphics card, at least. Also, search the after effects formula if you want for more info. DaVinci uses more the graphics card than adobe by the way, so, depending the sofware you may consider upgrade something else.

[thewhiteroom]

Thanks Matt, I was seriously thinking I was going to have to spend at least 3 thousand dollars to get what I truly wanted.

[MatthewHadley]

Great video! I have had sooo many bad experiences with PC editing/gaming computers both built and purchased. It's hard to go back to uncertainty when I've enjoyed years of no worries with Mac. But, you can't beat the bang for your buck with PC unites.

[aymenelmanaa]

I love how you update your videos consistently thank you 😊

[DimitarMinchevFilm]

Hey Matt, sorry to be that "mmm actually" guy but I have a few notes:
- Video editors should never buy Intel CPUs that have an F at the end. That CPU has no integrated graphics. It may sound like no big deal, but Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve benefit from these integrated GPUs and have better timeline and encoding performance.
- In 2022 people should go with 12th Gen Intel CPUs. They have far better performance but the motherboards are a bit more expencive.

Keep up the good work.

[paulandrewpimentel]

You are my 'New' Best Friend... Great video, this was exactly what I was looking for... Super editing PC on a budget- Great Work

[docartproductions]

Good video Matt. We love you man. Your videos are so articulate and to the point.

[BubbleS]

Labeling the SSD section as memory is very confusing, I thought it was the RAM, and then the section after was SSD & HDD.

[VaugeWaves]

Just bought everything to build this pc, will let y’all know how it edits !!

[xxclickingxxone-man-army]

I upgraded over the holidays and got myself the following;

Corsair 4000d Airflow
Strix B550-F
ryzen 5900X
Corsair Vengeance 4x16GB (64GB RAM)
Corsair RM750 (80+Gold)
Sabrent Rocket 4 m.2
Corsair SP120 Fans
Cooler Master ML240L v2 CPU AIO Fan

I reused these from my old pc;
Kingston 1TB SSD (extra storage)
GTX 1660 TI (because why buy a graphics card for stupid money)

Total Cost of new products was £1252.31 and the performance has been a massive boost. I used to edit films off a potato with rendering times for a 7minute film being 2hours ish... now it takes 4-10 minutes depending on the effects.

Currently looking at getting an editing Laptop so I can work on the road when filming away from home.

[jondoeslifestuff]

Perfect timing! I just bought my new rig last week :( gahhhh!

[markvasilenko]

Love these "build recommendation" videos but noticing that this one is a couple years old. Do you have any plans to do a new video in the near future? Looking to build a new PC myself this year now that prices have stabilized and stock has returned to somewhat normal.

[holcombjim]

I couldn't find your answer to another guy's question: what would you recommend for a pre-built Intel processor desktop Pc for editing 4K videos DaVinci Resolve --- Free DaVinci?

[Unkown_Barcode]

the F CPUs don't have integrated graphic on the cpu....not great for video editing

[theHardwareBench]

It's funny, Matt clearly knows a lot about video camera's and editing yet the people I know that are into filmography would laugh at me if I suggested a PC of this spec. I've no doubt that it is good enough to do the job, I'm more into PC's and looked to do a build that would be acceptable for high end users in a pinch without instantly dismissing it. I personally can get by on Davinci with a i7 4770K, 16gb of ram, a GTX970 and a 500gb SATA SSD. Just funny how one man's tool for a job is seen as fit for the skip by someone else.

[Jason.rimando]

I ended up paying some dude to run his bot for me when a GPU dropped. I was able to get a 3070 ti for retail + $20 tip for the guy

[niclasvestman]

Why on Earth the 11400F? It lacks the all important iGPU and it's awesome hardware encoders/decoders. For just as few $ you get the non F versions with iGPU. Should be best improvement/$ by far.