Best Budget PC Build for Video Editing Under Rs. 50,000 in India

Now is probably the best time to build a budget system for video-editing. With excellent CPU performance at a very low price and the recent fall in SSD prices, you can build quite the beast of a system for a small investment. Since a GPU isn’t essential for video-editing, we have opted for the absolute bottom-of-the-line variant. Consequently, this build is NOT meant for gaming. That said, you can still edit 4K video without any hitches and 1080p should be a breeze. Before we get started with the build, here are some things to keep in mind:

• Focus on the CPU. It is the foundation of your build. Try and opt for one with more number of cores/threads as they will impact performance more than clock speeds.
• A GPU is NOT essential. A discrete GPU does help in rendering and encoding tasks. However, opting for a high-end card will not have a huge impact on performance. Try and opt for one with at least 2GB VRAM and don’t focus much on the gaming performance.
• An SSD is a must-have. While you might need a hard-drive to store excess footage, I can’t possibly emphasize more on the importance of an SSD for project files. It ensures smooth performance without random stutters while greatly improving rendering performance.

Best Budget CPU For Video-Editing: AMD Ryzen 5 3600

• Price: Rs. 17,069 (Link)
• Cores: 6
• Threads: 12
• Base Clock: 3.6 GHz
• Boost Cock: 4.2 GHz
• TDP: 65W
• Socket: AM4

The Ryzen 5 3600 is a great CPU for multi-threaded workloads. For video-editing tasks, a higher core count improves performance by a huge margin. With a boost clock of 4.2 GHz, it can handle single-threaded workloads without a hitch as well. Combined with only a 65W TDP, it makes for a great pick for a budget video-editing PC. Moreover, it comes with a Wraith Stealth Cooler included in-the-box which is more than sufficient. Combine that with an excellent price tag, and you have a great deal.

Recommended Motherboard for Video-Editing: MSI B450M Gaming Plus

• Price: Rs. 6,985 (Link)
• B450 Chipset
• Memory: 4x DDR4 Slots for up to 64GB
• I/O: 1x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI 1.4, 2x USB 3.1 Gen2, 2x USB 3.1 Gen1, 6x USB 2.0

MSI’s B450M Gaming Plus is a micro-ITX board that offers essential specs without breaking the bank. It offers 4 DDR4 slots that can hold up to 64GB of dual-channel RAM at speeds of up to 3466 MHz when overclocked with A-XMP OC Mode. It lacks VRM cooling but makes up for that deficit with a substantial I/O. IT should be more than sufficient for a Ryzen 5 3600. Since overclocking won’t cause any visible real-life performance improvements, you can make do without best-in-class VRM cooling. Moreover, we are only using 8GB of RAM. Even if you choose to upgrade to 16GB, the B450M should be more than enough.

Recommended Graphics Card: NVIDIA GT 1030

• Price: Rs. 5,512 (Link)
• Cores: 384
• Base Clock: 1227 MHz
• Boost Clock: 1468 MHz
• Memory Clock: 6000 MHz
• Memory: 2GB GDDR5

The NVIDIA GT 1030 is an entry-level 10-Series card based on NVIDIA’s Pascal architecture. Would I recommend it for gaming? Absolutely not. For video-editing, however, it is a great option. Unless you’re using DaVinci Resolve (which is GPU intensive), there won’t be much difference between the 1030 and a more gaming-focused GeForce GTX 1650. Spending more on a GPU for video-editing will lead to diminishing returns. That said, if you will be playing some games occasionally, you can opt for the NVIDIA GTX 16 Series or the upcoming AMD Radeon RX 5500 Series of graphics cards.

Recommended Memory: HyperX Fury 8GB

Price: Rs. 2,650(Link)

The HyperX Fury is an 8GB RAM stick rated at a speed of 2400MHz. You can overclock this to around 3000MHz as we have paired it with a Ryzen 3000 CPU. Moreover, it also comes with HyperX’s 5-year warranty. If you will be working with 4K footage, I’d recommend upgrading to a 16GB kit. However, it’s not essential.

Recommended Power Supply: COOLER MASTER ELITE V3

• Price: Rs. 2,200 (Link)
• Fan Size: 120mm Sleeve Fan
• Output Capacity: 400W
• Efficiency: 75%
• Dimensions: 150 x 140 x 86 mm
• Max Operating Temperature: 40 C
• MTBF Rating: >100,000 hours

The Cooler Master Elite V3 is a 400W power supply. While it doesn’t have an 80Plus certified rating, it does have a similar max operating temperature of 40 C. Honestly, even a 400W PSU is a bit overkill for this system. Since we are using a very modest GPU, any PSU should do the job. The cheaper the better. However, if you’ll be upgrading to a gaming GPU, I’d suggest going for the Corsair CX 450.

Recommended Storage for Video-Editing: Intel 1TB 660p

• Price: Rs. 9,650 (Link)
• Form Factor: M.2 2280 
• Interface: PCI Express 3.0
• Seq. Read: 1800 MB/s
• Seq. Write: 1800 MB/s

For Video Editing, you need to store your project files, software, source footage as well as the cache. While ideally, you should be storing everything onto an SSD, 4K footage can take up space really fast on your PC. Personally, I would recommend using an SSD for your OS and the Software while a fast HDD for storing your footage.

As this is a budget build and we haven’t used an X570 board, we have opted for the next best thing. The Intel 660p 1TB is an M.2 2280 NVMe SSD. It offers blistering fast write speeds and is extremely durable. For storing excess footage, we have also included a SEAGATE Barracuda 2TB 5400 RPM. That should be more than enough storage for a few years at the least.

Recommended Case for Video-Editing: Corsair Carbide SPEC-05

• Price: Rs. 2,900 (Link)
• Form Factor: Mid Tower
• Motherboard Support: ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX
• Dimensions: 199mm x 433mm x 483mm
• Weight: 4 Kg
• Radiator Support: 120mm, 140mm
• I/O Ports: 1 x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0, 1x Headphone/Mic
• Drive Bays: 3 x 3.5-inch HDD, 2 x 2.5-inch SSD

The SPEC-05 is one of the most spacious mid-tower cases on the market and offers great thermal performance with reduced noise levels. While there’s a slight compromise on the acrylic panels instead of tempered glass, space for up to 5 fans and support for multiple options certainly makes up for it. The SPEC-05 is a simple, easy-to-build-in PC case and offers a great value for the price.

Component	Name	Price	Links
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600	Rs. 17,069	Link
Graphics Card	NVIDIA GT 1030	Rs. 5,512	Link
Motherboard	MSI B450M Gaming Plus	Rs. 6,985	Link
Memory	HyperX Fury 8GB DDR4	Rs. 2,650	Link
SSD	Intel 1TB 660p	Rs. 9,650	Link
HDD	Segate Barracuda 2TB	Rs. 4,150	Link
Power Supply	Cooler Master Elite V3	Rs. 2,200	Link
Case	Corsair Carbide SPEC-05	Rs. 2,900	Link
Total		Rs. 50,169

The total of all the components comes up to Rs. 50,169. For a more gaming-focused build, check out our other builds. For the price, 1080p performance should be smooth as silk. It can even handle 4K footage if needed. Note that this build is optimized for Adobe Premiere or Sony Vegas Pro. We might post a build for DaVinci Resolve in the future. Till then, stay tuned.

Further Reading:

• Inno3D GeForce GTX 1660 Super Twin Fan 6GB Graphics Card Review
• AMD RX 5500 Custom GPU variants will launch on 12 December