CPU recommendations?

What would be a solid choice for a CPU? I need something specifically for video encoding and decoding.
I'm currently running an Nvidia GTX 1050 paired with an old Intel processor, and everything is just too slow right now. I’m planning to upgrade my CPU and motherboard, though I'm not entirely sure if I need to ditch my GPU as well. I'd prefer to avoid upgrading the graphics card if possible, but if it's necessary, I could use some recommendations. Thanks.

A budget?
Just grab the Threadripper 2990WX

Edward Thompson86 said:What kind of Intel processor would be the best fit for my setup? I'm trying to figure out what I should pick up to get everything running smoothly. Have you ever stopped to wonder about the complex dance behind video encoding and decoding? It’s one of those invisible processes that we all take for granted, yet it’s essentially the backbone of everything we consume on our screens today. When we talk about taking raw footage and compressing it into something manageable—that's the encoding side of things—we're really talking about a delicate balancing act between file size and visual fidelity. It makes you think, doesn't it? How much data can we actually strip away before the image starts to fall apart? Then, on the flip side, you have the decoding process, where your hardware takes those compressed bits and reconstructs them into a smooth, playable stream in real-time. It’s a pretty incredible feat of engineering when you consider how much heavy lifting your CPU and graphics card are doing just so you can watch a movie without a hitch.
I’m currently running an Nvidia GTX 1050 paired with an older Intel processor, and honestly, things have started feeling pretty sluggish lately. I've been thinking about upgrading my CPU and motherboard, but I'm stuck on whether it's actually worth ditching my current graphics card too. If I could manage to hold onto the GPU, that would be ideal, but if you all think it's necessary to upgrade that as well, what would you recommend? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Which software are we talking about exactly, since the answer really hinges on how much it leans into multithreading? And if you don't mind me asking, what's the specific end goal here—not that it's a secret, of course, but knowing the actual purpose helps determine just how much emphasis we need to place on quality?

Edward Thompson86 said:I need some solid advice on which CPU to grab for video encoding and decoding.
I'm running an Nvidia GTX 1050 and an old Intel processor right now, and everything is painfully slow. I'm looking to swap out the CPU and the motherboard, but I'm not sure if I need a new GPU too. I'd really rather skip the GPU upgrade if I can get away with it, but if not, let me know what you recommend. Thanks.

You're definitely going to have to swap the motherboard, the CPU, and the RAM—plus, throwing in an SSD wouldn't hurt at all. Honestly, it all just comes down to how much cash you've got to spend.

I'm using VSDC
I downscale from 4K to 1080P using H.265
Or I go from 1080P to H.265, then down to 720P in H.265

That's my main priority.
Everything I process ends up as H.265

It takes me about 3 hours for a 15 GB file...

The AMD Threadripper 3990X is a solid choice

It’s probably too expensive for my specific needs. What about the AMD Ryzen 7 or 9 series?

Are you recommending a $4,000 processor, or $10000 are there options for $11000 🙂
...

Edward Thompson86 said:It's way too expensive for what I need. What about the AMD Ryzen 7 or 9 series??

They're solid...

Bryan Taylor6 said:Are you seriously suggesting a $4,000 CPU, or is there actually an option for $10000 around $11000 🙂
?

I just assumed budget wasn't an issue.

There’s a lot we have to assume here
The specs listed only cover what comes used $133. If he swaps in a used GTX 1600 from $233, he'd see a massive speed boost thanks to those CUDA cores
.
Could you list the full build? Processor, motherboard, RAM, SSD? Or is he just embarrassed by his current specs?

If he's upgrading the CPU, he'll likely need a new motherboard and RAM too... maybe an SSD if he doesn't have one yet...

And obviously, what's the budget?

The guys are just trolling you because you still haven't mentioned a budget 🙂 A good sweet spot would be an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, or maybe the AMD Threadripper 3990X if you're serious about this and don't mind spending the cash.

VSDC provides solid hardware acceleration settings, allowing you to leverage both Nvidia and Intel architectures. To put its performance to the test, I put together a short film using five different clips—ranging from SD and 1080p up to 4K—applying a standard set of transitions. I exported the final project as a 1080p30 MPEG-4 file at 15Mbps using H.264 High Profile, with the audio set to MPEG AAC at 192 Kbps. My test rig was an Asus Zen AiO Pro equipped with 16GB of RAM, a quad-core Intel Core i7-6700T processor, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M dedicated graphics card, and a 4K touchscreen, all running 64-bit Windows 10 Home.

Rendering this nearly five-minute clip took VSDC Video Editor exactly 3:37. For comparison, the heavy hitters were much faster, with PowerDirector finishing in just 1:34 and Pinnacle Studio taking 1:39. On the bright side, VSDC easily outpaced Ashampoo Movie Studio Pro, which clocked in at 5:34, and Vegas Movie Studio, which took 6:19.

That's a laptop

I am currently encoding 16 hours of video footage.

I handle 24/7 stream encoding for an IPTV service.
Due to circumstances, I just have to encode whatever I can manage. There isn't really a strict deadline; it's just a matter of how much gets done.
The processor is old. It wasn't intended for this kind of workload—it was mostly for web browsing—but I suppose it will suffice until I put together a new build.

Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 processor DualCore Intel Core i3-6098P
Processor: DualCore Intel Core i3-6098P, 3600 MHz (36 x 100)
Module Name: Kingston HyperX KHX2400C12D4/4GX 8 GB
Motherboard: MSI H110I Pro (MS-7995)
Liquid Cooling.

Drive 1 - Intel SSDSC2BW120H6 (111 GB) D: E: F:
Drive 2 - NVMe SAMSUNG MZVLW128 (119 GB) C:
Drive 3 - WDC WD7502ABYS-02A6B0 (698 GB) H:

It is outdated, since I didn't need it for anything other than internet access.
Regarding budget limits, I don't want to spend a massive amount. I need to swap out the motherboard, CPU, and RAM, and add at least another 8 GB. I can probably reuse the existing NVMe SSD.
Once about 50-60 GB of data is encoded, it gets moved to servers, so I don't think I need a huge SSD.

I am wondering how much time I could save if I switched to something like a Ryzen 7. Right now, it takes me 7 hours to process 16 hours of 1080p video.
If a new configuration allows me to finish that same job in 1 hour, then maybe it would be worth it.

As for the motherboard, I am restricted to the m-ITX format. No other options.

When you're working with a tight budget, you find gems like this somewhere online.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/processors-deal-link

placidtinker39 said:When you're on a tight budget, you find stuff like this
https://www.ebay.com/itm/processors-listing-example

That’s basically an i5 equivalent—just a quad core without Hyperthreading. It’ll still feel like hardware that was struggling with serious video editing five years ago.

It all comes down to what you can afford. AMD has three generations out, and the fourth drops before the year ends (might be worth holding out if you can)

If you want cheap but actually decent, the Intel Core i5-9400F is a $300 phenomenal deal for a 6/12 chip.

The next step up from there would be the Intel Core i5-10400 (because even though the Intel Core i7-8700 has 8 cores, it isn't any stronger than the 10400).

Then you move into the 3700X or 3900X territory.

You get what you pay for, but that 9400F is easily the best value.

@batmenbg: You can actually leverage the Nvidia HW encoder (NVENC) available on your GTX 1050:

If you aren't utilizing that and you find the quality and speed to be sufficient, there might not be any need to change your setup at all—it really just depends on whether VSDC is relying on your GPU or your CPU to handle scaling from 4K down to 2K. Even the most powerful processors struggle to keep pace with a dedicated hardware encoder when it comes to raw speed. Is it possible that the scaling process is what's actually bottlenecking you? Why not check your CPU usage and see where it stands?

CPU

Here are the CPU load screenshots.



I use Nvidia for encoding.
Where does it say Profile?

@Edward Thompson86/">@@Edward Thompson86: Let me break it down for you—I’m running an Intel Core i5-7600K paired with an NVIDIA GTX 1060, and I just ran a test by pulling a 4K movie into the Adobe Premiere Elements converter, setting the output resolution to 1920x1080 and using the H.265/HEVC profile via Intel Hardware encoding... For a two-hour film, it estimates about 1 hour and 25 minutes of encoding time at a conversion speed of roughly 35 fps... My CPU is hitting about 55% usage with all cores active, while the GPU video encoding sits at around 25%... Looking at these numbers, I don't really see how much of a massive difference upgrading to newer hardware would actually make, because it feels like the real bottleneck is tucked away somewhere in the software itself... I did notice there's a Pro version of Adobe Premiere Elements that supports GPU compute, which might give you a nice little boost since the GPU could handle the scaling tasks... Is it worth dropping $21 to see if it helps, even if it turns out to be a bit of a wash compared to the cost of buying an entirely new rig? Or, perhaps you could just try some other free options like DaVinci Resolve, Handbrake, or Avidemux...