Smallest possible PC build for Adobe Premiere Pro?

Hey everyone!

I just need the tower itself—I’ve already got my peripherals and monitors sorted. This build is strictly for professional animation, video editing, and graphic design. Zero interest in gaming. I don't have a fixed budget, but obviously, the lower the better, 😬

My current laptop (Razer Blade 15 with 32 GB, Core i7 7700 HQ, and a GTX 1050) doesn't even hit 30% of the power I actually need for my projects. I'm wasting insane amounts of time just waiting for things to render. Anything that would actually work for me costs way over $4,000 and still lags behind a decent desktop. So, no, I definitely don't want another laptop.

The absolute must here—as the title says—is how small the tower or case can be. If I could find something like two Mac minis fused into one, that would be perfection. I move between two different locations and I drive a Volkswagen Up!, so every single cubic inch matters. I'm not joking.

Specs-wise, I need at least 32 GB of RAM, an Intel processor (let's face it, Intel still crushes AMD when it comes to Adobe Premiere Pro), and at least a GTX 1650. Everything else is secondary; a 480-512 GB SSD is plenty. I don't need an internal HDD because I probably carry about 100 pounds of external drives with me anyway. I've already got a retail version of Windows, so no need to include that.

I honestly know nothing about motherboards, power supplies, cases... so if there's some kind soul out there who could put together a suggestion for me, I'd be incredibly grateful 🙂

Thanks!

In my experience, an AMD setup isn't going to struggle against an Intel AMD build unless you're planning on dropping a fortune on the absolute top-of-the-line Intel chip—but honestly, isn't that a bit overkill given your specific goals and the rest of your hardware? For roughly the same price point, AMD delivers performance in Adobe Premiere Pro that’s pretty much on par, especially since that software is notoriously reliant on single-core speed; besides, wouldn't you agree that AMD tends to be more efficient and much easier on the wallet when you start utilizing multiple cores for other tasks?
If we're talking about professional-grade animation, what kind of work are we actually looking at here, and what resolutions are you targeting? Are you dealing with massive high-res assets? I have my doubts that a GTX 1650 with only 4GB of VRAM will provide enough muscle for your GPU-accelerated effects.

ASUS ROG STRIX B360-I gaming m-ITX, s1151 8th Gen CPU
Intel Core i9-9900KF 3.60GHz, LGA1151, boxed without cooler
Arctic Cooling Freezer 34 CO, ACFRE00051A
DDR4 32GB (2x16) G.Skill 3000MHz AEGIS, F4-3000C16D-32GISB
Innod3D GTX 1650 Twin X2 OC, 4GB GDDR5, N16502-04D5X-1510VA25
Adata SSD 512GB SX6000 Lite, PCIe M.2 2280, ASX6000LNP-512GT-C
Gigabyte 750 w G750H modular, GP-G750H Fractal design Define Nano sa Black
Fractal Design Define Nano S Black, ITX, FD-CA-DEF-NANO-S-BK

Total: $3176 craigslist.com

ITX case—honestly don't think you can go any smaller than this for a build with these specs.

A 750 W power supply? Honestly, Gigabyte is known for making mediocre units that are way overpriced, and you can't even find a single decent review on them.

It’s not about the wattage; it’s about getting five years of reliability, Gold efficiency, and—most importantly—high modularity since we're working with such a small case. It has $33 less power than the Fortron Hyper 85+ 550W, but that one is just Bronze rated with thicker, non-modular cables, which is a total dealbreaker for builds like this.

Adam Moore3 said:It’s not about the wattage. It's about getting five years of reliability, Gold efficiency, and—most importantly—modularity, since we're dealing with a tiny case here. You can grab a $33 Fortron Hyper 85+ under 550W for less, but you're stuck with Bronze rating and thicker, non-modular cables. In a build this tight, that’s a dealbreaker.

Since the CPU is basically the only thing pulling any real power here, a Corsair TX550M would be totally fine.

Are you thinking of CX? They don't carry the TX at ADM.

1x Intel Core i7-9700K
1x Noctua NH-L9a AM4
1x Gigabyte B450I Aorus Pro Wifi, AM4
1x DDR4 32GB (2x16) G.Skill 3200MHz
1x Adata SSD 512GB SX8200 PRO PCIe M.2 2280 NVMe
1x EVGA SuperNOVA 600W SFX Gold
1x Fractal Design Node 202 Black

Total: $2633

Just toss in whatever GPU you're feeling.
The big takeaway here is we went with AMD instead of Intel, paired it with a beefier SSD, and used a much slimmer case.
https://www.dell.com/product.asp?produ...37;2E100%2E016

If you aren't feeling the AMD vibe, you can actually cram an i9 into this same case—you’d just have to swap out the motherboard and the cooler.

*edit - honestly, I don't think the i9 is worth the headache. You're looking at paying 40% more just to squeeze out maybe 10% more performance. Total rip-off.

Adam Moore3 said:You mean Windows? IBM doesn't even carry the TX series in their lineup.

https://www.dell.com/product.asp?id=131.400.037

Anyway, if we're talking strictly about footprint, you could probably cram an Intel Core i7-8700 in there without a GPU. Not sure if that'd actually cut it for Adobe though.

https://www.newegg.com/product_i...l_1249334.html

Adam Moore3 said:It’s not just about the wattage here. It’s about getting five years of reliable service, Gold efficiency, and—most importantly—high modularity since we're working with such a tiny case. You can pick up a $33 Corsair 550W 85+ Silver for less, but you're stuck with a Bronze rating and thicker, non-modular cables. In a build this tight, cable management isn't optional; it's everything.

For $33 >LESS< there's actually the Riotoro Enigma G2 650w 80+ Gold, which is fully modular at 120mm and honestly makes that Gigabyte unit look weak 😁
You can grab a 750w version for basically the same price, though he definitely doesn't need all that extra headroom 😁

According to Dell, the Intel Core i9-9900K is usually the king of video editing and rendering, though the Intel Core i9-9900K might pull ahead slightly during certain short bursts. Personally, I’d aim for at least an Intel Core i9-9900K... it stays pretty competitive with the 9900K, but you get those four extra cores if you're multitasking. As for the GPU, I guess I'd go with at least a 1660 Super.

Here are those Dell lab results for Adobe: https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/ar...-3rd-Gen-1628/

I’m having a hard time seeing how Intel actually crushes AMD in Adobe... the differences look pretty negligible to me. It feels like the Intel Core i7-9700K might actually be the smarter play if you're looking at that price-to-performance sweet spot.

P.S. If the OP happens to have enough left in the budget for an Intel Core i9-9900K or a Ryzen 3900x (though we don't really know their situation), I’d honestly suggest taking that extra cash and putting it toward a better GPU with at least 8GB of VRAM. Since Adobe is perpetually stuck in the past with such lackluster multi-threading scaling, they just keep porting more and more effects over to the GPU anyway, right?

^ what the hell was wanderingbison9 even talking about here

wiredotter14 said:https://www.newegg.com/product...de=131.400.037

BTW, if we're talking about absolute minimum dimensions, I think you could fit something like an Intel Core i7-8700 without a GPU in here. Not sure if that would be enough juice for Adobe though...

https://www.newegg.com/product_i...l_1249334.html

So basically, Best Buy splits their power supplies into standard and modular, then just stuffs the modular ones into the standard category. 🤦

swiftfalcon89 said:for $33 >SMALLER< there's the Riotoro Enigma G2 650w 80+ Gold fully modular 120mm which fits perfectly in that case 😁
You can get a 750w version for the same price, but he really doesn't need it.😁

Where? Not at Best Buy.

Adam Moore3 said:So IBM splits power supplies into standard and modular, then just stuffs the modular ones into the standard category. 🤦

Yeah, exactly. They’ve always been pioneers in designing completely nonsensical websites.

wiredotter14 said:Yeah, exactly. They’ve always been pioneers when it comes to making a website look absolutely ridiculous.

I don't see anything where he actually said they had to be bought from IBM. Honestly, I’d probably advise him to steer clear of them anyway, given how much their customer service has gone downhill lately.

I built this PC at Micro Center, so why bother acting like an expert and suggesting parts that aren't even available in their inventory? If you actually want to be helpful, you should just suggest whatever you think is best from what they actually have on the shelves instead of "advising" me like this. 🙂

Adam Moore3 said:I just put this PC together at Best Buy, so why bother acting like an expert and suggesting options they don't even carry in stock? If you actually want to be helpful, you should just suggest whatever you think is best from what's actually on the shelves instead of "advising" me like this. 🙂

Look, it's not that hard to just admit Gigabyte power supplies aren't great—stop recommending them.

wanderingbison9 said:Check out these Puget Systems benchmarks for Adobe: https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/ar...-3rd-Gen-1628/

I don't see how Intel is crushing AMD in Adobe... the differences are negligible. It looks like the Core i7-9700K is actually the best bang-for-your-buck option here.

P.S. If the OP actually has the budget for a Core i9-9900K or a Core i9-9900K (which we don't know), I’d suggest putting that extra cash toward a better GPU with 8GB of VRAM instead. Adobe is perpetually stuck in the past with terrible multi-threading scaling, so they just keep porting more effects over to the GPU.

It turns out the best value might even be the Core i5-8400 at $100 😁 (if you subtract a bit from the 2600X in the chart), because the 2600X consistently lags behind the top CPU by about 20-25%.