Built around what you shoot. Not just the resolution.
Two people can both edit 4K video and need completely different PCs.
The codec, the camera, the number of streams, the effects and the applications around Premiere Pro can matter just as much as resolution. That's why we don't start with a generic "4K editing PC".
We start with your footage.
Two editors can both say "I edit 4K video". One could be cutting highly compressed 10 bit H.265 from a mirrorless camera. The other could be cutting ProRes from a cinema camera.
Resolution alone doesn't tell you how difficult footage will be to edit. Codec, bit depth, chroma subsampling (4:2:0 or 4:2:2) and the number of streams all change the workload.
Long GOP
Hardware decode matters enormously.
Heavily compressed media from mirrorless cameras, drones and phones. Small files, but hard work to decode. Intel Quick Sync can make an Intel Core Ultra processor particularly compelling here.
Intraframe
Built for editing.
Editing friendly codecs that are generally easier to decode than compressed Long GOP media. Bigger files, so storage matters more, and resolution, stream count and effects still count.
Cinema
CPU and GPU both earn their keep.
RAW camera formats add substantial processing work and very high data rates. Higher performance CPUs, GPUs and fast media storage become much more relevant.
Streams
Codec x stream count.
A file that's easy on its own becomes demanding when the workstation has to decode many streams at once. Eight 4K angles are a very different proposition from one.
"4K editing" isn't a specification.
Tell us the camera, codec and how many streams you use.
An enormous Threadripper and an RTX 5090 look impressive. But if your day is dominated by H.265 camera footage, an Intel processor with the right media engine can give a better editing experience for dramatically less money.
Equally, RAW and high end production workflows can genuinely benefit from workstation class CPU performance.
Match the hardware to the footage.
See what makes Premiere Pro fastThe CPU still matters most. But the codec changes which CPU we'd choose.
Codec first. CPU second.
Premiere Pro is still heavily CPU dependent, but core count alone is a poor way to choose the processor. More cores help, particularly when exporting, yet Premiere doesn't scale perfectly with extremely high core counts.
Current independent testing shows a clear split. With H.264 and HEVC, Intel Core Ultra can perform exceptionally well because Intel Quick Sync decodes and encodes supported media in dedicated hardware. With RAW, ProRes, DNxHR and broader heavy workloads, high end AMD Threadripper 9000 becomes substantially more compelling.
Threadripper PRO isn't an automatic step up. Its extra platform features rarely improve Premiere Pro itself, so we only recommend it when the wider workstation genuinely needs them.
Effects love it.
Premiere Pro uses the graphics card for GPU accelerated effects, colour, scaling, some transitions, H.264 and H.265 encoding and decoding, RAW processing, exports, AI accelerated features and high resolution timelines.
The more GPU accelerated effects a project carries, the more a stronger GPU pays off. But Premiere doesn't scale dramatically across every GPU tier, so an appropriate NVIDIA GeForce RTX card is often better value than the most expensive one available.
Current independent testing generally favours NVIDIA in Premiere Pro, and its hardware acceleration, driver support and wider creative application support make it our default unless a workflow gives us a reason to choose otherwise.
Give the edit some breathing room.
Memory requirements rise with resolution, codec, stream count, project length, Dynamic Link and the other Adobe applications running alongside Premiere Pro.
64GB is where we'd start a serious new Premiere Pro workstation. 96GB to 128GB suits complex 4K, 6K, multicam, RAW and Premiere Pro with After Effects.
Feed the timeline.
Your timeline can't be faster than the storage feeding it. Fast storage matters most when media bitrate or the number of simultaneous streams exceeds what slower storage can deliver.
We separate the operating system, active projects and media, the media cache and the archive, so each drive does one job well and cache writes stay away from valuable project data.
The fifth priority most guides forget.
Codec acceleration isn't a part you can hold, but the hardware decode and encode engines in the CPU and GPU can fundamentally change how Premiere Pro performs with your footage.
When your media matches those engines, playback, scrubbing and exports can feel dramatically lighter. When it doesn't, the work falls back onto the processor.
Don't choose the CPU before you know the codec.
How Intel Quick Sync worksIntel Quick Sync is dedicated media processing hardware built into Intel processors with integrated graphics, and Premiere Pro can use it to accelerate supported H.264 and HEVC media.
That's how a Core Ultra processor can outperform CPUs that look far more powerful on a specification sheet. Adobe currently supports hardware decoding of 10 bit 4:2:2 HEVC on supported Intel platforms.
The exact benefit depends on codec, bit depth and chroma subsampling, so not every H.264 file accelerates. Intel isn't always better for Premiere Pro. Intel can be particularly strong when your media matches what Quick Sync supports.
Without a matching media engine
Every frame decoded in software.
Compressed Long GOP media keeps the processor busy just unpacking frames, before effects, colour or exporting have even started.
With Intel Quick Sync
Smoother playback. Less CPU work.
Dedicated media hardware decodes and encodes supported H.264 and H.265 footage, lifting playback, scrubbing and exports, and leaving the graphics card free for effects.
Particularly relevant for
This is why we ask what camera you use
before we ask whether you edit in 4K.
64GB of RAM is a sensible professional starting point for a new Premiere Pro workstation.
Adobe currently recommends 32GB or more for 4K and higher media. That tells us Premiere Pro will run. Our goal is different: a workstation that stays responsive while you edit, run Creative Cloud, open Photoshop, Dynamic Link After Effects, browse references, render and handle client files.
These are guidelines. Codec and workflow can move the recommendation significantly, and normal 4K editing doesn't need 192GB.
Professional starting point
Heavy creative sweet spot
Specialist
Extreme
Unused RAM doesn't make the edit faster.
Running out of it absolutely slows it down.
Current independent guidance puts the minimum at roughly 4GB for 1080p, 8GB for 4K, 12GB for 6K and 16GB or more for 8K, with multistream projects needing more.
Because we build new professional systems rather than minimum viable ones, we'd normally give you headroom above those figures.
Entry / lighter editing
Professional sweet spot
Specialist
Enough VRAM matters.
Unused VRAM doesn't make Premiere magically faster.
Your timeline can't be faster than the storage feeding it. Each layer here has a different job.
System
Project + media
Cache / scratchStrongly recommended
Archive
The media cache and scratch files create bursts of temporary, high speed writes. A dedicated fast NVMe drive improves responsiveness and keeps that activity away from your valuable project data.
You don't always need four physical drives. For many editors, a well configured system with fewer high performance drives works extremely well. The fuller layout is about performance, organisation, capacity and protecting active projects from cache writes, not selling SSDs for the sake of it.
Finished client work and irreplaceable footage should exist somewhere else too.
Two 4K files can place very different demands on storage. What matters is how much data per second the edit has to pull, across every stream on the timeline.
Compressed camera media
A good SSD is often plenty.
Highly compressed 4K H.264 or H.265 can need far less storage bandwidth than less compressed professional media. A modern SATA SSD already handles many editing workflows comfortably. NVMe being several times faster on paper doesn't make Premiere Pro several times faster.
High bitrate media
This is where NVMe earns it.
Cinema RAW, high bitrate intraframe codecs and several simultaneous streams can overwhelm slower storage. As an illustration rather than a rule, current independent guidance points to NVMe becoming especially relevant for media around 2,000 Mbps and above.
External and network storage
Yes. It depends what "external" means.
A basic USB hard drive can cause playback and reliability problems. Thunderbolt NVMe, high performance USB storage, 10GbE NAS and flash based shared storage are a different proposition, and professional shared storage can absolutely support editing when the storage and network are designed for the workload.
Choose storage for the media,
not the resolution printed on the camera box.
The priorities change with what lands on the timeline.
H.264 and HEVC from mirrorless cameras, typically 4K with moderate effects. The right media engine matters more than a huge core count.
Priority
Mixed codecs, multiple layers, colour work and graphics. A balanced workstation with room to grow.
Priority
Several camera streams decoding at once. Eight 4K feeds are a very different proposition from one, so codec acceleration and storage bandwidth move up the list.
Priority
RED and other RAW footage, high bitrate media and cinema workflows. This is where Threadripper class CPUs and Sonox Pro come into their own.
Priority
High resolution professional projects. Memory, VRAM and storage bandwidth all scale with the frame, and codec still decides how hard it bites.
Priority
Dynamic Link, motion graphics, compositing and editing in one working day. See our After Effects workstation guide for the other half of the story.
Priority
Premiere Pro can create lighter proxy versions of demanding media to edit with, while keeping the original files for final output.
Proxies remain useful for difficult codecs, remote workflows, very high resolution projects, portable systems and enormous multicam edits.
A £5,000 workstation doesn't make good workflow design irrelevant. We'd rather improve the whole editing process than simply throw hardware at it.
Talk to us about your workflowVideo editors move between Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, Audition, Media Encoder, DaVinci Resolve, Cinema 4D, Blender, Topaz and local AI tools.
That can change workstation requirements significantly.
Give us the workflow. We'll build the workstation around it.
What cameras do you use, and what codecs do they record? 8 bit or 10 bit? 4:2:0 or 4:2:2? What resolution, how many streams, multicam or RAW? Do you use After Effects, and which plug ins? What do you export to? Where is your footage stored, and do you work from a NAS? Where does your current system slow down?
Tell us what your edit looks like.
Premiere Pro
Reviewed September 2026
Today's model numbers live here, not scattered across the guide, and we review them as hardware and Premiere Pro change. We'd typically begin with one of two directions, depending on your footage.
H.264 / HEVC creator: a current Intel Core Ultra with Quick Sync. Current independent testing particularly favours Core Ultra for supported H.264 and HEVC workflows.
RAW / high end production: AMD Threadripper 9000 class, with the Threadripper 9970X performing particularly strongly across many demanding Premiere Pro workloads. Not automatically Threadripper PRO.
Creator: modern NVIDIA GeForce RTX. RTX 5080 16GB class is an excellent high end option; many less demanding editors are well served by a lower tier RTX card.
High end: RTX 5080 or RTX 5090 32GB, depending on effects, RAW processing and the wider workflow. One GPU, not two.
Creator: 64GB professional minimum, 96GB to 128GB for heavier projects and Adobe multitasking.
High end: 128GB+ depending on resolution and project scale.
Creator: fast system SSD, a large active project SSD or NVMe, and a dedicated NVMe cache where appropriate.
High end: high capacity, high throughput project media plus a dedicated cache.
We'll move to Threadripper, larger memory or an RTX 5090 when the footage and workflow genuinely call for it: RAW cinema media, demanding 8K, heavy GPU effects or other intensive applications alongside Premiere Pro. Never simply because it costs more.
Sonox is a starting platform, not a fixed Premiere Pro specification. Premiere Pro is best served by one strong GPU, so we don't recommend our multi GPU compute systems for Premiere Pro on its own.
Compact creator workstation. Social content, YouTube, 1080p and 4K editing, lighter professional work and efficient H.264 / HEVC configurations.
Our professional video editing sweet spot. Serious 4K editing, Premiere Pro with After Effects, high performance RTX graphics and larger storage configurations.
High end production. RAW, 6K and 8K, high bitrate cinema footage, demanding multicam, Threadripper class configurations and very large projects.
Not sure which one fits your footage?
Talk to our workstation teamFor everyday creator work, a modern GPU drives your displays perfectly well. But your GPU isn't always the final word.
For broadcast, film and genuinely colour critical work, dedicated video output hardware such as Blackmagic Design DeckLink can send a controlled video signal to a calibrated reference display. We can help with the monitoring hardware, displays, storage and network infrastructure around it. Most editors won't need it; those who do really do.
Talk to us about a professional editing workflowWhy Utopia
Designed for sustained load: long exports, transcoding and rendering can keep a workstation working hard for hours, so cooling, airflow, power delivery and stability matter.
Designed, assembled and tested by our team in Kilmarnock.
Long-term support without labour charges hanging over the workstation.
Speak to real people who understand the machine we built.
Configured around your cameras, codecs, software and workflow, not a generic video editing specification.
The best PC for Adobe Premiere Pro combines a fast CPU, a modern NVIDIA GPU, enough RAM and storage matched to your footage.
The ideal CPU can change considerably depending on whether you edit H.264 / HEVC, ProRes, DNxHR, RAW or other formats. For compressed camera media, Intel Core Ultra with Quick Sync is often the smarter choice; for RAW and heavy intraframe work, AMD Threadripper becomes more compelling. We then size memory, GPU and storage around resolution, streams and effects.
There isn't one universal best CPU for Premiere Pro, because the right choice depends on the codec you edit.
Intel Core Ultra is particularly compelling for H.264 and HEVC workflows because of Intel Quick Sync. AMD Threadripper performs extremely well in many RAW, intraframe and high end Premiere Pro workloads. Our current recommendation names today's models.
It depends on the footage.
Intel can have a substantial advantage with supported H.264 and H.265 media through Quick Sync. High end AMD Threadripper currently performs extremely well across many other Premiere Pro workloads, including RAW, ProRes and DNxHR.
Intel Quick Sync is dedicated media processing hardware built into Intel processors with integrated graphics.
Premiere Pro can use it to accelerate decoding and encoding of supported H.264 and H.265 media, which improves playback, scrubbing and exports. The benefit depends on codec, bit depth and chroma subsampling. Intel "F" processors without integrated graphics don't include it.
Yes. Codec can fundamentally change which CPU and hardware acceleration features give the best Premiere Pro performance.
It affects playback, decoding, CPU usage and which hardware engines can help, so knowing your camera and recording format is one of the most useful things you can tell us when specifying a workstation.
64GB of RAM is our preferred starting point for a serious new Premiere Pro workstation.
96GB to 128GB is better suited to complex 4K, 6K, multicam, RAW and Premiere Pro with After Effects. Higher capacities become relevant for specialist 8K and above.
32GB can be enough for lighter workflows, and Adobe currently recommends 32GB or more for 4K media.
For a new professional desktop workstation, we normally prefer 64GB to give Premiere Pro, Creative Cloud and the applications around it more headroom.
For many 4K workflows, yes, 64GB is enough.
More memory helps with complex projects, multicam editing, RAW media or heavy use of After Effects and other applications alongside Premiere Pro.
A modern NVIDIA GeForce RTX card is currently our default recommendation for Premiere Pro.
RTX 5080 class hardware is a powerful professional option. The RTX 5090 becomes more relevant for maximum GPU performance, VRAM heavy projects and other GPU intensive applications.
Usually not.
Many Premiere Pro editors see excellent performance from substantially less expensive GPUs. The RTX 5090 makes sense for exceptionally demanding effects, high resolution or high VRAM projects, or wider GPU intensive workflows. Otherwise we'd rather invest some of that budget in CPU, memory or storage.
As a general minimum, current independent guidance starts around 4GB for 1080p, 8GB for 4K, 12GB for 6K and 16GB or more for 8K.
Multistream and complex workflows can need more. For a new workstation we aim for sensible headroom, with 12GB to 16GB as the professional sweet spot, rather than the bare minimum.
Premiere Pro can technically use multiple GPUs, but the performance gains are generally very small.
One more powerful GPU is normally the better choice.
Current independent testing generally favours NVIDIA for Premiere Pro.
Hardware acceleration, performance, driver support and broader creative application compatibility make NVIDIA our normal starting recommendation, unless a specific workflow points elsewhere.
Premiere Pro needs SSD storage for a modern professional workflow, but not every media file needs NVMe.
SSDs dramatically improve general responsiveness, and modern SATA SSDs are already fast enough for many Premiere Pro workflows. NVMe becomes increasingly valuable for the media cache, very high bitrate footage and demanding multistream projects.
For a professional workstation, a separate cache drive can be very worthwhile.
A dedicated NVMe cache drive can improve responsiveness and keeps temporary, high write activity separate from important project data.
Yes, if the storage and network are fast enough.
Professional shared storage with suitable network infrastructure, such as 10GbE, can support demanding editing workflows. A basic consumer NAS on a gigabit network shouldn't automatically be assumed to be sufficient.
Technically yes, but basic external hard drives can become a significant performance bottleneck.
Fast external SSD and Thunderbolt NVMe storage is a different proposition. For most single workstation setups, we prefer active projects on suitably fast local storage.
For many professional 4K workflows, start with a fast modern CPU, 64GB of RAM, a modern NVIDIA RTX GPU, fast SSD or NVMe project storage and fast cache storage.
Then adjust for codec, stream count and effects, because 4K H.265 and 4K RAW are very different workloads.
8K Premiere Pro workflows generally need considerably more RAM, VRAM, storage capacity and storage bandwidth than 4K.
The right specification depends heavily on codec and whether the project includes RAW footage, multicam or heavy effects, so rather than publish a single universal specification we'd rather talk it through with you.
For some workflows, absolutely.
Threadripper performs extremely well in many demanding RAW and non Long GOP Premiere Pro workloads. It's less compelling when Intel Quick Sync gives a major advantage with your particular footage.
Usually not for Premiere Pro alone.
Threadripper PRO becomes relevant when the workstation needs its additional memory capacity, PCI Express expansion or capabilities for other applications. Don't buy it purely because PRO sounds more professional.
Yes. It's a very common workflow, and we configure the workstation around both applications.
RAM, cache storage and balanced CPU and GPU performance become especially important. Our After Effects guide covers that side in detail.
Yes, we build workstations for RED footage.
We'll ask about your camera, resolution, REDCODE compression, stream count, effects and delivery format, then configure the CPU, GPU, memory and media storage accordingly.
Yes. We can help you plan the whole move to a Windows Premiere Pro workstation, not just choose a CPU.
We'll look at storage, Thunderbolt, displays, codecs, plug ins, capture hardware, audio, project compatibility and network storage, so the new workstation fits the way you already work.
