Unlock Smooth Video Editing: The Surprising Power of CPU Integrated Graphics
Irritated by choppy timelines and long exports while editing videos? You are not alone. Many video editors and designers make a critical mistake when choosing computer parts that drastically impacts performance. The goal isn't just to have the most powerful graphics card or to have the latest processor. As it turns out, the key to a smooth editing experience lies in something quite different: the integrated graphics on the CPU.
This has little to do with raw benchmark scores. Hello, and today I get in deep as to why a CPU with integrated graphics can actually make or break your workflow, especially those from Intel. Let's cut to the chase.
Beyond the Graphics Card: The Importance of CPU Integrated Graphics
So many people design and produce with the mindset of just a graphics card and main processor when it comes down to building up a PC for video editing. Yes, the GPU is highly needed, but there's a very important thing that goes past most people. For smooth editing and rendering, many programs take huge advantages of a CPU with an integrated graphics card. Yes, NVIDIA GPUs are great, but do not let that blind your vision from the CPU itself.
While the traditional benchmarks may give you a performance score, they do not always show you the full picture, so I wanted to do a few tests to actually show what the difference truly is. For a very long period of time, Intel processors just feel smoother while editing compared to AMD counterparts, which isn't a matter of brand loyalty-it's all about the way most of the editing applications are leveraging Intel's internal graphics.
One can easily attribute this smoothness to the reason sitting inside: an internal graphics card, aka Intel's QuickSync encoder. Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and a whole host of others often utilize the integrated GPU inside many of Intel's processors. This, in turn, offloads work from the main CPU and helps create massive gains in performance.
The Experiment: i9, i7, i5 in Real-World Editing Scenarios
For the understanding of how much Intel's integrated graphics matters, I've done a series of tests. I used five videos stacked on top of each other in an editing program; I've tested with the i9 12900K and emulated weaker i7 and i5 scenarios by disabling cores and the integrated graphics card, focusing on:
- Timeline smoothness while editing.
- How long video exports take.
Setup:
The main tests ran on an i9 12900K with an RTX 3090. To put most of the work on the CPU itself, export was done in software encoding. Simulations for the i5 and i7 processors were achieved by disabling the cores on this very same i9 12900K.
i9 12900K with Integrated Graphics
With the i9 12900K, I turned on both the integrated and high-powered discrete graphics cards, and the editing timeline felt super fast and smooth. Stopping and playing clips was instantaneous with zero noticeable frame drops.
i9 12900K w/o Integrated Graphics
Then I disabled the integrated graphics, leaving the load to the main CPU entirely. The CPU utilization shot up to 77-80%, and though the timeline was somewhat smooth, frame drops became apparent.
i5 12400 with Integrated Graphics
Wow, the test of an i5 12400 with integrated graphics was impressive. While not as smooth as the i9, the i5 was very acceptable. The integrated card utilization during animation was around 80-90%, showing it was doing most of the heavy work.
i5 12400 without Integrated Graphics
Obviously, the most impact came with disabling the internal card on the i5: Operations would see the CPU chugging along continuously at 100%; Animations show major slowing, and starting/stopping the timeline created large delays/ frame drops.
Export Test: Integrated Graphics in Rendering
The internal graphics card makes a real difference on exports. These tests really show the difference in exporting videos when the integrated graphics are on versus when they are turned off.
| Processor | Integrated Graphics | Export Time |
|---|---|---|
| i9 12900K | On | 58 seconds |
| i9 12900K | Off | 1 minute 24 seconds |
| i7 (Simulated) | On | 1 minute 2 seconds |
| i7 (Simulated) | Off | 1 minute 27 seconds |
| i5 12600K | On | 1 minute 10 seconds |
| i5 12600K | Off | 1 minute 40 seconds |
| i5 12400 | On | 1 minute 22 seconds |
| i5 12400 | Off | 2 minutes |
Key Observation: the i5 12400 with integrated graphics had an export time fairly close to the i9 12900K without integrated graphics. This really shows just how much of a difference the integrated GPU makes when it comes to video processing.
Making Sure your Software is Utilizing the Integrated Graphics
One important note to make here: Your integrated graphics may be there, but your editing software might not be using them by default. To change this:
- Enter into Windows display settings, then graphics settings.
- Locate your Adobe Premiere or Photoshop application. Set the graphics performance option to "Power Saving". This essentially instructs the application to use the integrated card. The application can use both the dedicated graphics and the integrated graphics, hence you can make use of both.
- Don't choose high performance. That will force the application to use only the discreet graphics card, not being able to take advantage of the integrated one. This is the same with Photoshop and other Adobe applications.
Takeaway: Integrated Graphics Are a Must for Video Editors and Designers
That is not only relevant for a video editor but for everybody who's using design-oriented Adobe applications, like Photoshop. The integrated graphics card makes quite a difference, and it's almost like going from an i9 without integrated graphics to an i5 with integrated graphics. If you're building or buying a PC with editing or design tasks, make sure to go for an Intel processor with an integrated graphics solution.
But if you were making a purely gaming PC, then you don't need to focus on a CPU that contained an integrated graphics card.
Hope I've been able to convey the message. Thank you all for Reading.
