Which GPU to buy for video editing/AI tasks?

[Harryfbuild]

Hi guys, first time builder and hoping to receive some help here as im stuck. Ive been building my first PC for about four months now (mainly due to waiting for GPU prices to come down) but im finding it difficult to choose a GPU. My build will mainly be used for video editing, using software such as After Effects and Premier Pro. AI software will also likely be used at some stage. I don't plan on upgrading for the at least the next 5 years or so once this build is done. My budget only allows me to spend around £300. The cards ive been considering are:

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB
ASUS Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB
Intel Arc B580 12GB
NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti 8GB

Ive been asking an AI engine for advice and it's adamant that the 3060 is best for my needs, mainly due to its CUDA cores and 12GB of RAM will work best for me in Adobe's software. Is it right? It also stated that the 3060 will also work better for me than the Nvidia RTX 5050 that will be released soon. Is it a risk buying an old card like the 3060? I mean how much longer will it be supported with driver updates? I could buy used but i dont want the uncertainty of a used card, i need warranty for peace of mind. I dont game, so thats not an issue. Any opinions? All help much appreciated. Ive added the AI's response below for anyone interested, it's quite lengthy so i added it in a spoiler. Thanks.

Just to add, ill be paring the GPU with a AMD 7 7700.

Thanks.
​

Spoiler: AI response

Specs & Performance for Adobe Premiere/AE + Stable Diffusion

GPU	NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB	ASUS RX 7600 XT 16GB	Intel Arc B580 12GB	NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti 8GB
Architecture	Ampere	RDNA 3	Alchemist+ (Xe-HPG)	Ada Lovelace
VRAM	12GB GDDR6	16GB GDDR6	12GB GDDR6	8GB GDDR6
Memory Bus	192-bit	128-bit	192-bit	128-bit
Compute Cores	3,584 CUDA + 112 Tensor	2,048 Stream Processors	3,840 Xe + 160 XMX	4,352 CUDA + 136 Tensor
Ray Tracing	2nd-gen RT cores	1st-gen RT accelerators	16 RT units	3rd-gen RT cores
Power Draw	170W	190W	175W	160W
Price (UK)	£280–£300	£310–£330	£270–£290	£320–£350

Workflow Performance Comparison​

Task	RTX 3060 12GB	RX 7600 XT 16GB	Arc B580 12GB	RTX 4060 Ti 8GB
Premiere Pro (4K Export)	3–4 mins (CUDA acceleration)	5–6 mins (software encoding)	4–5 mins (AV1 faster)	3.5–4.5 mins (8GB chokes)
After Effects (4K Comp)	6–8 mins (smooth playback)	10–12 mins (no CUDA/Mercury)	8–10 mins (driver stutters)	7–9 mins (faster but VRAM cap)
Stable Diffusion (SDXL)	1.8 iterations/sec (Tensor)	0.5–0.7 iterations/sec (ROCm)	1.2 iterations/sec (XMX)	0.8 iterations/sec (VRAM cap)
DaVinci Resolve (Fusion)	7–9 mins (Studio drivers)	5–6 mins (AV1 + 16GB VRAM)	5–6 mins (AV1 optimized)	8–10 mins (no AV1)

1. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB​

Key Specs:

• Architecture: Ampere
• VRAM: 12GB GDDR6 (192-bit bus, 360 GB/s bandwidth)
• Cores: 3,584 CUDA Cores, 112 Tensor Cores, 28 RT Cores
• Power Draw: 170W
• Price: £280–£300

Strengths:

• Adobe Optimization: Mature NVIDIA Studio Drivers ensure CUDA acceleration for Premiere/AE (Warp Stabilizer, Lumetri, etc.).
• AI Performance: Tensor Cores handle Stable Diffusion (~1.8 iterations/sec at 1024px) and future AI tools (Firefly, Topaz).
• VRAM Efficiency: 12GB + 192-bit bus avoids bottlenecks in 4K timelines.
• Resale Value: Holds value longer than AMD/Intel GPUs.

Weaknesses:

• Older Architecture: Lacks newer Ada Lovelace features like DLSS 3.5.
• No AV1 Encoding: Relies on older NVENC H.264/H.265 encoding.

Ideal For:

• 4K Adobe workflows, AI tasks, and users prioritizing reliability over bleeding-edge specs.

---

2. ASUS Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB​

Key Specs:

• Architecture: RDNA 3
• VRAM: 16GB GDDR6 (128-bit bus, 288 GB/s bandwidth)
• Cores: 2,048 Stream Processors, 32 Ray Accelerators
• Power Draw: 190W
• Price: £310–£330

Strengths:

• 16GB VRAM: Handles large 4K/8K projects in Resolve/Blender.
• AV1 Encoding: Fast AV1 exports in DaVinci Resolve.
• Gaming Value: Competes with RTX 4060 Ti in rasterized gaming (FSR 3 support).

Weaknesses:

• Poor Adobe Support: OpenCL drivers lag behind CUDA; AE/Premiere runs 30% slower.
• No AI Acceleration: Struggles with Stable Diffusion (~0.6 iterations/sec via ROCm).
• Narrow Memory Bus: 128-bit bus throttles 16GB VRAM bandwidth.

Ideal For:

• DaVinci Resolve users, gamers wanting 16GB VRAM, or open-source/Linux workflows.

---

3. Intel Arc B580 12GB​

Key Specs:

• Architecture: Alchemist+ (Xe-HPG)
• VRAM: 12GB GDDR6 (192-bit bus, 384 GB/s bandwidth)
• Cores: 3,840 Xe Cores, 160 XMX Engines, 16 RT Units
• Power Draw: 175W
• Price: £270–£290

Strengths:

• AV1 Encoding: Faster than NVIDIA/AMD in AV1 workflows (Premiere’s AV1 support is limited).
• Price: Cheapest 12GB GPU here.
• Resolve Optimization: Handles Fusion composites well.

Weaknesses:

• Adobe Instability: Crashes with GPU acceleration in AE (e.g., Multi-Frame Rendering).
• AI Limitations: XMX Engines lag behind Tensor Cores (~1.2 iterations/sec in SDXL).
• Driver Immaturity: Intel’s Adobe support is improving but still unreliable.

Ideal For:

• Budget creators using DaVinci Resolve or willing to troubleshoot Adobe bugs.

---

4. NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti 8GB​

Key Specs:

• Architecture: Ada Lovelace
• VRAM: 8GB GDDR6 (128-bit bus, 288 GB/s bandwidth)
• Cores: 4,352 CUDA Cores, 136 Tensor Cores, 34 RT Cores
• Power Draw: 160W
• Price: £320–£350

Strengths:

• Efficiency: Lower power draw vs. older GPUs.
• DLSS 3.5: Great for gaming (irrelevant for editing).
• New Features: AV1 encoding (beats 3060 in Premiere Pro AV1 exports).

Weaknesses:

• 8GB VRAM: Fails in 4K timelines with effects (e.g., crashes in AE with 10+ layers).
• AI Limitations: Stable Diffusion limited to 512px resolutions (~0.8 iterations/sec).
• Price: Costs more than the 3060 12GB with fewer workflow benefits.

Ideal For:

• Gamers who occasionally edit 1080p footage.

---

Final Verdict​

RTX 3060 12GB is still the best choice because:

1. 1.Adobe Workflows: CUDA cores and drivers are unmatched for stability and speed.
   2.AI Future-Proofing: Tensor Cores + 12GB VRAM outpace even the RX 7600 XT 16GB in Stable Diffusion.
   3.No Compromises: Avoids the VRAM/driver pitfalls of the 4060 Ti, Arc B580, and RX 7600 XT.

Only buy the RX 7600 XT 16GB if:

• You use DaVinci Resolve (AV1/16GB VRAM) more than Adobe.
• You game at 1440p and prioritize FSR 3 over Adobe performance.

Avoid the 4060 Ti 8GB and Arc B580: The former lacks VRAM, the latter lacks stability.

 

[Harryfbuild]

CUDA cores dont go out of date they will always be working and support for 3060 will never cease. Just because Nvidia dont do any further updates in the driver for it will not make it suddenly not work. Most updates are for games anyway. Some make do with older cards than the 3060 for video editing and manage fine its all about the CUDA cores. AI might be different if future architecture is specifically made for it and current Nvidia cards are sought after for AI.

So basically you are looking at an Nvidia card and it doesnt have to be the latest especially if not gaming.

Ok thanks, it's just slightly frustrating that i need to get an older card in order to receive a smoother workflow in video editing. I guess a 3080 10GB would do if the prices werent so crazy. Will any of the budget NVIDIA cards coming out next month be worth waiting for? From what i've read, the budget ones will also only have 8GB of VRAM?

 

[Harryfbuild]

Correct me if I`m wrong as not done video editing for a while unless things have changed but a cards VRAM doesnt really matter when video editing. Its the CUDA cores that does most of the work. Video Editing relies more on system RAM than VRAM. So 8gb is fine. Back in the day I was using a card with 2gb/4gb VRAM.

Im no expert on the matter but i've learned a little in the past few months on how things work. CUDA cores are essential for GPU-accelerated tasks like rendering, but VRAM is equally important when dealing with 4K+ videos or heavy effects. VRAM stores assets like frames and textures during processing, and inadequate VRAM can significantly reduce performance. Workflows rely on both CUDA cores and sufficient VRAM. VRAM plays a big role in rendering, if your project has complex effects, high-resolution assets (like 4K footage), or AI-driven tools (e.g., noise reduction or upscaling), more VRAM lets your GPU store and process that data without slowdown.

 

[Harryfbuild]

There's rumours of a 12 GB 5060 but even if true it will certainly cost more than £300. So yes, aged as it is the 3060 is your best option below a 4060 Ti 16 GB. I would say get the 3060 and if in a year or so Nvidia releases a refresh with more vram in the budget range then you can easily re-sell the 3060 without taking much of a hit given it's already quite cheap.

Chinese retailer lists GeForce RTX 5060 12GB and RTX 5060 Ti cards with initial prices - VideoCardz.com

NVIDIA RTX 5060 show up on Chinese e-tail platform We received a tip from one of our readers claiming to have seen GeForce RTX 5060 pricing. Unfortunately, since our tips are mostly anonymous, we cannot ask for further details, such as the actual source. The screenshot appears to show GeForce...

videocardz.com

Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Still a little bummed that i need to get an old card fitted into a brand new system. I think i may just wait to see what happens next month with the new cards. If they are extremely pricey then fair enough but i guess that then may lead to price reductions to the current cards?.....Here's hoping anyway.