Hardware Recommendations for Adobe After Effects Workstations

Adobe After Effects is one of the most demanding motion graphics and compositing applications available today. Whether you are building complex 2D animations, rendering 3D scenes, or working with AI-powered tools like Roto Brush 2 and Content Aware Fill, your workstation plays a critical role in performance.

Explore our dedicated After Effects workstation solutions here:

Adobe After Effects Workstations

You can also compare all creative systems here:

VRLA Tech Workstations

Building a Workstation for After Effects Performance

After Effects performance depends heavily on CPU speed, memory capacity, GPU acceleration, and storage configuration. While Adobe publishes minimum system requirements, those only ensure the software will run — not that it will perform optimally under professional workloads.

At VRLA Tech, we design systems specifically around real-world production workflows so editors and motion designers can spend more time creating and less time waiting.

Best CPU for Adobe After Effects

The processor (CPU) is the most important component in an After Effects workstation. While GPU acceleration has expanded in recent versions, overall system performance still relies heavily on CPU speed and core efficiency.

With the introduction of Multi-Frame Rendering (MFR), After Effects can now utilize multiple CPU cores more effectively than older versions. Clock speed remains important, but core count now plays a larger role than it once did.

Recommended CPU Platforms

• 
  Intel Core Workstation for Adobe After Effects
  — Excellent balance of high clock speed and strong multi-core performance.
• 
  AMD Ryzen Threadripper Workstation for Adobe After Effects
  — Ideal for heavy multi-frame rendering and workflows requiring large RAM capacity.

For users working in After Effects 25.2 and later, High-Performance Preview Playback allows fast NVMe storage to supplement RAM caching, expanding viable CPU options without sacrificing playback smoothness.

Does After Effects Benefit from More CPU Cores?

Prior to Multi-Frame Rendering, After Effects relied heavily on single-core speed. With MFR enabled, additional cores can improve performance — provided the system has sufficient RAM and GPU resources.

However, dual-CPU systems generally do not scale efficiently enough in After Effects to justify the added cost and complexity. A modern, high-core-count single CPU typically delivers better performance.

Best GPU for Adobe After Effects

After Effects is less GPU-dependent than DaVinci Resolve, but modern features are increasingly GPU-accelerated. The Advanced 3D Renderer and Multi-Frame Rendering benefit from stronger GPUs and higher VRAM capacity.

NVIDIA RTX GPUs currently provide the best performance and driver stability for After Effects workflows. VRAM capacity is especially important when using MFR, as more VRAM allows additional frames to render simultaneously.

Multiple GPUs do not significantly improve After Effects performance.

How Much RAM Does After Effects Need?

System memory plays a major role in preview playback and caching. With High-Performance Preview Playback, After Effects can use fast NVMe drives as cache storage, reducing reliance on extremely high RAM capacities.

• 64GB RAM – Recommended for most users.
• 128GB RAM – Ideal for 4K+ workflows or heavy multitasking.
• 256GB+ RAM – For complex compositing or legacy workflows.

Storage Configuration for After Effects

Drive setup significantly impacts performance. We recommend a minimum three-drive configuration:

• Drive 1 – OS & Applications (SSD or NVMe)
• Drive 2 – Project Files & Media
• Drive 3 – Disk Cache (NVMe recommended)

NVMe drives provide substantial performance improvements for disk caching and preview playback compared to SATA SSDs.

Thunderbolt & 10-Bit Display Support

Select VRLA Tech systems support Thunderbolt 4 for high-speed external storage and device connectivity. For true 10-bit HDMI or SDI output in After Effects, a dedicated video monitoring card such as a Blackmagic Decklink solution is required.

Why Choose a VRLA Tech After Effects Workstation?

We design After Effects workstations around real-world production needs. Every configuration balances CPU, GPU, memory, and storage to ensure smooth previews, faster rendering, and long-term reliability.

Explore the full video editing ecosystem here:

Best Computer for Video Editing

If you are unsure which system is right for your workflow, our consultants can help configure a workstation specifically tailored to your projects.