What is Intel Quick Sync and why do you need it?

When shopping around for a new CPU, most people don't care too much about integrated graphics. There's a common belief that these integrated graphics are particularly weak, especially compared to a dedicated graphics card. That is true for tasks such as gaming, and this is why Intel's KF and F CPUs are so popular. However, integrated graphics have their benefits in certain situations, especially with features such as Quick Sync.

Quick Sync is a codec engine that uses Intel's integrated graphics for fast decoding and encoding. This frees up the CPU for other tasks and improves overall system performance, especially in tasks such as video editing. We'll be discussing how it works, which processors it supports, and why it's something you need to consider when buying your next processor.

How does Intel Quick Sync work?

Like Nvidia's NVENC, Quick Sync Video (QSV) is a dedicated hardware-accelerated codec engine embedded in supported Intel processors. However, QSV leverages integrated graphics within the processor, not a dedicated graphics card. It's also worth mentioning that Quick Sync is a dedicated hardware core on the processor die, and it's missing on Intel CPUs with the "F" suffix. For example, the Core i5 13400F lacks integrated graphics and doesn't support Quick Sync.

One of the biggest advantages of Quick Sync is that it offloads the burden on your processor or dedicated graphics card. Traditional video processing relies heavily on the CPU for encoding and decoding, but QSV takes over these tasks and frees up the CPU for other operations such as application logic and system processes. It also takes some load off your dedicated GPU if it is getting maxed out in tasks such as rendering.

As a result, an Intel processor that has integrated graphics will always deliver better performance in applications like Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve. Such applications automatically take advantage of Quick Sync if it's available, and that results in lower render times and better system responsiveness.

Quick Sync supports hardware acceleration for a wide range of codecs used in video processing. This includes H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), VP8, VP9, and most recently, AV1.

Which Intel processors support Intel Quick Sync?

As mentioned earlier, any Intel CPU that has the "F" suffix will not have Quick Sync. The video encoding and decoding hardware core was introduced with Sandy Bridge (2nd-generation Intel Core processors) and has been around since then. It also become available on Celeron and Pentium processors starting with the Intel 4th-generation (Haswell).

To put it simply, most Intel Core, Celeron, and Pentium processors from the last ten years support Quick Sync, as long as they have integrated graphics. Of course, there are differences in features and supported codecs across all different generations. For example, Intel's 11th-generation processors added support for the 12-bit HEVC and VP9 12-bit codecs. Both of these codecs were unsupported in previous generations.

To put it simply, if you want to use Quick Sync, make sure that the processor you're getting doesn't have an "F" at the end of its model number.

How to use Intel Quick Sync

Checking for integrated graphics

If you already have an Intel processor and want to take advantage of Quick Sync in certain apps, the process is quite straightforward. If your Intel CPU has integrated graphics, Quick Sync should be enabled by default and automatically work whenever it's needed. If you're unsure whether your processor supports this feature or not, follow the steps below:

1. In the Start menu, search for Device Manager. Click the app to launch it.
   
2. Click the Display adapter branch.
   
3. If you see a display adapter that says something along the lines of Intel HD Graphics then your processor has integrated graphics.
   
4. In case you see an arrow next to the display adapter icon, that means integrated graphics are disabled. Right-click the display adapter, and select Enable Device from the drop-down menu.
   

If you have integrated graphics but Intel Quick Sync doesn't seem to be working, make sure that your system is updated. This includes updating your Windows build, Intel graphic drivers, chipset drivers, and even your motherboard's BIOS. As long as everything is updated, Quick Sync should work flawlessly.

Don't underestimate integrated graphics

Intel Quick Sync is an incredibly valuable feature for anyone who does video editing on a frequent basis. If you're a creative professional who is often working with large video files, don't skimp out and buy an Intel CPU that lacks integrated. You're leaving a good bit of performance on the table, and the price difference isn't that huge to begin with. On top of that, if you're building an entirely new machine, make sure you pick the right parts that balance stability and performance. Of course, if you have an F-series processor, you also have a discrete GPU, and Nvidia and AMD also offer their own engines for video encoding and seconding, so it's not a big problem.