Best CPUs for Davinci Resolve 18 - What You Need to Know

Modern CPU's play a major role in the performance of Davinci Resolve Free edition. The more cores they have, the better right? Maybe not, let check these benchmarks to see how CPU cores scale in usage in both Render and Timeline performance.
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[@mervynjack4108]

The latest versions of resolve seem to be getting better with older hardware, well at least for me. My computer is a 10yo Dell Vostro with i7-3770 upgraded to 32GB RAM, SSD boot drive, normal HDD for data, 1TB SSD for Resolve cache drive. It originally had a GTX-660 2GB which I always assumed was the problem causing "GPU memory is full" errors, but at one of the v17 upgrades the errors stopped and I could actually use it to edit. However I couldn't decode some h.265 video files ( no CPU decoding on my CPU) so I ordered a new GTX-1660 Super 6GB GDDR6 which does have the h.265 CODEC. It all worked well on the free version so I paid for the studio version and I am absolutely amazed. A 5 minute 1080p video will encode in 1 minute. No other NLE has even come close to that. I'm just editing a wedding video now with a 5 camera multicam timeline section including 2 4k cameras and it's smooth as. I do run DNxHR LB for proxy and optimized media. I wonder how other people are getting on with Resolve Studio on laptops with similar built in graphics cards 'cause I might have to go to a laptop soon due to travelling?

[@ALUMMAHH]

can an i7 3770 run davinci resolve smoothly can i edit 1080p videos on i7 3770 with any decent 4 GB VRAM graphics card my specs are i7 3770 16 GB RAM no dedicated graphic card planning to buy one for davinciresolve but not sure if the processor can handle 1080p video editting in da vinci resolve

[@mervynjack4108]

@@ALUMMAHH Yes, but you might have to use proxies, you should use a SSD for your cache folder and Fusion will choke with 16B RAM, but you'll be OK doing most editing.

[@uvid4us]

@mervynjack4108 I've got a 3770 also with a 1660ti gpu. I would like to try Resolve but haven't tried to install it. From what you say, I should be OK? But.....I'm still on Windows7. What OS are you on, Win10??

[@mervynjack4108]

@@uvid4usResolve should work fine for you, the basic version is free. If you don't have any problems I highly recommend you purchase Resolve Studio because that will unlock the codecs in your GPU and Resolve will be even faster with h264 and h265 files. I hope you have at least 16GB RAM and install your OS (C: drive) on an SSD. I have a second 1TB SSD just Resolve cache files and when I need a fast drive. Data is on HDD's. Your Windows 7 should be ok if it is Pro, but why not upgrade to 10 Pro, I bought a couple of keys from VIP-Scdkey and they work fine. I might as well put this in too. If you are capturing old tapes and creating .avi files, Resolve won't play them, won't even see them. I use Vegas 14 for that. Vegas V15 up won't work on pre gen 6 cpu's :-(.

[@abdallah5906]

I got a dell vostro laptop and with specs i7 7500u gen for the cpu and nividia 980mx for the gpu with 8gb ram and its laggy at 1080 res ,so what should i upgrade to get good prrformance and thank in advance

[@adityadivine9750]

Commenting to let you know your channel is the best on KZbin I found for Davinci resolve benchmarks and deep information regarding resolve. I really appreciate your videos john!

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Wow, thanks! I really appreciate you watching and sharing the feedback!

[@kleptokratija]

@@johnsfilmsllc Hi, I have a question. What do you propose (in terms of CPU choice) for someone who is going to edit videos only in 1080p (maybe 4k footage sometimes, but rarely) in DaVinci Resolve free version? I am looking at 12400, 12500, 5700x, 12600k, and maybe 12700 (but I'm not sure if I need all that raw power). Thanks for your help in advance.

[@cloudnsec]

Great video. Not many videos on this subject.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Thanks! I like benchmarking when I have time…it takes a ton of time though ;0)

[@franical]

I'm editing with 4 cores and just 1080p. (even that is a drag. consumes your time) and time wasted results in frustration. That's why I came across this vid to look for better options. I have decided to upgrade my setup to 8 cores. Thanks for the info!

[@johnsfilmsllc]

I’m glad it helped, if you want to tell me what you are looking at I can help

[@theelder4797]

So, one processor has 8 cores now?

[@Rkportrait]

do you have Graphic card ?

[@TsZen876]

@@theelder4797one processor can have 16+ cores now. 8 cores is old technology. 6 cores is more or less the base for a modern CPU.

[@jmshakhawat309]

​@@johnsfilmsllci m having a 12 gen 8 core intel. can i run d r 18 for 1080p clips

[@fade2nada]

Since I got my MacStudio M1Ultra editing has really been a breeze… throw LUTS and NR and no stuttering!

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Even NR! Wow…

[@BalaKrishna-bq5iz]

It's not the processor or the GPU. Apple just has better media engine that contributes to great timeline performance. A high end dedicated GPU can still outclass it in rendering performance.

[@ItsBuzzer]

I have RTX 3060TI (8GB) Ryzen 9 7950x With 32GB RAM and have non stop lag 😢

[@johndicus123]

I've gone from 4 cores to 12 to 16 with Resolve, and agree that the more cores the better. Great video, thanks for taking the time to test this for us!

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Thanks for the feedback and for sticking around on the channel so long! Great to have your insights

[@kasomoru6]

Thanks for the hard work

[@johnsfilmsllc]

You bet, thanks for watching!

[@vediovis]

Did a test with 1hr 1080p timeline no cuts, no effects, just youtube encoding on my 5900X (H264) & 3060ti 8gb(h265) , CPU did it 50% faster 20min on Cpu Vs 40min on Gpu

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Now thats interesting. h.265 is a more compressed format which requires higher compute but given it's hardware accelerated in the GPU I still would have expected it to be a closer race

[@gamerul]

Cool! Thanks!

[@johnsfilmsllc]

You bet! Thanks for watching - let me know if there are other tests that would help you

[@karlsonkab51]

Cool ! - saw somewhere that 10-14 cores is the sweet spot- I had a 28 core dual Xeon build fail at the getgo due to junk Jingsha mobo - wonder which 12 core Xeon E5 V3 to use for the re-build? (I've already DDR4 ECC ram so V3 will be it)

[@gamingmods4u769]

So, I have 2 option 12700h and 13700h which one should i go with

[@iamhari]

12700 🎉

[@Moriarty2007]

AMD power vs Intel small Cores timeline performance in h265?

[@johnsfilmsllc]

My data in anecdotal however, I moved from a AMD 5950x (16core Ryzen) to an Intel 13700k recently and while they are one cycle off interms of release cycle (would have to test a 7000 series to get apples to apples) I believe the split P and E cores in the intel are faster, giving a smoother editing experience than the core happy 5950x. I also REALLY like the 4:2:2 decoder on the intel chips...

[@Moriarty2007]

@johnsfilmsllc GPU module inside CPU also helps, how I know. I wanna find CPU on Windows, which perform h265 10bit 422 as well as M1 or M2 silicone. I don't have any problem with h264, Prores 4444xq and Braw on my 2700x + 1080ti, but 4k+ h265 codec makes me mad(need to do proxy mostly).

[@johnsfilmsllc]

@@Moriarty2007 Yes, thats the 4:2:2 decoder on the intel chip I was referring to. Must be a 12th or 13th gen intel processor non-F sku…

[@ravenseyeimages]

I just built a new desktop with a Ryzen 7 5700 8 core processor & Nvidia 3080 12GB GPU. 64 GB ram, I just looked & see I can get a Ryzen 9 5900 12 core for only $100 more, wondering if it’d be worth my while swapping it out.. Think I’m okay though, since my 3 year old HP Omen laptop with i7 & Nvidia 2070 super 6GB, 16 GB ram seems to play most of what I do in Resolve reasonably good.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

I don’t think it’s worth the effort and $100 for the small cases performance boosts. :)

[@dopexmc7901]

And would you say that a "lenovo p620" is enough for 12k Postproduction / Da Vinci?

[@bunnybabybevytv6434]

Ty

[@johnsfilmsllc]

I hope it helps!

[@drheystudio]

thx for your hard work！ been rebuilding my desktop and trying to get a laptop on the go. I use studio version and editing mostly canon r5 4k footage. timeline wise，should I get i9 or i7 and is rtx4050 gonna be enough for this type of work？ thx again

[@TsZen876]

No point getting an I9 with a 4050. The GPU is gonna choke the life out of the I9 in many tasks. Get the I7 and put the money left over towards saving for a better GPU, at least a xx60 tier Nvidia GPU but preferably a 3070/4070 and above

[@drheystudio]

@@TsZen876 yeah Thanks I have been using a 4070 laptop for almost a year now.

[@josephkelly4893]

Running a 12 core xeon, works for me.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Likely a perfect choice

[@papa-dt1cv]

Seems like affordable Macbook need to boost up their spec for students use. Really too slow. Has any one tested M1 max 64G ram? Any performance updates to share❤❤❤??

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Sorry don’t have the hardware :(

[@mumblejumbletravels]

What's the difference between amd and Nvidia GPU on rendering? Nvidia faster?

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Frankly at this point, both are likely roughly the same speed (I haven’t tested the newest AMD cards) and similar on quality.

[@dopexmc7901]

Thank you for the good video. Unfortunately I don't know much about computers, but I do own the Ursa12k and Da Vinci Resolve. I think that my Asus desktop PC is too weak to be able to edit 8 or 12k. The 3 categories to consider are processor, motherboard and GPU? -- If that's all, why are there some users who spend $20,000 on the computer? If I look at the 3 points (motherboard, GPU and processor) from you, from “My Editing Workstation” - then it costs about 1200$ together. With this equipment you can use Resolve and edit 8k videos well? Best regards

[@AOMVideoProductions]

You want to also have more RAM for your system, if you can afford it 64GB could be ideal for those higher resolutions. You will also want a decent GPU, the RTX 3060 comes with 12GB of VRAM and is pretty affordable.

[@gamingmods4u769]

One thing i noticed that after a time the 8 core cpu was a bit faster, than the 12 Cores so should i go with the 8 core or Higher please reply

[@aleksanderszpilczynski5652]

Hey John. Currently I have a desktop running DaVinci resolve 18 with a AMD g3000 CPU 16gb of ram and a 3080. I can't get to render in h265 and I believe it's due to the CPU. I'm on a budget now and I was wondering if a Ryzen 5 3600 would support GPU rendering with h265. Great video btw.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

the g3000 would crumble if it had to do the h.265 (it would work but super duper slowly). The 3600 would work...but let's make sure your settings are right as the work should happen in GPU. Specifically Go to the "Davinci Resolve" menu, choose "Preferences" and then under "System" choose "Decode". Make sure "Decode h.264/h.265 using hardware acceleration" and the NVIDIA box is checked...that should mean when you setup a job on the delivery page and choose h.265 it would get done with Render "NVIDIA"...

[@jamessouthgate4086]

Hi John. Great video! I'm currently building a PC for my first stab at video editing in resolve for my podcast. I want to maximize bang for my buck as I'm on a bit of a budget. I'm considering the i5-13600k and the i7-13700k, also the RTX 3060 12 gb, 4060, 4060 ti and 4070 with 64 gb of DDR5 RAM for editing 2 or 3 camera (including OBS screen recording) in the free version (at least initially). I'm wondering where you think the "sweet spot" would be amongst these component combinations and/or whether you had any alternative recommendations. Many thanks.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Great detail here thanks for sharing - question what cameras are you using, what codec are you shooting in? Something to know - The work done by the computer changes based on the version of resolve you are using. If you are using resolve studio, you unlock the ability to use “application specific integrated circuits” (ASIC’s) which are fancy words for hardwired pathways in the processor that are ultra efficient at performing a specific task (like reading in h.265 footage and unpacking it into a video stream in the resolve timeline). If you aren’t, the general purpose CPU does the unpacking in software. It’s slower and ties up the CPU significantly but it works. My point there. If you know you are going to use the free version a long time get a nicer CPU (like the 13700k which is what I run in my machine). The best part about that is the 13700k (and 600k for that matter) have a iGPU which has hardware decoders built into it for h.264/h.265 footage and in fact they support a wider array of color data configurations (4:2:2 footage for instance) than those built into the nvidia GPU’s. Ok you say “If I’m using free get a good cpu like the 13700k, if I’m using studio it will use the decoder in the 13700k…what do I need a GPU for?” Great question. In the free version, the gpu does manage the color application and rendering it also has a few basic effects that are run through the 3D pipeline on it but generally…you don’t need a great one. In fact the best thing you can do is find one with as much vram as possible (the 3080 with 10GB might be nice or the 3060 12GB you mention is great”. Here you go again “Ok smart guy so why do people buy big fancy GPU’s and say resolve is all about the gpu?” - It’s true…they do. I have a 4090 and people do say that. 1) I wanted the 24gb of ram 2) I had it with my 3090 and never should have bothered to upgrade 3) Resolve Studio does use the gpu for effects (best way to bring it to it’s knees is noise reduction heavily applied) but the real thing…studio ENABLES a bunch more 3d effects for use than the free version. Having a nice gpu can make those effects run faster IF you use them. The 13700k and 306012GB is brilliant and well shopped if thats your choice. Hopefully now you understand a big more about why :)

[@jamessouthgate4086]

@@johnsfilmsllc Thanks for the informative and detailed answer! For now, I'm using 2 inexpensive Akaso brave 7s for video and I believe they can record in the h.264 or h.265 codecs. The third would be a screen recording In OBS. Do you think the RTX 3600 16 gb would outperform the 4070? Currently I can get the 4060 16 gb for $470, to the 3060 ti 16 gb for $609 and the 4070 for $749 (Canadian dollars). I know the 4070 will run circles around the 3000 series cards in gaming applications, but I'm not sure about how the amount of ram available on the 3060 and 3060 ti will effect the real world performance in resolve.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

@@jamessouthgate4086 The only difference in those cards is going to be when you use 3d enabled effects in resolve (like we discussed largely only enabled in studio). In day to day (especially if you are using the free version) the cheapest card you list there 4060 16GB would be a brilliant choice. Yes the akaso appears to shoot both h.265/4 and those would be hardware accelerated in studio. That said. Put a 13700k with a 4060 12GB and you are goin to have a killer editing rig at 1080p or 4k timelines.

[@jamessouthgate4086]

@@johnsfilmsllc thank you so much for being informative as always. I truly appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. Cheers!

[@pkflyfishing4803]

@@johnsfilmsllc I think a core i5 13600K will suffice

[@markhamwire4073]

Hi John, thanks for the video. I am trying to get a new laptop for some light editing on Davinci Resolve 18 and came across 2 options: 1.) Dell - New Vostro 7620; or 2.) Dell - Inspiron 14 Plus Both laptops have i7-12700H and 16GB, but one is with RTX 3050 4GB and the other is with Intel Iris Xe Graphics. Will Davinci Resolve run much better on the RTX 3050? Will the playback run fine on MBA - M2? Thanks in advance

[@johnsfilmsllc]

I've read this comment each day for the last few. It's a very tough call, especially in a laptop as it's locked in and highly dependent on what version of resolve you are editing on (free/studio) as well as the footage you are editing. Yes the playback should run fine on a M2 based system and depending on the resolution of the footage (and how much you decide to get into fusion) the M2 can cut/light color the footage just fine. That said, getting any amount of storage space on an M2 makes the price insane compared to the performance. I'd likely go with the Inspiron 14 plus due to the higher resolution screen (and I'd opt for the RTX3050 card to get my hands on the uplift in compute and RT cores in case you ever go studio). The draw back there, you get 512GB instead of a 1TB drive (though it's a few hundred cheaper and I'd likely get a couple of Samsung T7 Shield drives to edit off of with some velcro to stick to the back of your laptop)

[@markhamwire4073]

@@johnsfilmsllc Thanks for the detail. Your comparison between the Apple M1 and Windows has gotten me to reconsider the Apple and Blackmagic combination, and that's why I was a little worried about the performance on the M2. My main purpose of using Davinci Resolve is to edit footage recorded on Atem mini, so the maximum resolution is 1080p. I do keep color grading and other effects to the minimal, but I probably go for the studio version down the road after getting more familiarize with the free version. Your advice is pretty helpful and I will you keep you posted 😀

[@teeaymusik9811]

For FULL HD editing in Resolve 18, a i5 12400 is good enough? If not a i5 13600K will be? I mean the 13600K has 14 cores and 20 threads!

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Studio or free edition? What codec do you record in and edit?

[@B__SYAHRULMUBAROK]

What is the resolution of the edited video? You don't give any information

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Good call! 4k timeline with 4k render

[@B__SYAHRULMUBAROK]

@@johnsfilmsllc i see thank you. That's pretty big. But i think this video was intended for people who seriously want to work with da vinci.

[@TravelWithCesarin]

Is there really any difference in performance between the studio and the free version? There has been kinda conflicting points online. And I have a 4090 and a 13900k and I'd like to get the best out of my hardware.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Yes, there is a difference based on where the workload is performed and what the workload is. On the first point, the free version of resolve will not leverage your NVENC decoders for use in timeline (for codecs it's capable in). It instead forces the CPU to decode the footage. Not an issue with a 13900k usually but if you run multi cam shots with a lot of angles and high resolution you are going to feel the pain. Resolve studio unlocks the use of those for a much smoother experience. On point 2...Studio unlocks features like noise reduction, motion blur, Optical Flow slow motion and use of nvidia's tensor cores which can accelerate and add features to your experience. These are largely (if not all) GPU accelerated and the 4090 eats them up. The reason you get conflicting info online...it depends on your use case. If you are only using cut and color with your computer in free the 13900k will overcome all sins and the gpu still handles the color work. If you had a 6800k and a gtx1070 or something you would probably scream at the app...

[@TravelWithCesarin]

@@johnsfilmsllc John, appreciate the answer! I'm definitively eyeing the studio version now. And since I do game a lot and post some videos of my travels. I sure feel the pain even with my 13900k (maxed out when doing cache of the previews and cutting in 4k. Even when using half res)

[@TsZen876]

@@TravelWithCesarinwith your hardware absolutely buy the studio version if you still haven’t. Your GPU is going to make certain tasks WAY faster

[@The_Idea_of_Dream_Vision]

does intel 12th gen play h265 from canon r5 and do you need to create proxies or you can edit directly? What about m1/2 do you need proxies or u can edit directly?

[@johnsfilmsllc]

I don’t have an r5 but if it’s 4:2:2 10bit h.265 it should be hardware accelerated

[@The_Idea_of_Dream_Vision]

@@johnsfilmsllc yes it’s 422

[@johnsfilmsllc]

@@The_Idea_of_Dream_Vision Should be hardware accelerated on a 12th gen chip with integrated gpu. If AMD doesn’t bring ii t when it’s time for me to build again I’ll be strongly considering for my sony footage

[@lalitjoshi7152]

Sir, I purchased " i5 12 generation" as it says 12 core 16 logical processor laptop ( HP pavilion 15 ) on 12 June 2022 in India . it has consist iris Xe inbuilt graphic - 1GB RAM I just wants to know can i run Davinci resolve17 or 18 or any good version by this system . i am beginner and learn to editing for pursue career on it , right now i have mobile videos 1920*1080 resolutions , . Sir, I search on internet about this query but can't get any answer , hence i requested to you please help me on this so i will not make harm to laptop processor or my money . eagerly waiting for response Thanks and regards ! Lalit

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Lalit, You will not hurt your laptop or the chips inside it. They have fans and software controls to ensure nothing bad happens. What you will find however is the free version of Resolve won't run very well on the system you describe. You can make it better through use of Proxies, Caching and other controls on the "Playback" menu at the top. Stick to 1080p video and have fun!

[@lalitjoshi7152]

@@johnsfilmsllc thankyou very much for concern and guidence. One more...So which version i have to download 17 or 18.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

@@lalitjoshi7152 18 - get all the new features…

[@maanharman5070]

efficiency cores or performance cores you talking about ?

[@johnsfilmsllc]

At the time such a thing didn't exist broadly... now I'd prioritize performance cores...

[@maanharman5070]

Ok thanks

[@MBFeniks]

Thanks for this movie. I have a question. I'm going to buy a new, budget computer for amateur video and photo processing. What better to bet on. New Ryzen 5 5600 or 2x XEON E5-2666v3 (20 cores/40 threads - 3.5 GHz), plus 32gb or 64gb DDR4. Both sets are the same price.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

I've had a lot of folks proudly push their xeon rigs and I respect their choice. For me I much prefer the more efficient pipeline of the 5600 with more instructions per clock and faster clock speeds. Sure 20 cores sounds nice but they are slower, less efficient cores. The heat alone would be reason enough for me to go with the 5600. Consider the xeon's you mention are from a 22nm lithography in 2014. The 2020 5600 is incredibly more efficient. You may be tempted to argue the E5 has more cores and with two of them the multithreaded performance is through the roof. In reality...www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+E5-2660+v3+%40+2.60GHz&id=2359&cpuCount=2 The multicore config of the E5 in a dual configuration earns a 22268 score in CPU compute pass mark and the 5600 is 21556. 5600 single thread performance is nearly TWICE the output of the E5.

[@wh4tevercomest0mind41]

I own the same LEGO Corvette

[@johnsfilmsllc]

That was fun to build. I like the pistons motion

[@worldscalephotography]

I have the threadripper 1950X that I bought years ago, and two 3090RTX. I work a lot with 8K footage, sometimes 8KX8K (VR stereoscopic content). What kind of things would benefit from a faster CPU? I understand that the latest Ryzen 9 is actually faster than the 1950X.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Great question - I had a 1950x a few years ago. Due to your dual GPU's I'll assume you have the studio license of resolve. In your case, CPU compute tasks would be (conservatively) 25% faster in the compute pipeline HOWEVER you have a giant benefit in your quad channel memory (assuming you have the slots filled appropriately). I've bench marked in the past and found the ram is able to feed the processor faster for long running multithreaded tasks (like encoding) to the point at least it wasn't too far by behind the 3950x I upgraded to from the 1950x. As to what will you notice is faster? This heavily depends on what footage you work with and howmuch fusion work you do. The 8kX8k footage, if h.265/4 and 4:2:0 or 4:4:4 chroma, gets decoded in the GPU's and really thats the heavy lifting at that point. Effects, color largely are GPU based. If you are doing a lot of fusion, specifically tasks you find live in the CPU then the pipeline efficiencies and newer manufacturing process will help but honestly, I don't think it's going to be too significant. Do you notice your CPU maxed out? I'll bet you see it about 40% busy until you unleash a CPU based render (to/from any codec not served by your NVENC chips)

[@worldscalephotography]

​@@johnsfilmsllc yes I do have the Studio version. Thank you for the quick reply! It does utilise the GPU a lot, but effects like KartaVR stitching (it's a library for VR) are like 2 fps and Neat video is 1 fps on my 8K Canon RAW footage (it's 180VR so 8192x4096 12 bit). Both 3090s are working, one of them really hard (100%), CPU is not maxing out.. but still - 1fps ! meaning denoising takes forever.. I do have 64GB in 4 DRAMS

[@johnsfilmsllc]

@@worldscalephotography Is this something you could send me a sample of? I want to see how resolve treats the footage and see what I can do to accelerate the process for you

[@jcon654]

Hi John. Great content. Putting together my first build with video editing my main use but still wet behind the ears. What gpu might you suggest under 400 to pair with a ryzen 7700x? Racking my brain over here. 😊 I hear the rx 6800 and rx7700 are good options? Thanks!

[@johnsfilmsllc]

I’ve seriously started typing the answer here four times this week.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

I think you are onto something with the rx6800 and 7700 I’d go 6800. More vram with wider memory bus will feed content faster.

[@jcon654]

@@johnsfilmsllc bro awesome! I actually went with the rtx 3060. Deal was too good. What do you think? If I notice any deficiencies I’ll likely go with 6800. Thanks for getting back to me super cool!

[@johnsfilmsllc]

@@jcon654 Brilliant. I didn’t think that was in the budget so I was having to play with all th diff cards. I’m glad you landed there, the Cuda optimizations in resolve’s neural engine are huge

[@jcon654]

YES! You got me excited man! Thank you thank you!!

[@nicktayloriv310]

Question... why doesn't AMD's cpu's with onboard graphics work in unison with a GPU like Intel's cpu's with onboard graphics do?

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Depends on the software and how it is written not necessarily the chip. I just put a 13700k in my system today and with 4:2:2 footage in resolve I couldn’t find it working…more research to be done

[@nicktayloriv310]

@@johnsfilmsllc I use DaVinci as well

[@Motofreebird]

Whats the minimum spec MacBook Pro that can smoothly edit w DV18?

[@johnsfilmsllc]

what footage, what amount of graphics/fusion work will do you do? Resolution?

[@michaelthompson9963]

Hello I have a black magic 4k camera .. I’m trying to find a solid laptop from asus that will allow me to edit 4k footage and various fx without issues.. I have davinci full version. Any help would be great.. I def want 16core or more. Maybe i9 but i7 will do (not sure on difference) any help will do thanks.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

The i7 and i9 are actually the same design in the core silicon however due to manufacturing variations chips are “binned” into different classes. The i7 will have fewer cores that run at slower base and boost speeds, meanwhile those chips that are flawlessly made and can support running all of the cores at top speeds are deemed i9s. They are packaged a bit differently (with the heat spreader and memory configuration and this separates them into two class groups with more performance available in the i9. Either will work for resolve and video editing though you will see an edge in CPU based renders on the i9. In a laptop I’d look for something with a discrete GPU (like an RTX3060 or greater) and a screen resolution greater than FHD (full hd). Personally I much prefer editing with a 4k monitor or at minimum WXGA+. When shopping you will see several different generation of Intel CPU. the 12th and 13th gen have access to a newer version of the hardware decoder/encoder and you will benefit from the AV1 and potentially the 4:2:2 Chroma sub sampling capabilities of them depending on how long you hold onto the laptop and what cameras you shoot and edit with.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Oh and to note: No laptop is going to be able to flawlessly edit h.265/4 footage with any manner of FX without a few hitches here and there. My 5950x and RTX4090 workstation can’t either…

[@AzogDefilerFromMordor]

Hi. Great video! I am new to this here so I have a question. Does free version of davinci resolve support using only one core? If so how does that apply to which cpu to buy?

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Thanks for watching! - Resolve Free makes complete use of whatever cores you can throw at it. You will notice the biggest difference in core counts when rendering your final video. In the timeline after about 6 cores (physical) I've observed less utility but do see benefit in executing on a newer chip because the instructions per clock (IPC) uplift each generation has been 10-20% for each of the last several generations no matter what team (amd or intel) you are sporting. Effectively, the more instructions you can get done in each cycle and the faster the cycles (giga/megahertz) the better...it's pretty much like usual...the more money you throw at a CPU the more you get until the top top chips in the market

[@AzogDefilerFromMordor]

@@johnsfilmsllc thank you. I probably mistook one CPU core for one GPU only in free version.

[@mmerri93]

Hey John here’s my specs do you think this is good enough before I purchased the studio version Apple M1 chip with 8‑core CPU, 8‑core GPU, and 16‑core Neural Engine GRAPHICS 065-C96Q 8-core GPU 16GB unified memory 512GB SSD storage

[@johnsfilmsllc]

The performance benefits of purchasing studio for use on a Mac are basically non-existent because the hardware decoder/encoder is enabled in the free version there. If you want to use the noise reduction or other studio features go for it, it’s very capable. Yes, the features are more taxing on the hardware and will slow down the M1 system but you should make it through …use playback caching too….

[@mmerri93]

@@johnsfilmsllc okay great thank you also is there a tutorial on how to optimize the performance using cache or how to utilize the cache

[@relent107]

I'm thinking (as crazy as it sounds) about going from the 5950X 16 core I have now, to the 64 Core 5995X Threadripper Pro. I currently have an RTX 3090...should I upgrade that to a 4090 too? Or you think just the 64 core CPU will do the trick? I exclusively shoot and edit 8K on the Sony A1, and I DON'T want to ever deal with proxies, render cache, nothing. I want to edit natively.

[@relent107]

Oh and I currently have 128GB of 3600mhz CL16 DDR4...and would probably go to 256gb of DDR4 with the threadripper.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Ok this is important…you have a banging machine there and I’ll tell you…I shoot on an A1, I HAD a 5950x with 64GB of 3600mhz CAS18 ram and a 3090. Funny how that works. It dragged both on the 8k footage and on my preferred 4:2:2 4k. Assuming you are using the studio version of resolve you can decode 4:2:0, 4:4:4 footage but not 4:2:2 with the Nvenc chip on the GPU because neither the 3090 or the 4090 can. This is both in the timeline and in render but obviously timeline is what we care about. Instead you are trying to solve this by getting more cores and quad channel memory to brute force it. Here’s the trick to make life better…I bought a 13700k, some ddr5 6000 and …I did upgrade to a 4090 though I did it while I still had the 5950. It didn’t move the needle. If you have a sample timeline with your footage and effects on it you want to share as a project archive I’ll be happy to make a video out of demoing it on my new intel based system with the quicksync decoding the 8k 4:2:2 footage. It’s made a huge difference though if I get carried away with fusion it can drag (and fusion isn’t heavily multithreaded so I wouldn’t chase that ghost right now).

[@KoiAquaponics]

I got an older 8700k+1080ti, was wondering which newest i9/r9 CPU+ GPU is best combo to upgrade to. I currently use free DR not studio version yet

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Really depends on the budget. It’s a balance between number of cores for faster long renders and speed of core for better timeline and fusion performance. If you cut a lot of short videos I’d look at maybe the 7800x or 5800x. If you can 5900x or 7900x for more cores.

[@KoiAquaponics]

@@johnsfilmsllc no budget, does the X3D cpu help with encoding?

[@johnsfilmsllc]

@@KoiAquaponics I havent’ benchmarked it but I doubt it would enough to justify

[@CNRising]

Hi John, I have a 5600x and rtx 3080 12gb. I use openshot currently but I want to learn and start using Resolve 18 free, is my 5600x enough for mainly 1080p videos? Should bite the bullet for the 5900x? I want keep am4 for few more years before building a new rig. Thanks!

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Your hardware is plenty assuming you have 16GB of ram or more. Eventually you will want to get Resolve Studio and unlock the hardware acceleration your GPU can leverage.

[@CNRising]

@@johnsfilmsllc thanks, yes 32gb ram

[@Nogardtist]

i know having a 4 core for davinci resolve is painful

[@RayJTIng]

is i7-13700k faster than i9-13900 ? (with out OC) I`m curious about that, cuz Davinci resolve 's CPU rank dont shows i9-13900. (BTW I bought i9-13900)

[@johnsfilmsllc]

That’s going to depend on the footage and your timeline. The 900k out of the box boosts and bases at higher frequencies and those would matter *slightly*. The real question is are you decoding or encoding footage that isn’t able to be handled by the hardware decoder in the iGPU or your gpu (assuming you are running studio version) OR you are using the free version in which case…yes some but not as big a difference as if you sunk that money into a studio license.

[@absgames9425]

My free edition says "get paid version" to use h.265

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Likely 10bit H.265. Pull out some 8bit and you are good.

[@absgames9425]

@@johnsfilmsllc ok i'll try

[@HantuBorneo]

what if you already got editing color on the video for play back?. . 16 core or 12 core for the best job?

[@johnsfilmsllc]

To understand the question - You have colored your footage and then are cutting it so which CPU would work best? This depends on the codec you are editing and if resolve is the free or studio edition. If you are using a CPU intensive codec in the free version of resolve (h.265 for instance), You will have to balance the faster cores with a total core count to decode the footage. Because decoding/encoding scales well across cores I'd say more is better. That said if you are comparing a Ryzen 1700 against a 13th gen Intel chip it doesn't matter and the newer execution pipeline will do better. Meanwhile the color treatment of the footage will be done by the GPU.

[@HantuBorneo]

@@johnsfilmsllc my gear or camera for now is sony a7iv. my pc for now ryzen 5 3600 6 core GPU RX 590 8gb ram 32gb can tell me what i need to upgrade for eazy play back for me editing 4k s-log3 ?.

[@DeSvarcs]

Davinci resolve is GPU based NLE not CPU especially when you use color tab or fusion

[@johnsfilmsllc]

You need to be more specific relative to tasks (as you mention fusion relies on limited threading on the CPU) however most of the GPU enabled tasks are hidden behind the Studio paywall. If you don’t have the studio version your CPU becomes the bottleneck when just cutting up footage. Yes, the gpu is used in color however for those on the free version a quality CPU is more important to enable a decent editing experience.

[@eventechnix9815]

Hey guys we came across some weird stuff while rendering in Davinci Studio and I couldnt find anything anywhere about it. My PC uses only GPU while rendering. I am not 100% sure but I remember it was devided into CPU RAM and GPU ?! Thx for any tips

[@johnsfilmsllc]

What type of footage are you using?

[@eventechnix9815]

@@johnsfilmsllc Basic videos mostly MP4 (poor quality about 50-150MB). I am rendering those settings: MP4, H.265, quality: least, full hd. My computer is 32GB ram, geforce 3070, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12core (so definitely no performence issue). Thanks a bunch

[@alexandrevaliquette1941]

When you say 12 cores, does it mean 6 physical cores with double thread so + 6 virtual core = 12 cores. Or do you really mean 12 cores (so potentially 24 logical core)? My machine: Xeon (R) CPU E5-1660 V2 @3.70GHz 6 Cores (but 12 logical processors) (not sure about the translation, I'm french)

[@johnsfilmsllc]

I mean 6 cores 12 threads. Good question.

[@alexandrevaliquette1941]

@@johnsfilmsllc Oh, I did not say "THANKS" for taking the time to answer my question... so... THANKS from Montréal!

[@BadBoy11m]

what about xeon cpu 12 core or 16 its that any good

[@johnsfilmsllc]

I’ve noticed the pipeline design and clock frequency matter quite a bit in many of the tasks. For render, it can farm it out to a bunch of cores but often server CPUS run at slower frequencies and when people ask me about them they are looking at 5-10 year old designs that are much less efficient and run slower and I don’t believe that’s what you are looking for…

[@Thailand-zf5ig]

which is better 12400 or 12700 or 12700k ?

[@johnsfilmsllc]

For resolve? You will see better performance in the 12700k. More cores and faster clock speeds…

[@HoundDogMech]

I've seen a lot of ASUS and other socalled Gaming 15.6" laptops with full (3059 TI GPU's) with only 4GB of DDR5 or 6. Is this really OK for gaming or Davinci? I wouldn't think so OH these are laptops not desktops too.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Gaming at lower resolutions (1080p) uses lower quality textures that fit. The 60 level cards are made pretty directly just for 1080p entry level gaming and frankly as it carries an NVENC encoder and 1080p editing should work fine. Just don’t go nuts with fusion and other goodies

[@SyamsQbattar]

how about GPU?

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Resolve free or studio? What type of footage are you editing? For instance 4k h.264 8bit 4:2:0 or 8k 12 bit raw etc

[@SyamsQbattar]

@@johnsfilmsllc 4k, h.264 and h.265

[@johnsfilmsllc]

@@SyamsQbattar resolve free or resolve studio - you aren’t shooting on a Sony or other camera that creates 4:2:2 chroma are you? (Just tell me the camera if you aren’t sure). Can I assume you are using resolve 19?

[@eberhardschulz-zk7hb]

Hi John - this is a great video with very helpful information. Maybe you could help me making a decision. I am actaully planning to upgrade (one last time) my x99 plattform. the actual cpu 6 core / 12 threads stable running @4.2 Ghz all cores is not giving the best edit experience in davinci resolve and while working in fusion (not fusion tab) doing green screen keying all cores are nearly 100% used. would you recommend to go for 6950x (10 core / 12 threads ) and OC to min @ 4.2 GHz all cores or would you recommend XEON 14 cores (2690 v4) / 16 cores (2697A) with @3,2 Ghz / @3,1 Ghz all cores) ... thank you very much for your advice.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

I'd strongly recommend the newer 6950x with the faster execution pipeline running at higher clocks. What GPU do you have on this cause I'm sure the green screen key is hitting that as well

[@eberhardschulz-zk7hb]

@@johnsfilmsllc thank you very much for your answer here. The I7-6950x and the named XEONs are all Broadwell based ... I have 2 GPUs running. EVGA 980 ti Kingpin (they are running at nearly 1500 Mhz core - but there usage is never been above 40 / 45% - so I assume more cores could speed them up... and there are 128GB @ 2800 MHz CL14 RAM (8x16 GB ) running ... what do you think about

[@johnsfilmsllc]

@@eberhardschulz-zk7hb Ahhh…I wasn’t in a spot to google the chips but assumed (incorrectly) the Xeon was older). To note, Resolve studio is required for multi gpu use though as a fusion direct user I’ll assume you have the license and you have the GPU’s set up to leverage CUDA and have one dedicated to compute and one for UI. With the chips on the same architecture the clock speed wins. More cores are great for tasks that scale but your fusion work is NOT multithreaded past 4 cores of work (2c/2t) therefore the faster execution speed wins. Renders do well multi but I’m assuming you would prioritize the editing experience.

[@eberhardschulz-zk7hb]

@@johnsfilmsllc understood John - very nice answer ... but ... the thing is ... I started working at the old x99 Plattform using Fusion-Connect... this allows me to do the keying in the background by Fusion while still be able work in Resolve at my timeline ... situation is - if I let Fusion Render multiple files in a row the CPU gets used by 100%, but Resolve is still mostly responsive at the timeline ... so - this is my current situation and am not 100% sure if the change from 6850k to 6950x pushes the performance to make the editing better (6 cores to 10 cores - same technology - same MHZ - costs up to 300 EUR) or to one of the XEONS with more cores but only around 75% of the core speed - but only up to 150 EUR) ... or I just leave it as it is and switch to AM4 at a later date ... what would you do?

[@eberhardschulz-zk7hb]

Decision was made to give the 2697A a try (16 cores @ 3,1 GHz) ... and without knowing if maybe the 6950x (10 cores @ up to 4.2 Ghz or even higher) would have performed better I can confirm the 2697A gives a lot better responsiveness of editing timelines in Davinci Resolve but it is perceptibly slower while working with Fusion (stand alone) than the former 6850k (6 cores @ 4.2 GHz).

[@catoarce8859]

A subscriber here. I hope you can help me . Last year, i isntalled Davinci R 17 . I´ve got the "your GPU memory is full " error. I did try - forums, youtube, FTF, blackmagic site (zero support) etc. I went back to Premiere. But after my brief experience with Resolve, I am convinced that it is the one I want to work with. I did up-grade my Laptop. (to its capacities) ASUS. Win 10 64 bits. RAM 16 GB. Intel i7. Local Disc C: SSD- 256 GB( 84 GB free). Disc D: 931 GB (809 free). NVIDIA GForce GTX 1050. ( I could not upgrade the Nvidia card) Still, i keep getting the "Your GPU memory is full". Due to all the problems, I am still a beginner editor. ( I have many "videos in the oven - scripted, Assets folder ready etc) But I just can not edit. I am very "frustrated-sad" Since I can not make progress. All my efforts are HD. Never touch 4K. I ´ve hessitated to post about it, since I do not want to sound as a whiner. I just do not know what to do. Can you help me? Thank You.

[@markschultze]

Use proxies, always.... while you're editing etc. anyway, when you're rendering make sure it is reading from your SSDD and writing on to the HDD- the available bandwith for reading needs to be much higher than the bandwidth for writing, don't try to read and write at the same time on the same drive. Try and get your RAM up to 32GB, if you decide to do 4K you'll need 64GB really. Set your memeory usage limits in your preferences, set them to about half of your available installed RAM, don't forget Windows needs around 10GB to run properly and so obvs 16 doesn't really cut it.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

All of this though I believe you can live with 32gb of ram with 4k footage as long as you aren’t creating giant fusion comps. You can also modify your preview window to run at reduced resolution with playback procy

[@mervynjack4108]

Have you tried the latest version of Resolve? Somewhere during v17 versions, I went from the same "your GPU memory is full "error to no more errors. I tried v18 and it still worked, in fact it worked so good I purchased Resolve Studio and that unlocked the power of my GPU and it really flys. It's the fastest LNE i've ever used. See my old computer specs in a comment above.

[@markschultze]

@@johnsfilmsllc Yes, I actually only have 32gb on my own system and it does run ok unless you start to have Fusion effects and complex colour operations.

[@caloyvideos]

I'm using Open Camera 4K, can i3 11th Gen can handle my editing using Da Vinci ,?

[@johnsfilmsllc]

I looked into Open Camera, hadn't seen it before. It appears to record in a bunch of different formats depending on which phone you are running it on. Resolve will not be hardware accelerated assuming you are using the free edition and frankly the i3 will struggle without a dedicated GPU. Resolve is free...why not download it and try?

[@caloyvideos]

@@johnsfilmsllc I don't have a Computer yet that's why I ask. If i3 will struggle then I'll go for i5 with 11th Gen with GPU. I guess. Well as of now still I can't afford a computer.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

@@caloyvideos The integrated GPU isn't what BlackMagic recommends but I understand budgets limit the hardware In another note: Blackmagicdesign is working on an Ipad application version of resolve...could be an option?

[@caloyvideos]

@@johnsfilmsllc we'll see. :)

[@chicobraz4335]

I have built a davinci machine a few years back with 8 core 2.6ghz xenon 2650 dual cup , so 16 cores total .. would I benefit it from getting another xenon that has 16 cores on each cpu with less clock speed , 2.3 for example ? Also I have had 1080ti for a while c I heard rtx 4070 is nice upgrade from the 1080, bout would my bottle neck be the xenon here and changing gpu won’t make much of difference if any ? Thanks

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Are you running Resolve Studio or Resolve Free?

[@chicobraz4335]

@@johnsfilmsllc I’m on the paid studio version .

[@johnsfilmsllc]

@@chicobraz4335 Keep the CPU, do not add more cores at a slower clock. Any upgrade for you with this system should be first GPU to dramatically increase the quality of your renders and the speed of timeline processing through noise reduction and other studio effects (as well as base coloring effects). If you do choose to upgrade your cpu your target should be modern pipeline/architecture for faster single thread computation. Consider your storage and RAM as well as your purpose…(lots of fusion?…whatever?).

[@chicobraz4335]

@@johnsfilmsllc thanks !!! So the xenon won’t be a bootle neck for upgrading gpu in my case ? I mean the ultimate is 4090? But should I got for it all , or 4070/4080 should be a good enough upgrade from 1080ti? I don’t use fusion much , but I do use neatvideo , dehancer great heavy and mostly 4k and under ProRes 444 footage .

[@chicobraz4335]

Right now neat video and dehancer slows down my time line a bunch , I also mix audio in fair light with waves plugins on same time usually

[@RoadSamuraiSL6]

Im have Intel Xeon 2690v2 10/20 cores 3.3-3.6GHz

[@johnsfilmsllc]

How does that work out for you? Editing smooth? What footage codec and resolution do you typically edit?

[@RoadSamuraiSL6]

@@johnsfilmsllc 4kh264 CPU 100% (100wats) usage ;)

[@fanatic632]

Hi. How important is Intel's iGPU for video editing even if you have a dedicated Nvidia GPU? Some people say it's very important. But then I see people also do video editing on Ryzen desktops which have nothing to do with Intel at all. I am on tight budget. Please share you views.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Ok your timing is nuts. I am JUST rendering a video I made over the past two days on the benefit of the Intel ARC gpu used in conjunction with my Nvidia RTX4090. While it isn't a perfect test for your scenario, it answers quite a few questions because it has the same quicksync decoder and resolve appears to treat it the same. Note: If you are using the free edition of resolve, it won't matter at all...

[@johnsfilmsllc]

Video drops tuesday morning

[@fanatic632]

@@johnsfilmsllc Okay.

[@fanatic632]

@@johnsfilmsllc Yes I will use only free addition of Resolve for a long time.

[@johnsfilmsllc]

@@fanatic632 Oh. Ok well then from a timeline editing perspective the integrated GPU isn’t going to help you because it won’t be allowed to decode your footage for you. Instead it will do whatever gpu accelerated tasks you give it (coloring the footage) but thats about it.

[@RichardB-ux4nf]

meanwhile me in i3 core