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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Davinci Resolve Studio

My Editing Workstation

My Camera Setups

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[mervynjack]

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?

[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!

[cloudnsec]

Great video. Not many videos on this subject.

[adityadivine]

Commenting to let you know your channel is the best on YouTube I found for Davinci resolve benchmarks and deep information regarding resolve.

I really appreciate your videos john!

[fadenada]

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

[johndicus]

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!

[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

[ItsBuzzer]

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

[karlsonkab]

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)

[josephkelly]

Running a 12 core xeon, works for me.

[markhamwire]

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

[aleksanderszpilczynski]

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.

[gamingmodsu]

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

[jamessouthgate]

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.

[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

[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.

[Moriarty]

AMD power vs Intel small Cores timeline performance in h265?

[dopexmc]

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

[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.

[arthentic]

Bro can you explain this same video without using the technical terms and explain as if even a preschooler would understand it?