<p>From <a href="https://www.richardlackey.com/davinci-resolve-system-requirements/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">DaVinci Resolve System Requirements</a>, in the “Resolve Minimum System Requirements FAQ” part:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>... your GPU will determine if Resolve will run at all on your system ...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So yes, <strong>you need a GPU, and even not just any GPU</strong>.</p>
<hr />
<p>From the same source:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s ALL About The GPU</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>Your GPU is everything! It is more important than your CPU or system RAM (both of which should be up to the task too).</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>DaVinci Resolve offloads intensive image processing to the GPU. It also employs YRGB 32-bit floating point processing for exceptional color precision.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>and</p>
<blockquote>
<p>GPU Memory</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>Of course GPU cores matter, but GPU memory matters more when looking at minimum requirements  .</p>
<pre><code>512MB – Forget about it.  
</code></pre>
</blockquote>
<pre><code>1GB   – You’ll be okay with basic HD ProRes work, checking RAW files but avoid 
        noise reduction and optical flow.  
1.5GB  – Approaching the absolute minimum to use Resolve with some level of complexity in HD. 
         Noise reduction and optical flow will still be problematic. 
  2GB  – A comfortable HD experience, limited 4K work.  
  4GB  – Minimum for comfortable 4K work.  
  6GB  – You can tackle pretty much everything a project is likely to require.  
  8GB+ – You can actually tackle everything any project is likely to require.  
</code></pre>
<blockquote>
<p>Bottom line, if you’re looking at a new system on a budget and you’re working mostly in HD, I’d recommend an absolute minimum of 2GB GPU memory, really 4GB is a more realistic minimum. Performance also depends on the resolution of your media, the resolution of your timeline and the codecs of the media you are using.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-29T13:15:43.847Z
I wish I could render with just CPU, not editing on it.
Rinaldo Jonathan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-29T13:32:34.887Z
I'm afraid I don't understand you - rendering what? Something edited in other computer but not yet rendered?
MarianD
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-30T12:16:08.073Z
correct. I like to have whole project synced to google drive file stream, to render somewhere else. As of today, I usually render on alibaba cloud, but way too expensive because of the gpu. If only I could use cpu only ...
Rinaldo Jonathan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-30T12:46:51.353Z
I'm not totally sure, so I tell you only my opinion. Rendering itself is still such complex, computational-intensive process, so I'm not able to realize it without GPU. Even if it would be possible, it would be too slow even for you — I suppose 100+ times slower than with GPU (i.e. 1 month without GPU instead of 7 hours with GPU).
MarianD
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-03T09:58:41.220Z
When i open dxdiag on a windows machine i see 3 different valiues for the graphic card memory:  1-total  approx memory,  2-VRAM, 3-Shared memory, which one are you refering to in your post ?
Xsmael
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-10T04:18:03.067Z
It is possible to run Resolve as a headless render client, which may alleviate some of the GPU workload, but I think you'll probably still need one.  You'd also need a postgresql Resolve database setup, preferably networked to an editing machine and metadata server, though those aren't strictly necessary.  Search the user manual for "headless" for instructions.  It's on page 3202 of the March 2020 R16 manual, though that will be outdated soon.
Jason Conrad
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-29T13:04:40.473Z
2021-04-09T16:59:23.213Z
2021-04-09T16:59:23.213Z
MarianD
<p>It should eventually be possible to run Resolve without a GPU by using MESA. Windows builds recently began supporting OpenCL GPU emulation via CPU (using llvmpipe). However, OpenCL is still not working properly on Windows via MESA. Watch this space! --&gt; <a href="https://github.com/pal1000/mesa-dist-win" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://github.com/pal1000/mesa-dist-win</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-30T22:31:23.287Z
It's all a question on who much worth is your own time: I Had a 4-core 3.2GHz AMD CPU with EDIUS that took up to 8 hours to render a FHD video of about 90 minutes length. My current 4-core 4GHz Intel CPU can do it (with a low-end GPU) in less than 3 hours (depending on effects used).
U. Windl
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-24T23:41:36.317Z
2022-02-24T23:41:36.317Z
Stan Duncan
<p>I've tried running DaVinci Resolve 17 on my ThinkPad X1C with Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 620, and it complained about the GPU configuration. After unchecking the checkboxes to use some &quot;auto&quot; GPU, it complained about having to set some media location. After setting that, it exited silently.</p>
<p>Turned out that choosing a media location made it exit silently in the first place, so I can't see what happens if I uncheck those checkboxes with a media location set, but I suspect it won't run anyway.</p>
<p><a href="https://creativecow.net/forums/thread/intel-graphics-wont-run-davinci-resolveae/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This 2018 forum post</a> says that &quot;most modern AMD, Intel and NVIDIA GPUs that support OpenCL 1.2 or CUDA 3.0 compute capability will operate with Resolve&quot; and that &quot;INTEL(R) HD GRAPHICS 3000 does support OPENCL 1.2&quot;.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-10T06:16:58.273Z
2021-04-10T06:32:29.203Z
2021-04-10T06:32:29.203Z
Dan Dascalescu
<p>I have some plan to get servers that are powered by Intel Atom C2750: <a href="https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/77987/intel-atom-processor-c2750-4m-cache-2-40-ghz.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Intel Atom® Processor C2750</a>.</p>

<p>... and they don't have any GPU at all.</p>

<p>Is it possible to render at this CPU? Render time isn't the problem. Just ... is it even possible? </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-29T17:52:09.223Z
It is free. Download it, install it, test it.
Rafael
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-15T16:19:56.080Z
@Rafael - it's difficult to download hardware.
AJ Henderson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-23T06:47:29.970Z
@AJHenderson LOOOOOL HAHAHAHAHA but you could https://downloadmoreram.com/ though
Rinaldo Jonathan
<davinci-resolve>
Is it possible to use DaVinci Resolve without any GPU AT ALL?
Rinaldo Jonathan
# Is it possible to use DaVinci Resolve without any GPU AT ALL?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-05-02)

I have some plan to get servers that are powered by Intel Atom C2750: [Intel Atom® Processor C2750](https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/77987/intel-atom-processor-c2750-4m-cache-2-40-ghz.html).

... and they don't have any GPU at all.

Is it possible to render at this CPU? Render time isn't the problem. Just ... is it even possible?

**Tags:** davinci-resolve

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It is free. Download it, install it, test it.  
> **username_2**: @username_1 - it's difficult to download hardware.  
> **username_0**: @AJHenderson LOOOOOL HAHAHAHAHA but you could https://downloadmoreram.com/ though  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-09-29. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

From DaVinci Resolve System Requirements, in the “Resolve Minimum System Requirements FAQ” part:

... your GPU will determine if Resolve will run at all on your system ...

So yes, you need a GPU, and even not just any GPU.

From the same source:

It’s ALL About The GPU


Your GPU is everything! It is more important than your CPU or system RAM (both of which should be up to the task too).


DaVinci Resolve offloads intensive image processing to the GPU. It also employs YRGB 32-bit floating point processing for exceptional color precision.

and

GPU Memory


Of course GPU cores matter, but GPU memory matters more when looking at minimum requirements  .
512MB – Forget about it.  


1GB   – You’ll be okay with basic HD ProRes work, checking RAW files but avoid 
        noise reduction and optical flow.  
1.5GB  – Approaching the absolute minimum to use Resolve with some level of complexity in HD. 
         Noise reduction and optical flow will still be problematic. 
  2GB  – A comfortable HD experience, limited 4K work.  
  4GB  – Minimum for comfortable 4K work.  
  6GB  – You can tackle pretty much everything a project is likely to require.  
  8GB+ – You can actually tackle everything any project is likely to require.  


Bottom line, if you’re looking at a new system on a budget and you’re working mostly in HD, I’d recommend an absolute minimum of 2GB GPU memory, really 4GB is a more realistic minimum. Performance also depends on the resolution of your media, the resolution of your timeline and the codecs of the media you are using.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I wish I could render with just CPU, not editing on it.  
> **username_3**: I'm afraid I don't understand you - rendering what? Something edited in other computer but not yet rendered?  
> **username_0**: correct. I like to have whole project synced to google drive file stream, to render somewhere else. As of today, I usually render on alibaba cloud, but way too expensive because of the gpu. If only I could use cpu only ...  
> **username_3**: I'm not totally sure, so I tell you only my opinion. Rendering itself is still such complex, computational-intensive process, so I'm not able to realize it without GPU. Even if it would be possible, it would be too slow even for you — I suppose 100+ times slower than with GPU (i.e. 1 month without GPU instead of 7 hours with GPU).  
> **username_4**: When i open dxdiag on a windows machine i see 3 different valiues for the graphic card memory:  1-total  approx memory,  2-VRAM, 3-Shared memory, which one are you refering to in your post ?  
> **username_5**: It is possible to run Resolve as a headless render client, which may alleviate some of the GPU workload, but I think you'll probably still need one.  You'd also need a postgresql Resolve database setup, preferably networked to an editing machine and metadata server, though those aren't strictly necessary.  Search the user manual for "headless" for instructions.  It's on page 3202 of the March 2020 R16 manual, though that will be outdated soon.  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2022-02-24. Score: 1

It should eventually be possible to run Resolve without a GPU by using MESA. Windows builds recently began supporting OpenCL GPU emulation via CPU (using llvmpipe). However, OpenCL is still not working properly on Windows via MESA. Watch this space! --> <https://github.com/pal1000/mesa-dist-win>

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: It's all a question on who much worth is your own time: I Had a 4-core 3.2GHz AMD CPU with EDIUS that took up to 8 hours to render a FHD video of about 90 minutes length. My current 4-core 4GHz Intel CPU can do it (with a low-end GPU) in less than 3 hours (depending on effects used).  

---

### Answer by username_8 on 2021-04-10. Score: 0

I've tried running DaVinci Resolve 17 on my ThinkPad X1C with Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 620, and it complained about the GPU configuration. After unchecking the checkboxes to use some "auto" GPU, it complained about having to set some media location. After setting that, it exited silently.

Turned out that choosing a media location made it exit silently in the first place, so I can't see what happens if I uncheck those checkboxes with a media location set, but I suspect it won't run anyway.

[This 2018 forum post](https://creativecow.net/forums/thread/intel-graphics-wont-run-davinci-resolveae/) says that "most modern AMD, Intel and NVIDIA GPUs that support OpenCL 1.2 or CUDA 3.0 compute capability will operate with Resolve" and that "INTEL(R) HD GRAPHICS 3000 does support OPENCL 1.2".


---

