<p>From what I've read, Resolve very much depends on your GPU power -- speed and VRAM. I believe there's a preference to turn off at least some GPU usage, but that's probably more of a workaround for something crashing rather than something to be done on a normal basis.</p>
<p>Probably the best place to ask would be the <a href="https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewforum.php?f=21" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Black Magic forums</a> and over there, Carsten Sellberg answered <a href="https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&amp;t=113388&amp;p=625147&amp;hilit=CPU%20GPU%20fast#p625147" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a similar question</a> with:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In Resolve the CPU is used to run the app, disk I/O and compression and decompression of codecs.
Resolve does all its image processing in the GPU on the graphics card. More CUDA/OpenCL Cores are better.</p>
<p>There are two factors that is important for the Graphics card. The first is, that it have enough vRam to hold a single video frame. For 4K is the absolute min 6 GB of vRam, but min 8 GB of vRam or more are recommended.</p>
<p>The other factor is the CUDA/OpenCL performance. Higher CUDA/OpenCL performance gives a faster Resolve.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-06T13:28:01.797Z
2020-07-06T13:28:01.797Z
Wayne
<p>Currently I am rocking this setup:</p>
<pre><code>Nvidia GTX 1080
32GB DDR3
SATA SSD
</code></pre>
<p>I have the posibillity to switch to a PC with these Specs:</p>
<pre><code>3900x 
R9 290
64GB DDR4 3600
NVMe Gen4 SSD
</code></pre>
<p>The main things I do my PC is programming and video editing.
I am using DaVinci Resolve, which heavily utilizes the GPU <em>and</em> CPU, would I have a disadvantage using the much older slower GPU, but with a much much faster CPU?</p>
<p>Or would editing be smoother with the much faster CPU?</p>
<p>I am editing mostly 4K:30 footage and rendering to 1080p:30 with basic color grading and effects.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-06T16:12:47.137Z
Since you're delivering 1080p, there's no need to edit in 4K.  You'll get better performance in Resolve if you leave your timeline at the lower resolution, even if you're using 4K source footage.  It automatically uses 1/4 debayer if you happen to be using RAW footage, and will use less resources for compressed codecs as well.  Image scaling automatically uses highest quality available, too.  But using a 4K timeline to edit   will slow down Resolve and requires more vRAM per frame.
Jason Conrad
<davinci-resolve><performance>
Davinci Resolve with fast CPU but Slow GPU
Eik
# Davinci Resolve with fast CPU but Slow GPU

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-07-06)

Currently I am rocking this setup:
Nvidia GTX 1080
32GB DDR3
SATA SSD

I have the posibillity to switch to a PC with these Specs:
3900x 
R9 290
64GB DDR4 3600
NVMe Gen4 SSD

The main things I do my PC is programming and video editing.
I am using DaVinci Resolve, which heavily utilizes the GPU and CPU, would I have a disadvantage using the much older slower GPU, but with a much much faster CPU?
Or would editing be smoother with the much faster CPU?
I am editing mostly 4K:30 footage and rendering to 1080p:30 with basic color grading and effects.

**Tags:** davinci-resolve, performance

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Since you're delivering 1080p, there's no need to edit in 4K.  You'll get better performance in Resolve if you leave your timeline at the lower resolution, even if you're using 4K source footage.  It automatically uses 1/4 debayer if you happen to be using RAW footage, and will use less resources for compressed codecs as well.  Image scaling automatically uses highest quality available, too.  But using a 4K timeline to edit   will slow down Resolve and requires more vRAM per frame.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-07-06. Score: 1

From what I've read, Resolve very much depends on your GPU power -- speed and VRAM. I believe there's a preference to turn off at least some GPU usage, but that's probably more of a workaround for something crashing rather than something to be done on a normal basis.

Probably the best place to ask would be the [Black Magic forums](https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewforum.php?f=21) and over there, Carsten Sellberg answered [a similar question](https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=113388&p=625147&hilit=CPU%20GPU%20fast#p625147) with:

> In Resolve the CPU is used to run the app, disk I/O and compression and decompression of codecs.
> Resolve does all its image processing in the GPU on the graphics card. More CUDA/OpenCL Cores are better.
>
> There are two factors that is important for the Graphics card. The first is, that it have enough vRam to hold a single video frame. For 4K is the absolute min 6 GB of vRam, but min 8 GB of vRam or more are recommended.
>
> The other factor is the CUDA/OpenCL performance. Higher CUDA/OpenCL performance gives a faster Resolve.


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