Upgrade to support video Editing better

peige · 20 Sep 2016 at 21:23

Using Davinci Resolve to edit some videos from my Phantom. Currently things are laggy Mc Lagface and I'm trying to sharpen things up a little

Thinking ram and a better graphics card but don't want to spend the earth, its usable right now but not pleasant. Say £150 if thats enough to make a difference.

Currently have:-

Asus Z97-K with Devils Canyon Core i5 4690K
TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
Sapphire Radeon R7 250X 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

I do fire up the odd steam game but mostly game on the ps4 these days.

Any help would be great

peige · 21 Sep 2016 at 08:04

Your GPU is everything! It is more important than your CPU or system RAM (both of which should not be skimped on either).
This should be a dedicated GPU just for image processing in addition to the graphics card running your desktop GUI (user interface). In the case that you are using a laptop or any system with a single, or integrated GPU you can still run Resolve, but performance will be compromised compared to a dual or multi-GPU system.
GPU RAM:
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. I’ve made a 1.5GB Intel Iris Pro GPU work well on a iMac and managed to render a full 4K delivery (no noise reduction or optical flow speed changes): 4K Post Workflow for Cinema DNG RAW on Entry Level iMac
2GB – A comfortable HD experience, limited 4K work.

Generally speaking, your GPU and storage are the primary key factors you have to address with any system you expect to run DaVinci Resolve. Secondary to that, your CPU and system RAM are also important, you should be on 16GB of system RAM at least, 8GB is an absolute bare minimum.

So a graphics card with 2gb min and 16 gb of ram is where I need to aim, I already have a SSD drive which i'm going to be moving my work to.

demonix · 21 Sep 2016 at 17:22

Here's a quick basket...

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x HIS Radeon RX 460 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £98.99
1 x Team Group Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TPKD38G1600HC11DC01)= £38.99

Total: £137.98
(includes shipping: £0.00)

There's no need to remove the existing RAM, just add another 8GB plus a new graphics card and you're good to continue editing (you could stretch to a 4GB RX460 in that budget).

peige · 22 Sep 2016 at 08:16

Thanks for the help

I think i'm going to do that and stretch to the 4gb RX460.

joeyjojo · 22 Sep 2016 at 09:39

Interestingly they suggest 'This should be a dedicated GPU just for image processing in addition to the graphics card running your desktop GUI (user interface).'

So if possible, for optimum performance, it sounds like you should probably use the integrated graphics in the CPU for your displays (should be something in the BIOS to use integrated instead of PCIe) and use the 460 or whatever you end up getting for rendering (no monitor plugged in). Never tried this myself.