Blackmagic Forum

Hi,

I want to buy a used iMac to work with DaVinci Resolve (can't afford a newer one) and would appreciate some help here a lot. I have two options and was wondering if one of the iMacs with the following specs would run DaVinci Resolve?
Most of all I'm not sure about the whole OpenCL/CADU compatibility regarding the graphics chip.

OPTION A:
iMac Mid 2010
Mac OS Sierra 10.12.6
2.8GHz Intel Core i5
22 GB RAM (1333 MHz DDR3)
512 GB SSD Drive
1TB HD Drive
ATI Radeon HD 5750 1024MB


OPTION B:
iMac Mid 2010
Mac OS High Sierra 10.13.6
3.06GHz Intel Core i3
8 GB RAM (1333 MHz DDR3) (could be upgraded)
1TB SSHD (Flash & HDD combined)
ATI Radeon HD 4670 256MB


I'm not exactly an expert with this, thanks a lot for your help

Peter

Hi, i think you will need a far more modern iMac. Please review the config guide for expectations.

Hi Peter,

thanks for your quick reply and the link. Alright, I was afraid so...

A last quick question:
I forgot to mention I'd be willing to use an older version of DaVinci Resolve. Since they're available down to Resolve 10 on your site — would that do the trick with that kind of outdated hardware? Probably not I guess, but I'm trying to check every possible option.

Thanks!

The first one might work to a limited degree with timelines of 1280 by 720 and sources with a light codec, like ProRes. But it won't be much fun.

If anyone comes across this with a similar question I Just thought I'd let you know:

I risked going for the first iMac "OPTION A" and it works like a charm so far. Can't confirm that it isn't much fun — it is

I have to admit that I've only tested it with videos in 1080p and didn't use Fusion so far. I realize that I might discover some limitations, but for know I'm all good.

Still, thanks for your opinions on the issue.

Bye!

Sometimes I'm still impressed by how stable Resolve can be on an underpowered Mac.

Sometimes I'm truly baffled why people insist on buying decade old hardware to run Resolve instead of buying a modern computer or using a piece of software that has more lax system requirements.