Update computer for latest DR AI

Looking to upgrade my computer system, primarily because my 2017 intel iMac can’t handle the new AI features in Resolve like Super Scale. The rendering of a 3 min video takes hours.
Im considering the Mac Mini /Ultra/Studio but there are so many configurations. Could someone recommend a reasonable configuration please.
Most of my work is BMPCC4K Raw, Nikon D850, GoPro 4K used for short film, movies of events. Most often 3 to 4 mins, rarely more than 15 mins. I rarely use Fusion.

Well, any machine with Apple Silicon will be faster than your trusted old iMac – I have the same machine.
My humble M1 laptop (see sig) is twice as fast with most operations in DR than the iMac, even if that has an eGPU with the same GPU. So, if you look at comparisons between the recent Macs, you can judge the relative speed.
An example: upscaling 5 seconds of some 6K BRAW in an UHD timeline for cropping in to a smaller part of the frame needs close to 14 minutes on my laptop.

One important point: when you have decided on a number of GPU cores, get twice he RAM.
So, if you have 16 cores, get 32 GB RAM. You know you can't update that after purchase. This relationship and the depth of your pockets will ultimately drive the decision. But you can save on internal storage, I can work smoothly with external SSDs. Going for the unbinned machines is not worth it in speed gains, usually.

If you want something really fast on the desktop, get the latest Intel CPU and the RTX 4090, all with a massive power supply. It'll beat any Mac for price/performance (and can heat your studio too). Apple is still ruling in laptop tech, but the Mac Studio can't beat a top-level PC for demanding functions in DR.

Thanks Uli, I’m afraid I’m a totaly sucked in Apple freak, swollen the kool-aid years ago, hard to go back.
Thanks for confirming the rule of thumb on GPU cores to RAM, I had seen that advice elsewhere.

Well, I'm an agnostic (or is that heretic?). On the job, I have to care for PC and Mac folks.

But privately I'm all Mac too, my wife as well. We are artists and designers and don't have the time to dig into a BIOS or look for dozens of drivers on the internet until we spot the right one. Our Macs simply work (if we don't jump on a brand-new OS version too early).

So, here is an article on the maxed-out Mac Studio (not that I recommend it to someone with limited financial resources). Use DeepL for translation: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/c79wzx87 ... awtst&dl=0

In a small benchmarking by the German forum for DR the fastest PC (RTX 4090 with 24 GB VRAM) was rendering my very demanding project to 8K in H.265 Master quality in 15:57. The maxed-out Mac Studio M2 needed 35:18. Most cheaper PC configurations crashed in 8K or stopped due to lack of GPU memory.

I didn't want to stress my laptop with 8K for hours, but at least it didn't crash or complain in a shorter test and it plays 8K 4:2:2 10 bit with simple grades smoothly. The heavy benchmark project got rendered in UHD in 27:17, which the Mac Studio finished in 7:42.

Thanks Uli, that article looks like a great analysis, will pop into DeepL after lunch and take a read.
Thanks for your feedback, happy holidays

Happy Holidays to you as well. Feel free to ask if you need further details.

In a small benchmarking by the German forum for DR the fastest PC (RTX 4090 with 24 GB VRAM) was rendering my very demanding project to 8K in H.265 Master quality in 15:57. The maxed-out Mac Studio M2 needed 35:18. Most cheaper PC configurations crashed in 8K or stopped due to lack of GPU memory.

There's always a lot of exceptions and "but's" to comparisons like this. If you weren't trying to deliver 8K H.265 (which to me is kind of frightening in and of itself), I'm sure the numbers would be more acceptable. Who is asking for 8K deliverables today?

Real-world, I think the Mac is going to be fine. You have to also include the questions of setup and stability, and I think it's hard to beat the Mac in those two areas... especially if you're already used to the Mac system you already have. And if you ever have to deliver ProRes, that'll be a deal killer (for the most part) on a PC.

We just wanted to test stability with 8K, and we applied some of the most demanding effects in DR. But nothing very unusual, rather NR, Superscale, Speed Warp, or Depth Map.
Quite a few PCs failed, even with pretty decent hardware. Even Apple laptops were stable, but slow.
Of course, we also have the numbers for UHD/4K.

One word of warning: we only tested M1 and 2 at the time. From some posts in this forum it could be that something is wrong between DR and M3 (but Max only). It might be a good idea to buy the last generation, for which you can get pretty good prices. If someone wants our benchmark, drop me a PM. You’ll need to get the footage from the manufacturers, though. I’ll send you the .drp.

I have a Linux machine with 3080 Ti card. It's roughly twice as fast as an M2 Mac when doing GPU based inference. This is just when running local LLMs. It may not necessarily translate to Resolve AI tool performance, but it shouldn't be too far off.