Hardware Requirement ?

Hi Guys,

I am running my DR 18.X on M1 Mac Mini (M1 Chip, 8 core CPU and 8 Core GPU with 16GB Ram).
I have been struggling with running 60 FPS clips smoothly on 4K timeline. Also, any work in Fusion would almost halt the System.

Therefore, I have now decided to upgrade my system to a more powerful machine. In order for me to make more informed decision, I want to get some fundamental understanding of DaVinci Resolve hardware requirement in different tabs

Edit Tab
--> Running higher frame rates smoothly on 4k timeline
--> Running multiple effects
--> Running color grading adjustment layer for all the clips ( slog3 to Rec 709)


Color Tab
--> Color grading
--> Noise reduction
--> Tracking and local adjustments

Fusion Tab
--> Various other effects.

Render Tab


Can someone tell me for each of the above tasks, What DR uses in terms of hard ware

CPU ( single or multi core )
RAM
GPU

I know GPU is heavily used in the Render tab, but not sure about other tabs.

Also, not sure if there have been some hardware optimizations in DR 19.

Thx
Pritam

This is what DR 19.1 says about Hardware requirements for MacOS


"Minimum System Requirements for macOS

• macOS 13 Ventura or later.
• 8 GB of system memory or 16 GB when using Fusion.
• For monitoring, Blackmagic Design Desktop Video 12.9 or later.
• Apple Silicon based computer or GPU which supports Metal."

So I'd say your Mac is too "weak" for Fusion or at bare minimum/limit with RAM.

This is what DR 19.1 says about Hardware requirements for MacOS


"Minimum System Requirements for macOS

• macOS 13 Ventura or later.
• 8 GB of system memory or 16 GB when using Fusion.
• For monitoring, Blackmagic Design Desktop Video 12.9 or later.
• Apple Silicon based computer or GPU which supports Metal."

So I'd say your Mac is too "weak" for Fusion or at bare minimum/limit with RAM.

Thx Lewis3D. There are lot of hype about M4 mac Mini. I am hearing the new M4 chip is good in Single core CPU performance, but M2 Max or Ultra are very good in GPU performance.

If I say, my workflow is mostly around EDIT / Color and Render tab, not so much in Fusion tab, although i want to future proof for Fusion tab as well, which one would you recommend ?

1. M4 Mac Mini PRO ?
or
2. M2 Studio Ultra

Or Should i wait for M4 Studio ( Max or Ultra ) ?

Thx
Pritam

I think in your case key part is RAM, 16Gb is bare minimum IMHO in todays' terms (heck some Mobile phones are reaching that RAM amount today). So go with strongest/newest one you can buy but be sure to get at least 32GB of RAM and possible option to expand to 64 in future which then should give you solid several years of future-proof.

I think in your case key part is RAM, 16Gb is bare minimum IMHO in todays' terms (heck some Mobile phones are reaching that RAM amount today). So go with strongest/newest one you can buy but be sure to get at least 32GB of RAM and possible option to expand to 64 in future which then should give you solid several years of future-proof.

hmm Got it. Looks like I falling short of RAM big time.
Thx Lewis.

How about running higher FPS smoothly on 4K timeline ? What plays the biggest role here ? CPU or RAM or GPU ?


Thx
Pritam

Can't say for sure on MAC (I'm more PC guy) but from that official system requirements for DR should be using GPU heavily if possible and since every new Apple Silicon chip now already has GPU embedded then it's probably rule of thumb "the stronger (more computing units) the better".
Computers are like cars, you can't have to much Horse Power .

I think a good foundation for building a new Resolve system would be a 12th Gen i7 (or better) and a RTX 3060 12 GB (or better).

given that the integrated GPU shares ram with CPU, 32gb is more like :
8gb for GPU and 4-8gb for OS leaving 16gb for apps

Except MacOS heavily caches things now so it will easily eat up free ram when it can. Add in AI data for another 2-4-89 gb of ram and you are short.

48-64gb of ram is really the minimum for either platform. I have 128 and fill that some days.

Resolve will happily play basic 4K on a M3 16gb Mac book air or other minimal systems. Your problems may be storage related or legacy media formats. M series machines have hardware ProRes and h264/265 decoders making them vastly better at handing even GoPro or DJI drone material would choke older intel machines.

as for the rest, R is heavily GPU dependent. That said M series GPU's are also more than enough to run most tasks. You shouldn't have an adjustment layer with a transform LUT. Thats a really odd and not as intended workflow. instead apply appropriate color input space to source clips and use managed timeline. thats good enough for most work. Alternately you can apply near fine grade node with covernsion LUT on color page but thats a more advanced workflow you probably don't need if material is well shot and its quick turn around and you like to minimize pain.

S

Thx Guys, for the input.
Thx Steve, for the suggestions on "Managed Timeline" and "Conversion LUT". I will explore those areas.

Thx
Pritam

While the new Macs are great for DR and some small Fusion effects, they are not really great for complex Fusion work. For that, rather get a beefy PC with the maximum RAM you can afford (as Jim suggests). Fusion is eating RAM for breakfast.
For any Mx Mac, get 2 GB RAM per GPU core and it'll run quite nicely with DR.

as for Fusion, it very much scales with CPU / GPU cores. Depends on very specifically whats being rendered and if GPU can't and falls back to CPU. Its memory management isn't the best, holding onto cache well past its useful time hence its tendency to eat ram. rendered some complex projects with 3D obj's and M series runs circles around mac intel. The shared RAM between GPU and CPU on M series really is a big help as Fusion can allocate as much "VRAM" as it needs. This helps greatly with large 3D space projects where you may have images hitting 12-16K in size but still rendered into a 2K or 4K final frame size. 64GB ram + highly recommended for real work. for simple graphics, paint & track, roto you can be ok with 32gb.

Thanks for chiming in, Steve. Yes, that coincides with our experiences.
It'll work seamlessly on a Mac when RAM gets tight, but it'll slow down and ruin your internal SSD in the long run, due to swapping. While it seems that the SSD is replaceable in the new Mac mini, we don't yet know the prices or if third party devices will be possible.
Occasional work with massive Fusion projects will be OK, but a strong PC would be faster.