Time to upgrade

Hello world!!!!

I want to upgrade to dr studio but i first have to update my pc to get the most out of dr studio.
i use dr as a whole but My focus is on Fusion
my pc is:

Mobo: gigabyte b550m
CPU: ryzen 5 5600x <- update ?
GPU: nvidea 1650 <- for sure update! to wich card?
MEM: 16 GB <- update to 64/128?

Sugestions are welcome, budget is limited +- 1000 incl. dr licence

Regards,
remco

Buy a new PC.

Buy a new PC.

Wow! really helpfull. What do you suggest for my budget?

but seriously i was thinking something like:

CPU : 5950x -16 core 32 threads.- E 325
GPU : GTX 3060/2080 or GPU > AMD? +- E 325

I would head over to the Puget Systems website and check out their DR configurations for examples.

(Or any other DR specific systems integrators you can find on the internet or locally. )

EDIT: Also read the many DR specific articles Puget has published. Lots of performance graphs & details about various components ( mostly CPU's and GPU's.)

What's your workflow? The CPU is not that old.

Hello world!!!!

I want to upgrade to dr studio but i first have to update my pc to get the most out of dr studio.
i use dr as a whole but My focus is on Fusion
my pc is:

Mobo: gigabyte b550m
CPU: ryzen 5 5600x <- update ?
GPU: nvidea 1650 <- for sure update! to wich card?
MEM: 16 GB <- update to 64/128?

Sugestions are welcome, budget is limited +- 1000 incl. dr licence

Regards,
remco

Greetings, Remco,

I can understand the limited budget issue. I share your struggle. I've also been looking to upgrade to a new computer. I don't live in the USA, so I don't have access to Puget Systems (which looks like a great company). Below my post, you'll see my computer info, and it still runs DR fairly well for a 6-year-old computer.

I'm not an expert, so trust the advice of experts over me.
Based on my research, Intel and AMD both have pros and cons. Since you're on a limited budget, you will unlikely buy the most recent processors or video cards, which is probably good. They're expensive, and there are reports of Intel processors and NVIDIA cards underperforming and having other issues.

If you're playing games, AMD is usually recommended because (for whatever reason) they've been outperforming Intel for several years now.
If you're doing video editing, 3D modelling, and the like, Intel is recommended because (for whatever reason) they've always outperformed AMD until (perhaps) most recently.

Intel Core i9-13900KS, i9-14900K, i9-14900KF, etc., and i9-14900HX for laptops are still the most popular and recommended processors for video editing. If I recall correctly, these processors (like AMD processors) still featured multithreading, while the Intel Core Ultra processors reduced or replaced multithreading with AI and additional single-threading (among other things). It was a gamble that resulted in less power consumption (good), an unreliable processor (with a lifespan of a few months, at best), and weaker-than-expected CPU performance. Patches helped extend its lifespan, but the damage was done. Intel should have learned from this error and prioritised processor stability over releasing them on time, but they didn't. Intel kept releasing new Core Ultra processors before resolving all their problems; thus, Intel Core Ultra processors became known for their initial unreliability, short lifespans (until patches were later released to keep them from self-destructing), and weaker-than-expected performance.

I'm unfamiliar with AMD. (I was introduced to their 386 processors in the 1990s, along with Intel 80386 and Cyrix 386 processors. At that time, AMD processors had overheating problems that destroyed their processors and motherboards. I never got into them.)

NVIDIA's newest 50xx series video cards should perform better than they do. Users with heat guns have noted that the chips have a heat problem because the cooling system is poorly designed. (Some users have added additional cooling, or replaced NVIDIA's cooling with their own to address the issue on desktop computers, or submerged their desktops in a cooling liquid that doesn't conduct electricity [I can't recall what that liquid is called], but laptop users can't do anything to fix the heat/cooling problem aside from adding a DIY liquid cooling system using liquid that doesn't conduct electricity.)
On the budget end of the spectrum, experts recommend that users invest in NVIDIA's RTX 4090 or 4080 cards. They're cheaper, more stable, keep cooler, and perform less than 10% slower than their 5090 and 5080 upgrades. Experts suggest that this is noticeable, but not that noticeable.

Of course, with DaVinci Resolve, it's important to max out our system memory. If our CPU + motherboard can handle a maximum of 32GB, 64GB, 96GB, or 128GB of memory, then we should invest as much as we can afford. If it's cheaper to purchase better quality memory online from Amazon, buy it from there.

Experts recommend investing in a Solid State Drive (SSD). Based on what I've seen, Samsung 9100 PRO, 990 PRO, or 980 PRO are fast and reliable drives with a long warranty. Make sure your desktop or laptop supports them, though.

A large 18" (laptop) or 27"–32" (desktop / external laptop) IPS 4k monitor is also recommended.


I hope you find something I wrote useful. Again, I'm not an expert. I'm someone on a low budget who has been looking to upgrade for the past few years.

If you can wait another year or two, it sounds like Intel plans to make a better processor than their recent and present Core Ultra line. Time will tell if it's worth the wait, or if it's more of the same. (I hope, for Intel's sake, that it proves successful!)
https://computercity.com/hardware/proce ... 27-release

I hope you have a terrific weekend!

Sincerely,


Roger

@Roger the Grey and VMFXBV: Thanx for the replies explanations.!!!

I got the idea that the question wan not entirely clear

my current system is only a few years old and is performing pretty good in "normal" tasks.
Da vinci for "normal" tasks like music videos and such, seems to work fine , but the more complicated bits on fusion seems to underperform, sometimes 1 frame/second or less.

sone examples What i do in fusion

I got a fast samsung 970 ssd and a "calibrated" asus PROART PA278QV monitor.
i am going to max out my mem @ 128 GB.
My CPU 5600x and GPU 1650 are nominated for replacement.

This is the Q:

should i save for a better budget or is it worth to replace ny 5600x(6 core 12 thr.) with somethink like a 5950x (16 core 32 thr.) or other CPU thats compatable with my am4 MOBO?
The nvidea 4080 is Euro 1500 or Euro 1000 used, which is not within my budget.
From the 40 series onley the 4060 is within reach
Thats why i opted for the 3070 or 2080, i asume they are way better then my 1650.

all Sugations are welcome!


Regard and thanx,

Remco

On an AM4 board, updating to a 16core makes sense only if you do video editing. For fusion, the smallish difference for SINGLE core between 5600X and a 5950X (due to the higher frequency of the latter) isn't worth the upgrade.

If you only do Fusion which is pretty much single threaded for the most part, an update for you would be any of the 7000 or 9000 series X600/X700 part. 7600X or 9600X with the 9600X being the better choice for single threaded performance. However this means moving to a DDR5 platform which means new motherboard and RAM.

Fortunately, unlike Intel, even the cheapest boards will perform adequately with the X600 parts.

So my update path would be --> cheap B650 with a 9600X/9700X + at least 32GB DDR5 --> keep the rest of the components (disk and video card) and update those later or if budget allows (the video card).

If you do anything else video related, update the GPU first.

On an AM4 board, updating to a 16core makes sense only if you do video editing. For fusion, the smallish difference for SINGLE core between 5600X and a 5950X (due to the higher frequency of the latter) isn't worth the upgrade.

If you only do Fusion which is pretty much single threaded for the most part, an update for you would be any of the 7000 or 9000 series X600/X700 part. 7600X or 9600X with the 9600X being the better choice for single threaded performance. However this means moving to a DDR5 platform which means new motherboard and RAM.

Fortunately, unlike Intel, even the cheapest boards will perform adequately with the X600 parts.

So my update path would be --> cheap B650 with a 9600X/9700X + at least 32GB DDR5 --> keep the rest of the components (disk and video card) and update those later or if budget allows (the video card).

If you do anything else video related, update the GPU first.

Thank you!, very insightful

@Roger the Grey and VMFXBV: Thanx for the replies explanations.!!!

I got the idea that the question wan not entirely clear

my current system is only a few years old and is performing pretty good in "normal" tasks.
Da vinci for "normal" tasks like music videos and such, seems to work fine , but the more complicated bits on fusion seems to underperform, sometimes 1 frame/second or less.

sone examples What i do in fusion

I got a fast samsung 970 ssd and a "calibrated" asus PROART PA278QV monitor.
i am going to max out my mem @ 128 GB.
My CPU 5600x and GPU 1650 are nominated for replacement.

This is the Q:

should i save for a better budget or is it worth to replace ny 5600x(6 core 12 thr.) with somethink like a 5950x (16 core 32 thr.) or other CPU thats compatable with my am4 MOBO?
The nvidea 4080 is Euro 1500 or Euro 1000 used, which is not within my budget.
From the 40 series onley the 4060 is within reach
Thats why i opted for the 3070 or 2080, i asume they are way better then my 1650.

all Sugations are welcome!


Regard and thanx,

Remco

Good evening, Remco,

Thank you for clarifying and for sharing some of the projects you've done! You do amazing work!
Good to hear you already have an excellent SSD and monitor.
As you know, I'm neither an expert nor familiar with AMD, but I'm glad you're planning to invest in 128GB of memory. When I used only my 32GB memory, DR worked okay. DaVinci Resolve worked much better when I added 128GB of virtual memory from my SSDs. I know 128 GB of real memory will make your DR run much better, too!

If you use Windows 11 and want to try adding virtual memory, you can do it this way in Windows 11 Home Edition (I'm unsure if this works in other editions of Windows 11):
> START
> Type "Advanced System Settings" [Open]
> [Advanced Tab] Performance [Settings]
> [Advanced Tab] Virtual Memory [Change ...]
> Select drives and how many MB to set aside from each as virtual memory (1024 MB = 1 GB)

I recommend only using SSDs for virtual memory.

I don't recommend upgrading to the NVIDIA 2000 series. While it's true that it works better than your 1650, I highly recommend upgrading to (at least) an NVIDIA 3070. I like my video card, but it also struggles with 3D.

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/gr ... s/compare/

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/studio/compare-gpus/

I'm impressed with the quality of your work using the graphics card that you're using. You're very skilled! I hope you're blessed with more clients and a high-paying job. Then you'll be able to afford the hardware you need to make better use of DaVinci Resolve.

Sincerely,


Roger