CPU-GPU dogma - M1 out of it

Hi all. Im kinda happy davinci resolve user. I started using free version 2-3 years ago, and just 6-7 month ago i got studio version.

I have i7 6700 with 16gb ram and when I started using resolve first time I got gtx 1050 2gb. It suprisingly worked good, but I knew I will need to upgrade my gpu in a near future because davinci resolve and its community recommend new and better gpu-s to be able to work in 4k, and lot other programs perks. But also in working with program i noticed the limitations of my 2gb vram.

Before resolve I used pirated version of premiere pro. Thats where i started editing and where i was learning. The reason I came to resolve is because i was growing up, getting some clients and had some of my own important work so i didnt wont to continue using pirated programs.

The reason i tell you this all is because on premiere pro i could use my i7 6700 and its integrated gpu without any problems and with limitations only when i start doing heavy coloring, effects and animations. When i opened resolve with that same CPU I couldn't even preview and cut on 1080p timeline. Now 2-3 years after, i still cant. The story still is how davinci resolve uses GPU better than cpu. Thats fine, i got my 8gb nvidia gpu so i should be fine - right? Wrong. I still have some crashes and problems on timeline, but its minor so it doesn't affect me much.

But today, we have davinci resolve poping out updates to make apples M1 CPU usable and have great performance in their software (like my 8gb GPU or even better), yet for me CPU is not enough even for simple stuff. Atleast i have intel QS for rendering that sometime works and sometime does not. But atleast it gives better rendering speeds then AMD GPUs....

*Long story short*

I like my davinci resolve program, even tho its buggy sometimes. I learned a lot on it's free version and it helped me a lot. When I bought studio version it was not because i needed it or because i thought i will get better performance (which i did). Its because i think the software is revolutionary in its field and i have a respect for that. What i dont have respect for is this stupid dogma that davinci resolve cant utilize CPUs well, yet now we see a great performance and updates for apples M1 CPU, while mine and many others I7 just can sit in PC to exist and gather dust.

If you check some BRAW files (for example), you are going to see that DR is using the CPU to quite some extent too. It's just that GPUs these days deliver much more power for image processing.
Regarding M1: they have a GPU, albeit not a very strong one in this first generation. Their biggest strength for DR is the hardware de- and encoding of most H.264/265 codecs in use today.

I know that there is use of cpu in there, but i also know there could be more. I know that m1 has igpu in its design, but so does i7, and many other processors today. I know m1 is unique, and thats probably the reason why it can succeed in DR. But what about the rest of us?

And not to forget, this is also the story about gpu hardware...

Soon to be 3 years ago when i started free dr16 with my 1050 2gb. The same performance i had with it in free software before, I get today with 30-40% stronger 1060 3gb.

Seven days ago i had to part ways with my gtx 1070, that was working decently, but not without its problems also. Now i have 1060 3gb instead of it. It delivers 20-40% less, and i know that is normal. But is it normal to load the same and similar files i used 2 years ago on 1050 2gb (on free software), and get same performance on much never studio software version and 30-40% better gpu?

When I sold my 1070 7 days ago, I was working on experimental short with its 1280x720p 29.66fps files. Do you think my i7 and its iGPU managed to do something on its own? I transcoded to h264, h265, dnxhd, dnxhr to same resolution and fps, but also into 25fps. ALL OF IT I had to run in quarter res proxy and still get 10fps max in davinci resolve 17 studio timeline. That is just sad. I borrowed my friends r9 280x 3gb. Its a strong gpu. It can run and render any game today, and atleast should give me better performance than my i7. Wrong! The damn thing could not even load a frame of my videos in DR. Nothing! Blank page! How the f... does that happen with premium nle video editor? In the end I finished that experimental short in VSDC free video editor with just my I7 6700.

Is that the solution? Am I stupid for even using a davinci resolve for 3 years now almost? Not everyone can get the lattest rtx in the line. I know my PC is not among "strongest" like it was 5 years ago, but i know it managed to do a lot of things in premiere, after effect, video games, davinci resolve, blender...It still can, but from the looks of it, only in davinci resolve i need the latest nvidia hardware and driver to do even the simplest of tasks.

In last 5 years many people came to resolve from other software. One of the main reasons was because people were tired of spending 50-70$ each month so that they would be able to use premier pro that crashes a lot. It may had crashed, but it managed to cut in timeline powered by potato. The other side is because davinci resolve was inovative, and people wanned to support that and be part of it. So people - indie filmmakers, professional videographers, hobbyists, students - all have to own lattest 500-1000$+ gadget to be able to run basic stuff in DR? Is that the future of davinci resolve and black magic?

Two things.

1. DaVinci Resolve is targetted at professional users. Hence the minimal hardware specification is relatively high. If something is wrong and you have a computer spec below that published spec, the answer is always going to be to upgrade. That just makes tech support easier.

Adobe Premiere is targetted at the mass market (though of course it also supports professional users). Hence the minimal hardware spec is lower. You are encouraged to start using the software for simple tasks. Then you will hit a roadblock... then you will need to upgrade your hardware.

There is no magic bullet. Both applications require roughly the same horsepower to do the same task. If anything, I have found Resolve to be more efficient.

2. There is something seriously wrong with your computer. I have this minimal machine:

Intel Core i3-7350K @ 4.2 GHz
16 GB RAM
Windows 10 Pro
GeForce GTX 960 (4 GB VRAM)

Resolve runs fine. I edit 1080 timelines which include 4K footage. I have to wait for Fusion to cache but otherwise can get on with my work.