Uli Plank wrote:Both of these are underpowered for Resolve. Yo need better hardware or enough patience.
Template Response. If it works for him, then his hardware is good enough. He's asking why the Laptop is faster than the iMac in rendering, not whether or not you approve of his hardware.
He likely isn't doing anything beyond FHD, anyways, so his requirements - even using Resolve - are fairly meager given he's probably not using the Color or Fusion pages a ton... just cutting low-res footage and rendering out timelines.
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i7-7700HQ is faster than a Dual Core Core i5 (I5-7360
U) from basically the same generation (That iMac is basically an ultrabook in an AIO formfactor - so way weaker than that laptop). 4C/8T on the i7 vs. 2C/4T on the i5 and higher clock speeds. Those iMacs also has slower RAM (2133MHz), which affects iGPU performance. 2400 vs. 2133 is a pretty decent difference: ~9% different in memory speed that directly affects iGPU performance, most likely wiping out any lead in performance the Iris Plus would have over UHD 630, and then some. Iris Plus isn't a massive upgrade over UHD 630.
UHD 630 doesn't have 128GB eDRAM. Only Iris Pro iGPUs had that, and Iris Pro only came with Quad-Core iMacs and MacBook Pro SKUs. Most Windows Laptops did not use Iris Pro, as the OEMs had SKUs with Nvidia MX350 dGPUs that are better for about the same amount of markup to the end user - it wasn't worth it, in most cases. UHD630 only has shared memory, so its performance is affected by System memory speed (and channel configuration).
That iMac is basically a huge MacBook Air.
Decode-Dominated workflows (everything on the edit page) can be sensitive to platform differences - like Decoder Quality, for example. However, Delivery is sensitive to differences in CPU performance to a much larger degree...
Since you're using an iGPU, the memory speed is a factor given how much Resolve uses the GPU. It's going to factor in. ~9% higher memory speeds benefit the UHD630 vs the Iris Plus. I'm seeing the UHD630 in that i7 having 9-10% higher Base and Boost Clocks, as well. UHD630 does not have 128MB eDRAM. Iris Plus has 64MB eDRAM.
It's also likely the i5 in the iMac will throttle under sustained loads before the i7 in the PC Laptop. This is a major factor in workloads like video rendering - especially when the i5 is throttling while the i7 is able to maintain clock speeds in the boost range - both CPU and iGPU.
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Those Dual Core iMacs were never a good value. It was always better to just buy a MacBook Air that you can take anywhere and then get a display to bolt onto it, or just save money and get a Mac Mini and your own display
They were basically ultrabooks with an overpriced screen bolted to them, and lacking any and all portability and upgrade options (well... you can always risk opening it up and cracking a screen Apple will charge you $500+
+ Labor to replace).