Help! Choosing a computer

Resolve was running fine for me on i5 (in an iMac), but you need a serious GPU.
I don't think the kind of Resolve lite you imagine is going to come, their strength is color and that needs the strong GPU. But what makes you think you need 64 GB? 16 goes a long way, just avoid Fusion.
But if you are a Mac guy, why not use FCP? It has some decent color grading these days. The complex possibilities in DR, like temporal NR, Speed Warp, the new Depth Map etc. will be demanding far beyond basic hardware anyway.

Hi Justine,

Have you looked around for a second-hand Intel Mac? My impression is that one of the consequences of M1 is that people are selling Intel Macs relatively cheap. I have a 2018 Mac mini with an i7 processor and 32GB of RAM that I'm keeping because I don't think that I'll get much for it if I try to sell it. For your purposes, the one problem with that computer is the integrated graphics. It's best used with an external GPU, although it will handle 4K video OK. If you can find a second-hand external GPU, it doesn't take much additional graphics power to make a big difference.

I don't know anything about the South African market, but in North America I think that it's become a buyer's market for used Intel Macs, at least that appears to be the general view on MacRumors, the main Mac forum.

Being unable to upgrade is really just a main feature of the mac. Incredibly anti consumer and expensive for generally worse hardware when compared to similarly priced models from other brands.
Main reason why i don't use a mac and don't recommend them for others. You also have to think about future proofing. If you want to go to more intensive footage you are going to have to upgrade (something that macs cannot do because they are built that way on purpose)
If you want an easy solution that fits in your price range and is a laptop, watch out for things that call itself "gaming" Often they don't have the right components for video editing.
Never consider Alienware, as similar to macs they are a money-dump.

Look at framework laptops, specifically easy to upgrade if you need to in the future at very minimal cost. Keep in mind once the mac isnt powerful enough to handle your workload, you will have to sell or toss it. (god forbid it breaks, which would require apples insane repair fee) That is not a good thing for a computer. Easy upgradability is important as it makes it so you dont end up spending another $2000 down the line for something that only needs a new GPU or more ram.
https://frame.work/
Also these laptops start way cheaper, and allow more customization so you can not spend on useless things and only get what you need.

You can also opt to get a kit to build yourself (which shaves off a couple hundred bucks) and its like legos, can be alot of fun and they have in depth tutorials

I also have no idea about the South African market, but if you are short on money, don't go for a laptop, neither Mac nor PC. You will always pay a premium over a desktop and in most cases they have a weaker 'mobile' version of the GPU, even if it carries the same name. The reason is heat dissipation.

The Asus I tested (see above) has a RTX 3070 laptop GPU, and it's definitely weaker than a desktop version.
Still only one hour off the grid when rendering (more than 5 hours on the Mac).

Being unable to upgrade is really just a main feature of the mac. Incredibly anti consumer and expensive for generally worse hardware when compared to similarly priced models from other brands.

People say this all the time but the lack of upgradeability hasn't been a practical concern in my case (I'm a heavy user of both PCs and Macs). The only caveat with the Mac is that you should buy more RAM than you think you'll need at the outset (and you'll pay extra for it, built-in RAM on Macs is overpriced), because on most Macs you can't add more later. But apart from that, the only way to be able to "future proof" a computer is to be able to upgrade the CPU and everything else. If you've built your own PC that's an option, but I've never had issues with longevity on my Macs.

My desktop Macs, which are from 2013 and 2014, still meet all my current needs and those for the foreseeable future. There is a clothing manufacturer in my city that until recently was still using 1990s-era Bondi Blue iMacs (running OS9) to run the entire business except anything that needed to connect to the internet (email, website, e-commerce).

I've kept PCs running for a decade or more as well, but the only upgrades I've had to make was to replace hard drives or add more RAM. I don't think of that as future proofing. The CPU becomes a limiting factor in the long run, depending on your needs and the software you use. Probably the only "future proof" computer is one you build yourself so you can easily swap out every single component over time, keeping only the case. Then it becomes like the proverbial "Paul Bunyan's axe." ("This is Paul Bunyan's axe. Sure, it's had three new heads and four new handles over the years, but it's still his axe.")

You will always pay a premium over a desktop and in most cases they have a weaker 'mobile' version of the GPU

The Asus I tested (see above) has a RTX 3070 laptop GPU, and it's definitely weaker than a desktop version.
Still only one hour off the grid when rendering (more than 5 hours on the Mac).

This is untrue. I suggest you watch this to learn more.

While yes the premium used to be big, that's not really the case anymore. Also the testing you did on the laptop is not reliable information to make such a statement on since it could be a variety of issues that cause that.

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People say this all the time but the lack of upgradeability hasn't been a practical concern in my case (I'm a heavy user of both PCs and Macs). The only caveat with the Mac is that you should buy more RAM than you think you'll need at the outset (and you'll pay extra for it, built-in RAM on Macs is overpriced), because on most Macs you can't add more later. But apart from that, the only way to be able to "future proof" a computer is to be able to upgrade the CPU and everything else. If you've built your own PC that's an option, but I've never had issues with longevity on my Macs.

My desktop Macs, which are from 2013 and 2014, still meet all my current needs and those for the foreseeable future. There is a clothing manufacturer in my city that until recently was still using 1990s-era Bondi Blue iMacs (running OS9) to run the entire business except anything that needed to connect to the internet (email, website, e-commerce).

I've kept PCs running for a decade or more as well, but the only upgrades I've had to make was to replace hard drives or add more RAM. I don't think of that as future proofing. The CPU becomes a limiting factor in the long run, depending on your needs and the software you use. Probably the only "future proof" computer is one you build yourself so you can easily swap out every single component over time, keeping only the case. Then it becomes like the proverbial "Paul Bunyan's axe." ("This is Paul Bunyan's axe. Sure, it's had three new heads and four new handles over the years, but it's still his axe.")

The lack of upgradability and repairability isn't just a huge concern, but its also contributes massive e-waste problems as well.
Your experience may be completely fine and that's okay, but I'm talking about apples blantent anti consumer behavior when it comes to repairability. If you run into an issue and can't buy a whole new computer all together you have to pay insane repair costs. To anyone who doesn't have alot of money to spend this is a huge deal. And while you might not need to future proof your machines, programs get more and more intensive. So once you start dealing with intensive tasks you don't even have the choice to go the cheap route and upgrade. Being able to add hard drives and ram is future proofing, because you can upgrade, as I stated, as things get more intensive you will need more, so it's either upgrade or discard your tech.

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I had planned to add RAID 0 results for Samsung T7s in addition to the results that I posted for Samsung 980 Pros. However, I'm not going to bother now. Not interested in getting caught up in a bog-standard, multi-post rant about Apple. Isn't that what Android Central and Reddit are for?

Also the testing you did on the laptop is not reliable information to make such a statement on since it could be a variety of issues that cause that.

Where is the variety if I render exactly the same project on both machines, with a bunch of samples of professional footage for sources and the same demanding effects for the same content and length?

I have even set the fans on both systems to full performance to avoid thermal throttling, even if the Mac wouldn't need it.

But like Rob, I'm not interested in a Mac vs. PC discussion. I think the TO and others who were seeking information have received enough to make their own decision.

Also the testing you did on the laptop is not reliable information to make such a statement on since it could be a variety of issues that cause that.

Where is the variety if I render exactly the same project on both machines, with a bunch of samples of professional footage for sources and the same demanding effects for the same content and length?

I have even set the fans on both systems to full performance to avoid thermal throttling, even if the Mac wouldn't need it.

This is one area I'll give apple credit. On many laptops the only way to get true performance is by using whatever the terribly designed random app that switches it into "power mode" or whatever. Found it out on my ROG laptop. It is seriously throttled it terms of speed, I had to look up whatever dumb named app it was that actully used the full power of the machine. On top of that, Apple does tend to have more reliable hardware that they put together in their bundles. It is very likely that the laptop manufacturer you used cheaped out since the competition for laptops/pre-builts is so fierce. That's why I suggested something lime framework for op, you know what's in the laptop and you can even build it. Also why I suggest building your own PC, but I am very aware that it's not a popular choice for obvious reasons.
(Even my first tower rig was a pre-built, I was just scared I would **** up building it even though with build guides nowadays that is pretty unlikely)

In summary, you need to so ALOT of tweaking in order to get a laptop running at full force, but if you have the time and care to do so you can get a laptop that performs way better than Apple. Just pre-built market is really sketchy which is why I said to avoid things that call itself "gaming" and use buzzwords like that.


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The Asus I tested is aiming at the mid to upper level at a price of 2,400 US$.

It has its own app to switch to full performance called „ProArt Creator Hub“, where you can go full speed (and then leave the room for a quieter place). I could clearly see with the help of GPU-Z and CPU-Z that it wasn't throttling. The render was done in 28:07, while the Mac finished in 26:25. Both rendering into CineForm, since the PC crashed if trying to render directly into H.265 per Nvidia. It did work if encoding was done by the AMD iGPU, but that limits the quality to 8 bit.

The Asus I tested is aiming at the mid to upper level at a price of 2,400 US$.

It has its own app to switch to full performance called „ProArt Creator Hub“, where you can go full speed (and then leave the room for a quieter place). I could clearly see with the help of GPU-Z and CPU-Z that it wasn't throttling. The render was done in 28:07, while the Mac finished in 26:25. Both rendering into CineForm, since the PC crashed if trying to render directly into H.265 per Nvidia. It did work if encoding was done by the AMD iGPU, but that limits the quality to 8 bit.

Have you tried any other benchmarks?

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No, my colleague Björn Eichelbaum did those in "Digital Production" (Munich) 01:22.
I focused on DR on the road.

My test project will be published for download soon, all of the footage can either be downloaded at Arri, Blackmagic, Red or Sony or will be included.