Trying to run Resolve 20 on an Old Laptop

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Jabez Chavez

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Trying to run Resolve 20 on an Old Laptop

PostMon Jun 02, 2025 9:22 pm

Hello. I'm very new to the tech scene and just want to make simple edits to some gaming videos so I can post them to my YouTube channel.

My friends suggested Davinci Resolve to me and Resolve 20 was the first thing that popped up on the Blackmagic design website, so I tried to download that. I've managed to download and install the Windows x86 version onto my laptop, but every time I try to open it, it just says, "DaVinci Resolve could not initialize OpenGL. Please ensure that the latest graphics drivers are installed."

I understand that this by itself is quite common, but I've tried what seem like the standard fixes for this (setting Resolve to be preferred in Graphics settings, setting its preference to "high performance", and manually updating my driver) and it's still giving me that message.

One website has advised that I uninstall my current driver and reinstall whatever latest driver version will run on my graphics card, but I'm not entirely sure what driver I'd need, and I don't want to end up without a graphics driver. I'm thinking it may be a hardware issue.

Can someone look at my laptop's specs and tell me if it's able to run Resolve 20, what steps I can take to get it to run Resolve 20, and if that's not possible, the latest version of resolve that it will run? Thank you.

Model: Toshiba Portege Z30-A
OS: Windows 10 Pro (2009 Version; 19045.5854)
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4300U CPU @ 1.90GHz 2.50 GHz
Installed RAM 8.00 GB
Graphics Card Intel(R) HD Graphics Family (113 MB)
System Type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
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Stephen Swaney

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Re: Trying to run Resolve 20 on an Old Laptop

PostTue Jun 03, 2025 12:39 am

You have:
Installed RAM 8.00 GB
Graphics Card Intel(R) HD Graphics Family (113 MB)

The requirements for Resolve 20 are:
Integrated GPU or discrete GPU with at least 4 GB of VRAM.
GPU which supports OpenCL 1.2 or CUDA 12.8.

Looks like a hardware issue. There may be an earlier version of Resolve that will run on your machine, but that is a question for the smart people.

If all you want to do is cut up video, you might look at lighter tools like Blender or Open Shot or Kdenlive. Resolve is a great tool and I love it, but it is a bit demanding on hardware and fussy about video drivers.
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Nick2021

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Re: Trying to run Resolve 20 on an Old Laptop

PostTue Jun 03, 2025 2:57 am

Your IGPU hasn't been supported by Intel in awhile. I don't think they even have a current driver.

My guess is maybe if you're lucky version 16 or 15 will run. But you're also really low on ram. It won't be fun.
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Dwaine Maggart

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Re: Trying to run Resolve 20 on an Old Laptop

PostTue Jun 03, 2025 5:26 am

Resolve 16.2.8 will likely run on your laptop.

Versions of Resolve back to 10.1.5 are available on the BMD Support page for DaVinci Resolve/Fusion:

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/suppor ... and-fusion

There are 2 versions of each release, a free version and the Studio version, which requires a Resolve Studio license. Assuming you don't have license, download the version that doesn't have Studio in the name.
Dwaine Maggart
Blackmagic Design DaVinci Support
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Tony359

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Re: Trying to run Resolve 20 on an Old Laptop

PostTue Jun 03, 2025 8:49 am

Can I also recommend you looked at something simpler than Resolve?

For simple gaming editing I feel Resolve is a bit overkill.
DaVinci Resolve Studio 19.1.3
Ryzen 5700X - 32GB RAM - 4TB USB4 SSD - RTX 3070 8GB
Windows 10 22H2
Mac Mini M4 16GB - 256GB

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