The pain of : Full GPU Memory

Hi everyone.
This issue happens to me constantly.

In a simple project, after color grading, I have to render the project, and then the (Full GPU Memory) appears every single time.
If I add any simple transition it will be glitchy in the final rendered files (flashing, black, stuttering...).

I do this for living, and I trust BM cameras and software, but now I'm very regretful.

I tried a bunch of solutions, I sent a support message, YouTube, with no remedy.

What should I do?
Format, and installing the newest version of Windows?
I'm thinking about getting an extra ram (64 in total) for future proof (maybe it will help?).
Should I shoot with ProRes and back to Premiere Pro?

This a painful job if it's not get solved.
My scenario:
- BMPCC 4k BRaw clips.
- windows 10 version 1903.
- Davinci Resolve Studio 16.2

My system:
i7 8700k stock
32 GB RAM
1 TB SSD, 1 TB NVMe, 256 SSD
RTX 2080
2k Monitor (Primary) + 1080p monitor (secondary).

What should I do?

My theory is: nothing.

There's a long standing bug in Resolve's memory management with nVidia GPU's. We're dependent on BMD fixing that.

Are you rendering straight into H.264? If so, try Cineform or DNxHR and see if it works.
Doing hardware encoding and rendering at the same time seems to stress some GPUs.

And then, read the discussions about drivers for Nvidia. The newest is not always the right one.

The 2080 should have 8gb of memory, that should suffice.

Check the Studio drivers for that card, not the gaming drivers.

Render an intermediate like DNx or proves and from there you will do the final H264

8gb of memory, that should suffice.

I've seen folks with 11GB reporting this error. I've also seen folks reporting success with the same project using an AMD card with lesser memory.

That's why I'm thinking this is a bug that BMD needs to handle.

I've also seen folks reporting success with the same project using an AMD card with lesser memory.

That's why I'm thinking this is a bug that BMD needs to handle.

To put my pundit hat on for a second, I feel for the developers on this one. On the tech side, they've somewhat backed themselves into a corner with regards to staying with a quite old (2015) toolchain to build Resolve on Windows, as far as I can tell to avoid the (most likely horrendous) pain of updating to a new build of Qt, the user interface toolset that enables Resolve to be cross-platform. The latest version of the Cuda SDK (developer tools) has dropped support for that old toolchain from 2015, so if they need to update to to that SDK to fix these memory issues they may be in for a world of pain as it may well have a domino effect with requiring updating the Qt SDK and other areas too. That is not something you do late in a beta cycle unless absolutely necessary, as it's a massive change to the foundations of the entire application. Maybe with enough duct-tape they can make it work. I expect the toolchain update was on the table for v17, but was cut from the schedule early as being hard, high-risk, and relatively low-reward (at the time).

I hope I'm wrong, but if that's the case... gulp. As I mentioned when the first version of the drivers came out supporting the new Cuda SDK, perhaps it's teething problems in the Nvidia drivers, and BMD just have to work with them to get the drivers fixed. I can't guess from the outside, but NV is usually very good for these fixes if you can get their attention/priority. On the other hand, maybe it's a simple a fix on the Resolve side as they missed freeing some memory and have a (big) memory leak. We'll likely never know - though I'd love that kind of details personally!

teething problems in the Nvidia drivers

This problem has existed since Fusion was incorporated.

If each new driver is a tooth, that mouth is full.

If each new driver is a tooth, that mouth is full.

I have this hope/dream that between the NV driver updates, new Cuda version, and relatively extended time since the last Resolve beta update, that this is being worked on. It's either a perfect balance, or a perfect storm (maybe both for the devs!).

What should I do?

My theory is: nothing.

There's a long standing bug in Resolve's memory management with nVidia GPU's. We're dependent on BMD fixing that.

Is there somewhere with further discussion of that?

Unfortunately, I see no indication that BMD agrees with me that the issue is a bug in Resolve.

In fact, I see indications that they disagree. So we may be stuck with this for a while.