r/davinciresolve • u/S_Edward • 20h ago
Help Does DaVinci Resolve need a strong pc to run smoothly?
Does DaVinci need a strong PC to run effects smoothly, or at least maintain 30 FPS during playback when effects are enabled? Cuz I have an ASUS TUF A15 with an RTX 4050 6GB, Ryzen 7 7435HS, and 16GB DDR5 RAM, and it can barely run effects smoothly during playback
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u/TheRealPomax 19h ago
If you're not going to use Fusion a lot: no, but it does need you to use proper codecs. Don't load clips encoded using a playback codec (which can't just "jump to a random frame" without having to first decode dozens of other frames), convert or proxy them using a for-editing codec (i.e. some all-intra, ideally uncompressed format so it takes zero CPU time to render frames).
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u/Large-Direction6063 19h ago
Hace proxies y deshabilita correcciones de color mientras editas, y hace uso del render cache. te tiene que funcionar mejor, davinci con los efectos traga vram como si no hubiera un manana
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u/PrimevilKneivel Studio | Enterprise 17h ago
"when effects are enabled"
Never expect smooth playback for effects. Even with a beast you will very quickly find your limits. Render your previews so you can see how it plays back in real time.
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u/BusIllustrious2097 20h ago
Yes, but you could try caching if you can't run stuff realtime without rendering.
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u/Vancified 17h ago
it need a strong pc i have a laptop with 32gb ram rtx 5050 laptop and 1tb storage i still need proxies for +20 minutes videos to run smoothly
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u/RavenOryon 14h ago
It helps but it does run on my Surface Pro 8 too. Obviously you can't go nuts with effects but it can work on lesser specs. The higher spec your system the smoother it'll be
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u/Daamnieel 14h ago
I think davinci is probably one of the most demanding editing softwares
I started using it while i had a RX 580 8gb with a ryzen 7 5700x, and was not too happy with the performance
Now I have an RTX 5070 12GB + Intel 270k Plus, and im still not too happy with the performance
(I have studio davinci aswell)
Im not sure what it is, but even simple stuff like just a transform node with motion blur in order to make a "slide in" effect on some random PNG, can generate lag if theres like 2-3 of them at once. Where as in premiere pro, i could use motion blur a TOOOONNNN and have 0 playback issues
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u/rebeldigitalgod 11h ago
You’re running off a basic laptop that thermal throttles the processor slower to protect it from overheating.
Resolve was designed for high end color grading and conform long before they added all the other modules. It was meant to run on beefy workstations.
In many post house environments, the Resolve setup are running on high spec hardware and networks, usually a workstation class processor with 64GB or higher of RAM, top end Nvidia graphics, 10Gigabit or faster network and very fast storage. These systems were well over $10K when hardware was still cheap. Linux helps too.
I’ve been in screenings or reviews where setups were running uncompressed EXR or DPX without a stutter.
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u/zeb__g Studio 9h ago
Never edit in 4k, even if you have a 5090. Edit in 1080p and switch to 4k for color and export. Even my 5080 machine doesn't render 4k color in real time, so you will use render cache. Its 2 clicks to switch back and forth with presets.
6gb of Vram is the bare minimum for 4k timeline. I had a 4gb GTX1650 and it would throw 'insufficient vram errors" if I tried to switch the timeline to 4k.
You have no hardware that can decode h.264/5 4:2:2. So expect to need to create proxies if you edit any of that
16gb of system ram is not great. But in 2026 to upgrade it is a car payment :(
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u/shw1981 46m ago
The biggest problem with this software is not running smoothly... you can spend U$ 10,000.00 on a computer, and it still won’t be smooth .... What I discredit is that users compact with the gambiarras of caching, proxy, disabling effects etc... but the software has 10 million resources... but bad performance... see that a Final Cur does with an M1 with 8gb of ram is enough to impress .. for example instant magic mask.... Not even with a Mac Studio M5 64gb would you have this performance on Davince.... CapCut also makes a fantastic magic mask but Davince drags.. but Davince has 30 places to use saturation 😉 and now edits photos...ps I use Davince in my daily life!
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u/Tepppopups 19h ago
You need at least 32GB. As of effects, depending on effects. You can disable effects while editing (upper right corner of preview window). Plus, you can use proxies (google if you don't know how).
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u/FailSonnen Studio 18h ago
"Running smoothly" can mean a lot of things but your laptop in particular has a weak CPU, weak GPU, and not enough RAM that you're not going to be able to run an effects-heavy timeline in real time at 100% resolution.
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u/Shorter_513 17h ago
The hardware on his laptop is far from the most powerful, but it is plentiful for less complicated video editing in DVR. I did lots of editing, with a different degree of complexity, on a weaker laptop
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u/Hopeful-Highlight458 18h ago
I hope your laptop is struggling for these reasons
The main culprit is actually a "hidden" bottleneck in your specific CPU, combined with hitting the bare minimum hardware limits for DaVinci Resolve.
Why It's Happening
- The CPU is missing an iGPU: The Ryzen 7 7435HS completely lacks an integrated GPU (iGPU). In video editing, the iGPU normally handles the heavy lifting of decoding video files (especially H.264/H.265 footage). Because you don't have one, your CPU gets maxed out just trying to play the video, leaving no horsepower left for effects.
- Low VRAM (6GB): Your RTX 4050 only has 6GB of VRAM. DaVinci Resolve is incredibly GPU-heavy. If you turn on heavy effects (color grading, noise reduction, Fusion), you will instantly run out of VRAM, causing playback to stutter or crash.
- Bare Minimum RAM (16GB): 16GB is the absolute bare minimum for Resolve. For editing with effects, 32GB is the RECOMMENDED (for Fusion and other effects from their official website) standard. When you run out of RAM, your system slows to a crawl using your SSD as emergency memory.
How To Fix It (Without Buying New Hardware)
- Use Proxies (The Magic Bullet): Go to Playback > Proxy Handling > Select Prefer Proxies. Then, right-click your footage in the Media Pool and select Generate Proxy Media. This creates lightweight files that will play smoothly even with effects turned on.
I suggest you not keep the proxy files folder on your C: drive. Use any separate drive. Because when you use effects, proxy files will be so large. The virtual memory system also uses the C: drive.
For that, your C: drive could get full faster, & resolve can crash - Switch to Studio Drivers: Open NVIDIA GeForce Experience, click the three dots next to "Check for Updates," and switch from the Game Ready Driver to the Studio Driver. It is significantly more stable for Resolve.
- Free up SSD Space: Make sure your C: drive has at least 50GB of free space so Windows can use it as emergency VIRTUAL MEMORY when your 16GB RAM fills up.
Long-term fix: If you plan on editing a lot, upgrading that laptop to 32GB of RAM is a relatively better upgrade that will massively improve your performance.
By the way, mine is worse than yours: RTX 2050 4GB, but my processor has an iGPU, so the playback stutters a little less on mine. But it always crashes while exporting
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u/ExpBalSat Studio | Excellent Commenter :redditgold::redditgold: 20h ago
It depends on:
But yeah, you can totally work smoothly with 30 fps footage in Resolve on almost any computer - assuming you design a suitable workflow. The effects work you do could complicate things, but basic editing is totally within reasons. Check out Lesson 6 in The Editors Guide to DaVici Resolve 20 and Chapter 8 in the software User Reference Manual.