Budget DaVinci Resolve editing build for smooth playback

[Tal Orbach]

I'm looking to switch from an old gaming laptop to a more editing appropriate desktop, but my budget is rather tight, so I want to understand what I should and shouldn't sacrifice.

My needs:
I want my workflow to be a smooth as possible - to be able to go from one thing to another, and to preview my video without it getting stuck. That said - I really don't mind slow rendering, and I'm also willing to convert my files before or after the process, in other tools, if that makes it easier to work smoothly.
My source files are 4K 30FPs, shot on my smartphone.
The final video will be 1080p, though.
My videos are generally under 30 minutes long.
I use a bit of rather basic Fairlight effect - titles, transitions, VERY basic animations. But really - very few of them.
I do some basic color correction (not really to create a look, just for uniformity - if lighting changes between shots - to match them as much as possible).

I prefer using used parts to new ones (more pocket and environment friendly, but also - from my experience with non-editing computers, an older i7 often beats newer i5s, and they live longer).
Ryzen CPUs are not as easy to find used here (but possible)

My questions:
1. CPU - I know that both the number of cores and their individual speeds matter, but are there any other considerations I should look at when comparing CPUs? Let's say - if two CPUs have the same number of cores and the same speed, but are of different generations - are they equivalent? What about a case where a newer generation CPU has less per-core speed? should I opt for newer or for faster? What about Ryzen vs. Intel Core vs. Xeon?
I know that I can find detailed comparisons between any two processors, but I'm looking for a rule of thumb that will allow me to reach quick verdicts (even if it's not completely accurate).
2. RAM - I know that generally it is said that for 4K editing, 32GB is the recommended minimum. Is that still the case if the output isn't 4K? How does using optimized media (even as low as 1/8 res) affect that?
3. RAM - are more cards better than fewer? (e.g. 2X16GB or 4X8GB?) and how do RAM speeds play into that?
4. GPU - I know that GeForce cards are recommended and that so is more vRAM, but how do I prioritize things here? Say - RX card with 8GB vs. GTX with 4GB? What's the deal with CUDA cores?

For now let's assume I'm OK with storage.

Any other consideration I should be aware of?

Thanks!

[Little_Apprentice]

What exactly is your budget ? Can you give us a number ?

 

[Fatih19]

I think this video from LTT is pretty relevant although it won't answer all of your question :

 

Also this video from HardwareCanucks comparing Geforce GPU performance in Resolve :

And you might be interested in this :

17 minutes ago, Little_Apprentice said:

What exactly is your budget ? Can you give us a number ?

 

Yeah, we can't really help you if we don't know how much your budget is exactly.

 

Edited April 24, 2020 by Fatih19
Forgot to post relevant link.

[Tal Orbach]

1 hour ago, Little_Apprentice said:

What exactly is your budget ? Can you give us a number ?

 

It's about $500, but I live in Israel, which makes the actual costs of things a bit different. This is why I was trying to get guidelines, more than an actual parts list.

[Fatih19]

I don't think you can make a satisfactory build with only that much money, honestly. You can build something that will be go near it, but it won't be ideal.

[Tal Orbach]

 

1 hour ago, Fatih19 said:

I think this video from LTT is pretty relevant although it won't answer all of your question :

Also this video from HardwareCanucks comparing Geforce GPU performance in Resolve :

And you might be interested in this :

Yeah, we can't really help you if we don't know how much your budget is exactly.

 

I've seen the first and last videos here - they are focused on new parts, which is not really my preference, as I explained in the post. Another problematic part is that having those shipped to me from the states isn't really an option these days, and buying those parts here would be much more expensive (like double the price). Also, going into the links for the different items on the parts list - it seems that the prices are much more expensive than mentioned (probably goes up and down, like a lot of things).

 

The second video, about the GPUs compares GPUs that are far from "budget", so I'm not sure what I can learn from it.

 

[Tal Orbach]

8 minutes ago, Fatih19 said:

I don't think you can make a satisfactory build with only that much money, honestly. You can build something that will be go near it, but it won't be ideal.

I'm sure it will be far from perfect. That's fine. As I said - what I want is to know how to get as close as I can to perfection, with the budget limitations that I have. I know I'll have to make some compromises, so I want to understand which compromises make more sense, and which ones make less sense.