Is it worth going for a better GPU/CPU for DaVinci Resolve and gaming in this case?

[GeTShrEx]

Hey everyone,

I'm planning to build my first PC mainly for video editing in DaVinci Resolve (initially I’ll be working with YT and screen recordings, but later on I’ll be editing footage from newer iPhones and mid-range consumer cameras — so likely formats like H.264 or H.265, often in 10-bit and HEVC. I’m also planning to dive into more advanced editing over time. Not necessarily creating VFX-heavy scenes or Pixar-level renders, but I do want to get creative with the footage — color grading, layered edits, some light motion graphics, etc.) and for gaming at 1440p (2K).

 

Some of the games I plan to play include Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, Silent Hill 2 Remake, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, RDR2, Alan Wake II, Dead Space Remake, and maybe some occasional work in Blender too.

 

Here's my dilemma:

I was planning to go with an RTX 5070 Ti because of its support for H.265 4:2:2 codec in the new Blackwell GPUs — that way I can skip Intel CPUs entirely — and pair it with a Ryzen 9 9900X.

But now I’m wondering if I might be overdoing it and should maybe step down to a Ryzen 7 9700X instead. The 9700X has lower power draw and temps (which is a plus for me), and from what I’ve heard, it has 8 cores on a single chiplet vs. 6 cores across two chiplets on the 9900X — which might mean better gaming performance, but slightly worse in productivity apps?

 

Alternatively, I could also consider stepping down the GPU to an RTX 5070.

The price differences in my country are:

 

Ryzen 9 9900X is about $150 more than the 9700X

 

RTX 5070 Ti is about $225 more than the RTX 5070

 

So my question is: in this use case (DaVinci Resolve + gaming at 2K), would you recommend I prioritize the better GPU, the better CPU, or just save the money and go with the more balanced/cheaper combo?

 

Would really appreciate any input — thanks in advance!

 

[Tetras]

6 minutes ago, GeTShrEx said:

it has 8 cores on a single chiplet vs. 6 cores across two chiplets on the 9900X — which might mean better gaming performance, but slightly worse in productivity apps?

Not slightly worse in productivity apps, much worse. At least, if you're actually using the cores. I don't know enough about video editing to say if it'll matter for you, but a 9700X is significantly less capable if it does.

 

10 minutes ago, GeTShrEx said:

Alternatively, I could also consider stepping down the GPU to an RTX 5070.

I wouldn't, the loss in VRAM will curtail how long the card is viable for.

[porina]

I'm still a relatively basic user of Resolve, but in my use cases, it'll use all CPU and GPU! I know, that's probably not helpful. Hard to tell what it is doing where. For editing, I record in log format so have to use a LUT to initially reverse that, and I may choose to adjust lighting further if needed. I sometimes do some audio adjustments too, but compared to video it should be essentially nothing. Even then it will export 4k60 at faster than real time on either of my systems (7980XE + was 3070 now 4070, 7800X3D + was 4070 now 5070 Ti).

 

Specifically on H.264 and H.265, the free version apparently uses OS provided support for those formats, but the paid version will use GPU acceleration. At least according to the CODEC support document. Regardless of that, I do see the video block in GPU in use when encoding on free version.