More RAM, New GPU, a little OC on an old build?

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Dave Pitman

Prominent
Mar 6, 2017
3
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510
Hi guys, I have a box assembled in 2010. It is still sufficient for most of my needs. But now I want to run Davinci Resolve and am limited by the GPU. Resolve won't run at all on my current card.

What I have:

i7 930 2.8 ghz
Asus p6x58d-E motherboard
gtx 260
Corsair 850 TX Power Supply
12gb of RAM

Rather than a new build, I'm considering swapping in a gtx 1080, doubling the RAM and trying to bump the CPU up to 3.5ghz 'ish.

I don't game on this machine at all. The most intensive use is editing 4k video which I can do now (barely) in Premier. But Resolve needs the GPU upgrade to work at all. I thought if this doesn't work out, then I could still use the 1080 in a new build and would just be out my time.

I don't keep up with this stuff too much so I would appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks!

 
Solution
geofelt
My reading of the requirements for davinci resolve suggest that the vram is what is needed more than compute capability.
https://www.dcinema.me/davinci-resolve-system-requirements-a-reality-check/
8gb is near tops, 6gb is likely more than enough.
6gb comes with a GTX1060, 8gb comes with a GTX1070 or GTX1080.

On ram, 16gb is recommended.

My suggestion is to buy a GTX1070 first and see how you do.
Then, you will have a better idea if your cpu or ram needs an upgrade.

For compute power, you may well be ok.
If not, current gen kaby lake processors, even inexpensive ones are much stronger than your I7-930.
Your I7-930 has a passmark rating of 5193 and a single thread rating of 1214.
The equivalent of a $65 kaby lake G4560
$200 or so buys...
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WayneTech

WayneTech

Reputable
Feb 22, 2017
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4,760
Hey,

What you are planning to do will work fine but it might not be worth the trouble.

As you are aware, a GTX 1080 is a lot of money to throw away at once and regardless of whether you are gaming or not, it will be held back by the processor extensively. If you choose to clock it that high (no guarantees it will be stable at 3.5) you are going to have to invest in a good cooler because those temps will be hot to say the least. Most modern graphic cards above a 970 is currently substantial for video editing so even it means investing in both a newer cpu AND gpu to balance it out a little bit - but thats not to try to swerve you away from your original intentions :)

As for RAM, 16GB is the recommended for editing presently, throwing it up to 24GB might be considered as overkill.

I hope this helps.

Good luck :3
 
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geofelt

geofelt

Titan
Oct 9, 2006
54,277
4,132
174,240
My reading of the requirements for davinci resolve suggest that the vram is what is needed more than compute capability.
https://www.dcinema.me/davinci-resolve-system-requirements-a-reality-check/
8gb is near tops, 6gb is likely more than enough.
6gb comes with a GTX1060, 8gb comes with a GTX1070 or GTX1080.

On ram, 16gb is recommended.

My suggestion is to buy a GTX1070 first and see how you do.
Then, you will have a better idea if your cpu or ram needs an upgrade.

For compute power, you may well be ok.
If not, current gen kaby lake processors, even inexpensive ones are much stronger than your I7-930.
Your I7-930 has a passmark rating of 5193 and a single thread rating of 1214.
The equivalent of a $65 kaby lake G4560
$200 or so buys you twice that.
 
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Solution
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Dave Pitman

Prominent
Mar 6, 2017
3
0
510
Guys, Thanks so much for taking the time to offer some advice.

@geofelt Bumping the cpu up to even a low end Kaby would mean a new MB and at that point, I'd probably just go new build. It seems like that may be the wise choice based upon the advice which is kind of what I thought. This box can be retired to just office tasks in that case.

 
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