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Phat_Pat

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 8, 2004
1,955
0
I Live Where I Live
I will be using Final Cut Pro HD, Motion, And DVD Studio Pro.

I will be editing short films anywhere from 5 mintues to an hour.

Will the iMac G5 be good enough to run these programs efficently?

Or should i slap down $2000+ on a Power Mac?

Commets/suggestions? :confused:
 

ChrisFromCanada

macrumors 65816
May 3, 2004
1,097
0
Hamilton, Ontario (CANADA)
My thoughts:
1. No question you will want a G5
2. If you are a prosumer I think an iMac G5 would be fine
3. Dual processors are very nice and dramatically increase performance
4. Get at least 1.5 Gigs of RAM
5. By the looks of things you are doing some pro stuff so I would get:

Dual 1.8 Ghz G5
2 Gigs of Ram (4 x 512 aftermarket)
ATI Radeon 9600XT
2 x 250 Gig HDs (aftermarket)
 

Abstract

macrumors Penryn
Dec 27, 2002
24,835
847
Location Location Location
You don't NEED a dual 2.5 or 2.0 GHz G5. A dual 1.8GHz G5 would be excellent, but when is faster not better, right? Anyway, a dual 1.8GHz G5 PowerMac is what you definitely need, but as there's a big price difference between that and a Dual 2.0 or 2.5GHz setup, get what you can afford.

If you have to give up getting more RAM in order to buy a Dual 2.5Ghz, then go for the "slower" system with more RAM. Like Chris said, get at least 1.5GB of RAM, although personally I'd get 2GB or more.
 

cluthz

macrumors 68040
Jun 15, 2004
3,118
4
Norway
Ofcourse faster is better, but people has edited movies for year on standard computer hardware. If you aren't a proffesional then everything thats on todays market is good enuff, but be sure to get some memory and a lot of diskspace.
Dv editing uses about 13 GB an hour + additional scrathfiles you are likely to need about 20-30 GB an hour.
 

Counterfit

macrumors G3
Aug 20, 2003
8,195
0
sitting on your shoulder
Abstract said:
If you have to give up getting more RAM in order to buy a Dual 2.5Ghz, then go for the "slower" system with more RAM. Like Chris said, get at least 1.5GB of RAM, although personally I'd get 2GB or more.
I would go for the faster system, as you can get RAM later if you want/need it, but it's harder and more expensive to upgrade the CPU later.
 

t300

macrumors 6502a
Apr 10, 2004
976
1
Phat_Pat said:
ok so i think im going for one of the dual's

now would this
screen work?

No, not at all. Realistically, Dell's are not compatible with Mac's at all...

Technically, though..Yes, it will. It's just ugly and a Dull.
 

Phat_Pat

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 8, 2004
1,955
0
I Live Where I Live
jet3004 said:
No, not at all. Realistically, Dell's are not compatible with Mac's at all...

Technically, though..Yes, it will. It's just ugly and a Dull.

interesting..... some guy at apple said it would....

do you guys have any other suggestions?

edit: ohh i just saw the hidden text..... yes it is a dell but i can't really adford a apple display right now and besides dell owes me money for paying off another computer..... about $500 so i would be getting this for very cheap.....
 

James_C

macrumors 68030
Sep 13, 2002
2,815
1,819
Bristol, UK
I agree completely with Abstract, you will need at least a G5 Dual 1.8, and if you can afford a faster system then go for it. If you plan to do a lot of Motion work, make sure you upgrade the graphics card, as this App really pushes the graphics capability of the Mac. Aim for 2GB of ram to start. For serious video work you also need to budget for a second HD as your Media disk.
 

Phat_Pat

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 8, 2004
1,955
0
I Live Where I Live
ok so my budget is about $2,700 without the screen.

i have come up with two solutions:

• Dual 2GHz PowerPC G5
• 512MB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 2x256
• 160GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm
• ATI Radeon 9600 XT w/128MB DDR SDRAM
• 56k V.92 internal modem
• 8x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
• Apple Keyboard & Apple Mouse - U.S. English
• Mac OS X - U.S. English

Subtotal $2,549.00

or

• Dual 1.8GHz PowerPC G5
• 512MB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 2x256
• 250GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm
• ATI Radeon 9800 XT w/256MB DDR SDRAM
• 56k V.92 internal modem
• 8x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
• Apple Keyboard & Apple Mouse - U.S. English
• Mac OS X - U.S. English

Subtotal $2,624.00


i really want to get the dual 2.0 but can only do this if i drop the graphics card down. will i be able to upgrade this in the future? also add ram easily? what about the hard drive? basically what can i go without now and add later to make the price cheapper now?

maybe you guys can come up with better set ups......

edit: if these parts are upgradable can Compusa upgrade it?
 

freiheit

macrumors 6502a
Jul 20, 2004
643
90
California
Yes and no

While graphics cards are much easier to upgrade than CPUs (in the Mac world anyway) there aren't (currently) many upgrade paths beyond the 9600XT. And with 128megs versus 256megs for the video memory, unless you're doing some serious 3D work I doubt there'll be much difference.

Yes yes, I know that the MacOS Aqua interface _is_ 3D and that Tiger (10.4) and beyond will begin to use CoreImage/CoreVideo which will make better use of the graphics card to do amazing real-time work. But the apps that require CoreImage/CoreVideo are likely still a year or more away (since Tiger itself is still maybe 6 months away). There's also the fact that 128meg video cards are usually running faster than 256meg video cards (they usually score higher in benchmarks, just that the 256meggers have more room for growth as games like Doom 3 come onto the scene).

Then again, the G5 and its related video cards are brand new. There is the GeForce 6800 for Mac and over time we will (hopefully) also see the Radeon X800, X700 or X600 for Mac. Any and all of these will be faster than both the 9600XT with 128megs and the 9600XT with 256megs.

Physical RAM and hard drive space will likely be your key areas if you're doing prosumer or professional video work. CPU speed should be a secondary consideration. Any dual processor G5 should have enough punch to get the job done.
 

t300

macrumors 6502a
Apr 10, 2004
976
1
Phat_Pat said:
i really want to get the dual 2.0 but can only do this if i drop the graphics card down. will i be able to upgrade this in the future? also add ram easily? what about the hard drive? basically what can i go without now and add later to make the price cheapper now?

maybe you guys can come up with better set ups......

edit: if these parts are upgradable can Compusa upgrade it?

Go with the Dual 2.0...Trust me. It's a PowerMac, everything is upgradeable. Yeah, CompUsa could so it but so could you. It's all very easy and come with diagrams to instruct you and it's cheaper for you to buy it yourself for cheap off the internet...and you, most importantly, won't be raped by fees from CompUSA...Good luck.
 

earthtoandy

macrumors 6502
Jan 18, 2003
250
0
the cinema displays are nice. and in the future i would go for a second... maybe 2 23" cinema displays. the new aluminum displays are nice cause the bezel is small and they fit well together. but if you can at some point two of these screens would be ideal since in video editing you really want a long dimension for the width.
 

Phat_Pat

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 8, 2004
1,955
0
I Live Where I Live
earthtoandy said:
the cinema displays are nice. and in the future i would go for a second... maybe 2 23" cinema displays. the new aluminum displays are nice cause the bezel is small and they fit well together. but if you can at some point two of these screens would be ideal since in video editing you really want a long dimension for the width.

As much as i would love to have dual 23", the prices are outragous for a difference in 3". I think i'll shoot for a 20" and if i find i have more cash i will definitally go for the 23"
 

earthtoandy

macrumors 6502
Jan 18, 2003
250
0
i uderstand the cash issue. i myself have decided to go for the 23" when i can because when looking at the two side by side you see the 23" is a huge difference. plus i use alot of space on my screen... i will grow to whatever i have! like a freakin goldfish
 

runplaysleeprun

macrumors 6502a
Jul 27, 2004
845
1
Chicago, IL
in both your set-ups, you have only 512 mb of ram. MINIMUM, you need double that. Ideally, 1.5-2.0 gb would suite. also, HD space becomes important fast, as video especially takes up massive amounts, not to mention all the temp files associated with editing, effects etc...

the dual 1.8 should be more than adequate. the bang-for-buck at that point would be the ram. i dont remember if the 1.8's had firewire800, or if this is even an issue for perfomance, but i have heard that external drives running at higher rpms get better performance than internal disks running at typical 5200-7200 rpm. does anyone know if there is a performance gain with faster external disks?
 

mnstr_trd_sd

macrumors regular
Feb 24, 2004
143
0
san diego, ca.
i do motion graphics, video editing, graphic design, 3D ect. professionally.
it all depends on what you can shell out.

My partner uses a dual 1.2 g4 with 2Gigs of Ram and 9800 pro graphics card and all of the programs such as motion, final cut, after effect and even maya 6 runs fine. it takes a little longer to render but not much.

A dual 1.8 with 2gigs of ram and a good video card should be sufficient wether you are going to be doing this professionally or for fun.

I personally went with the Dual 2.0 G5 at home and in my studio. I ordered the Dual 2.5 but it was taking just way too long.

For the money you want to spend I'd go with a dual 1.8 or last gen g4 dual 1.2 or 1.4 if you can find one.

just my opinion
 

wPod

macrumors 68000
Aug 19, 2003
1,654
0
Denver, CO
.2 GHZ (200mhz) is not going to make a lot of difference. id go for the 1.8, small hd, 128mb video card but MORE RAM. ram is very important especially for video editing. if you had a 1.8 system with 1GB of ram vs a 2.0 systme with 512mb ram, i am certain the 1.8 system would run faster! youll be able to upgrade everything else later. i really dont think the processor will make that much difference. the 867 G4 in my PB doesnt seem that different from the 1.3s in the store (but i dont do serious video editing) id deffinitly go with the dull monitor. especially with the money they owe you. it might not look as cool as 23" apple display, but it will look a lot cooler than my 19" CRT monitor from pre-Y2K !
 

mnstr_trd_sd

macrumors regular
Feb 24, 2004
143
0
san diego, ca.
wPod said:
.2 GHZ (200mhz) is not going to make a lot of difference. id go for the 1.8, small hd, 128mb video card but MORE RAM


i agree but, i'd go with a large hd, and a better video card. but, the 1.8 should be more than efficient for what you are doing.

one more thing, are you a student, professional or just doing this on the side for fun? just wondering.
 

Phat_Pat

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 8, 2004
1,955
0
I Live Where I Live
runplaysleeprun said:
in both your set-ups, you have only 512 mb of ram. MINIMUM, you need double that. Ideally, 1.5-2.0 gb would suite. also, HD space becomes important fast, as video especially takes up massive amounts, not to mention all the temp files associated with editing, effects etc...

right i know that the ram is low. apple rapes you with thier price i was hoping to add more when i got it.....

I already have a external HD thats 120 gigs. If i really needed to i would add another HD in there....
 
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