sluggish pc / considering migration / desicion deadend

[needfx]

Hi all,

I got a pc system with below specs, and it is really getting on my nerves

Asus Striker II Extreme
Quad Core Q6600 @2.40Ghz
RAM 8Gb DDR3 1333Mhz
EVGA GeForce GTX465
Primary HDD WD Raptor
Secondary 4x1TB Seagates
W7 x64

All in all these are not bad specs but I am getting several issues.

Among others
-After Effects CS4 for the simplest of animations at 1920x1080 is really unable to preview more than a frame at full quality, better @ Third preview quality. Ram preview sucks as well.
-I am getting sporadic BSODs irrelevant of strain
-I am unable to export anything from Premiere CS4 and have to render on another machine via network.
-Media Encoder for AE projects goes really slow.


I have been toying with buying an SSD drive and re-installing everything but having done this for a gazillion times, I am not really in the mood. If I was to do it, I would like to do it on a fresh machine.
Moreover, my primary's jobs software is on this computer (Airline reservation systems, Accounting software) which makes it more of a hassle, plus all the artsy-fartsy things installed (software suites, plugins etc etc - but useless on the unstable system).

I have been toying with purchasing a maxed out rMBP and two TB displays, but if I was to give a buttload of money, I should go for a MacPro. I am not even happy with the 650M card on the rMBP, nor with the 16Gb of RAM. I can hardly feel it will be pulling its weight with demanding projects while driving two TB displays. Moreover, laptops already get obsolete too quickly and the rMPB being none-upgradable is a serious no-no.

Then again, Mac Pros are somewhat oldish. No thunderbolt, hardly refreshed XEON processors, supposedly about to be refreshed in 2013. Not really a fan of AMD cards either.

Also visited several times the Dell website and started building there a computer. I won't even go into those details. I want a Maximus system but too much of a computer for my level, even though previewing & rendering would be absolutely dreamy, but I want to avoid windows, its glitches & driver hunting. You do need an IT all the time just to maintain such a system.

Then, I visit a local computer shop. With around EUR2700.00 I can build a brand new i7 3xxx @n Ghz, 32Gb rams, Nvidia 680 2Gb ram, ssd, mobo etc etc + two LG LED 27"s, but again, I want to avoid windows & its glitches.

I am at a decision dead-end.

edit
I have the last white iMac - sluggish as a mofo
I have an old MBP 15" (not unibody) - sluggish as well
got an MBA 11, not ideal for such jobs with the HD3000, screen too small too...

all my systems seem to be slower than a damn photograph

Software

Adobe Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, hint of Flash
3d Studio Max but will transition to Cinema 4d on the mac, Corel Draw,
Also I want to learn Autodesk smoke, for which you need a ballsy Mac

[shinji]

Honestly, I'd just upgrade your boot drive to an SSD because you will see a very noticeable increase in speed, even coming from a raptor like I had on my old pc. Then when the new Mac Pros come out, consider buying one if you like the specs and you can reformat and boot off that SSD.

Do you have Acronis or something similar? Could just take an image of the existing drive to avoid reinstalling.

[76ShovelHead]

Originally Posted by needfx

Hi all,

I got a pc system with below specs, and it is really getting on my nerves

Asus Striker II Extreme
Quad Core Q6600 @2.40Ghz
RAM 8Gb DDR3 1333Mhz
EVGA GeForce GTX465
Primary HDD WD Raptor
Secondary 4x1TB Seagates
W7 x64

All in all these are not bad specs but I am getting several issues.

Among others
-After Effects CS4 for the simplest of animations at 1920x1080 is really unable to preview more than a frame at full quality, better @ Third preview quality. Ram preview sucks as well.
-I am getting sporadic BSODs irrelevant of strain
-I am unable to export anything from Premiere CS4 and have to render on another machine via network.
-Media Encoder for AE projects goes really slow.


I have been toying with buying an SSD drive and re-installing everything but having done this for a gazillion times, I am not really in the mood. If I was to do it, I would like to do it on a fresh machine.
Moreover, my primary's jobs software is on this computer (Airline reservation systems, Accounting software) which makes it more of a hassle, plus all the artsy-fartsy things installed (software suites, plugins etc etc - but useless on the unstable system).

I have been toying with purchasing a maxed out rMBP and two TB displays, but if I was to give a buttload of money, I should go for a MacPro. I am not even happy with the 650M card on the rMBP, nor with the 16Gb of RAM. I can hardly feel it will be pulling its weight with demanding projects while driving two TB displays. Moreover, laptops already get obsolete too quickly and the rMPB being none-upgradable is a serious no-no.

Then again, Mac Pros are somewhat oldish. No thunderbolt, hardly refreshed XEON processors, supposedly about to be refreshed in 2013. Not really a fan of AMD cards either.

Also visited several times the Dell website and started building there a computer. I won't even go into those details. I want a Maximus system but too much of a computer for my level, even though previewing & rendering would be absolutely dreamy, but I want to avoid windows, its glitches & driver hunting. You do need an IT all the time just to maintain such a system.

Then, I visit a local computer shop. With around EUR2700.00 I can build a brand new i7 3xxx @n Ghz, 32Gb rams, Nvidia 680 2Gb ram, ssd, mobo etc etc + two LG LED 27"s, but again, I want to avoid windows & its glitches.

I am at a decision dead-end.

edit
I have the last white iMac - sluggish as a mofo
I have an old MBP 15" (not unibody) - sluggish as well
got an MBA 11, not ideal for such jobs with the HD3000, screen too small too...

all my systems seem to be slower than a damn photograph

Software

Adobe Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, hint of Flash
3d Studio Max but will transition to Cinema 4d on the mac, Corel Draw,
Also I want to learn Autodesk smoke, for which you need a ballsy Mac

I'm on a Core 2 Duo, and Windows 8 can be fast but slows down badly, apps freeze, etc. Even Windows 7 took several hours to install on a new hard drive.

OS X on the other hand runs flawlessly on this machine. Apps open much faster, system takes a little longer to boot, but doesn't freeze up when it first starts like Windows.

You have decent specs, if you install OS X you'll get a nice performance boost for sure..

[needfx]

Originally Posted by shinji

Do you have Acronis or something similar? Could just take an image of the existing drive to avoid reinstalling.

I might give that a try, but cloning always made me wonder if the problems are transferred as well on the clone.

Originally Posted by 76ShovelHead

I'm on a Core 2 Duo, and Windows 8 can be fast but slows down badly, apps freeze, etc. Even Windows 7 took several hours to install on a new hard drive.

OS X on the other hand runs flawlessly on this machine. Apps open much faster, system takes a little longer to boot, but doesn't freeze up when it first starts like Windows.

You have decent specs, if you install OS X you'll get a nice performance boost for sure..

I tried setting a Hackintosh several times with being partly successful on my other system with a gigabit motherboard just once. This one time that it was successful it persisted making an annoying beep as if a button was pressed on the keyboard. Upon restart, it never booted up again on MacOs. It also gave me plenty of grief & many HDD formats & resets to be able to reinstall W7 on that drive.

[needfx]

dammit

I am getting BSODs today with only below software running

Google Chrome
Thunderbird
Gtalk
Skype
Dropbox
Teamviewer

So heavy load software might not be the issue here

[needfx]

a ssd & a fresh install really takes you a loooong way.

all things appear snappy & fast (for now).
reboots, project loading, previews & simple renders on after effects, web-browsing, though thunderbird remains slow.

In any case, my tri-lemma for a new system persists

rMBP15 - relatively strong/mobile vs expensive/non-upgradeable
iMac27 - strong for now/elegant vs expensinve/non-upgradeable
mac pro - imminent refresh?
custom pc - good cost for latest tech vs windows
dell t7xxx - super strong vs super expensive/windows

ouf

[stonyc]

Originally Posted by needfx

a ssd & a fresh install really takes you a loooong way.

all things appear snappy & fast (for now).
reboots, project loading, previews & simple renders on after effects, web-browsing, though thunderbird remains slow.

In any case, my tri-lemma for a new system persists

rMBP15 - relatively strong/mobile vs expensive/non-upgradeable
iMac27 - strong for now/elegant vs expensinve/non-upgradeable
mac pro - imminent refresh?
custom pc - good cost for latest tech vs windows
dell t7xxx - super strong vs super expensive/windows

ouf

Mac Pro is supposedly getting refreshed "sometime in 2013", according to the available sources + Google.

From your posts, it does seem like upgradeability is a primary factor. As is being able to migrate to OS X. So I would suggest:

If you cannot wait... and OS X and upgradeability are your ultimate goals, I would re-visit the Hackintosh.

If the SSD upgrade affords you the ability to wait... and OS X and upgradeability are your ultimate goals, I would wait for the Mac Pro... with the caveat that "sometime in 2013" could just as easily get pushed to "sometime in 2014".

[needfx]

Originally Posted by stonyc

Mac Pro is supposedly getting refreshed "sometime in 2013", according to the available sources + Google.

From your posts, it does seem like upgradeability is a primary factor. As is being able to migrate to OS X. So I would suggest:

If you cannot wait... and OS X and upgradeability are your ultimate goals, I would re-visit the Hackintosh.

If the SSD upgrade affords you the ability to wait... and OS X and upgradeability are your ultimate goals, I would wait for the Mac Pro... with the caveat that "sometime in 2013" could just as easily get pushed to "sometime in 2014".

Hi Stonyc,

much obliged for the feedback.

I have tried both osx86 & tonymacx86 in the past but with no actual luck.

Well aware of the MacPro mystery (avid MR member & WeWantaNewMacPro on facebook...I should get a life too), so maybe I will try loading on an older hdd or buy one more SSD.
Will be looking into this. http://www.hackintosh.com

Is there a hackintosh subforum in here or is it a no-no subject?

----------

@workstation buffs,

Lou of We Want a New Mac Pro on facebook, posts periodically first hand impressions, comparisons & benchmarks on actual projects between a Dell beast, some Mac Pros (2008 & 2012) with a couple of gpu configs & a rMBP15.

If you are tech-curious, give it a look see. He is fun to read too

[stonyc]

Originally Posted by needfx

Hi Stonyc,

much obliged for the feedback.

I have tried both osx86 & tonymacx86 in the past but with no actual luck.

Well aware of the MacPro mystery (avid MR member & WeWantaNewMacPro on facebook...I should get a life too), so maybe I will try loading on an older hdd or buy one more SSD.
Will be looking into this. http://www.hackintosh.com

Is there a hackintosh subforum in here or is it a no-no subject?

Nope, not a taboo subject... just browse some of the machine-specific forums, especially the Mac Pro forum. The second post in this thread provides links to the osx86 project and tonymac sites, but a couple others you might be interested in looking at, too:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...ght=hackintosh

I built a hackintosh about 2 years ago, and got tired of some of the extra steps I had to go through doing software updates... but it was a lot of fun overall, at the time. That said, when I went the hackintosh route it wasn't for work but mostly for the novelty and PC gaming aspects.

If you can afford to wait, I would try to wait for the refreshed Mac Pro's... when I started grad school a couple years ago, I almost went ahead with a significant Mac Pro purchase (my lab and boss all use Macs) for home/school/research use. But much of my heavy work is done on servers and clusters, so the need for a Mac Pro for myself kind of waned.

If they did release a refreshed Mac Pro this year, I would strongly consider buying one...

I think your "best-case" scenario would be to wait for the refreshed Mac Pros as well... but it seems like your work needs may trump your ability to wait. Good luck, either way.

[needfx]

Originally Posted by stonyc

Nope, not a taboo subject... just browse some of the machine-specific forums, especially the Mac Pro forum. The second post in this thread provides links to the osx86 project and tonymac sites, but a couple others you might be interested in looking at, too:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...ght=hackintosh

I built a hackintosh about 2 years ago, and got tired of some of the extra steps I had to go through doing software updates... but it was a lot of fun overall, at the time. That said, when I went the hackintosh route it wasn't for work but mostly for the novelty and PC gaming aspects.

If you can afford to wait, I would try to wait for the refreshed Mac Pro's... when I started grad school a couple years ago, I almost went ahead with a significant Mac Pro purchase (my lab and boss all use Macs) for home/school/research use. But much of my heavy work is done on servers and clusters, so the need for a Mac Pro for myself kind of waned.

If they did release a refreshed Mac Pro this year, I would strongly consider buying one...

I think your "best-case" scenario would be to wait for the refreshed Mac Pros as well... but it seems like your work needs may trump your ability to wait. Good luck, either way.

most probably I will give it the wait since I already spend enough time on forums & websites looking for tech problem resolutions, and hackintosh isn't really a bug free solution.
On the other hand, if the Mac Pro goes the south this year, tonymacx86 has specific custom builds in the pro area too, so I will be giving it a looksee in the meantime as a backup plan. If all else fails, I'll just smack a W7 on that and that will be the end of it.

thanks again for your input!