H.265 editing = iMAC Pro?

[Ifti]

I am in the market for an iMac and have been patiently waiting to see if the current version will be refresh any time this/next month.
However, the more I wait the more I'm leaning towards a base iMAC Pro (possibly with GPU upgrade to Vega 64?). Have plenty of external SSD TB3 drives so internal storage isn't an issue - although the increased TB3 ports on the iMAC Pro will defiantly be of use as it will mean less daisy chaining for me!

As many others, I don't upgrade every often - so am looking for a system I can use for the next 6-8 years at least.....

My most intensive use for the machine is for editing with FCPX.
At the moment I edit 1080p footage H.264 - which is easily served with even my MacBook (which is filling the gap for now!). An iMAC would easily handle this with no problem at all.

However, in the future I wish to move towards 4K, using my GoPro more, as well as my iPhone and possibly an incoming Mavic 2 Pro - all of which will use H.265 for the highest quality.
I understand the iMAC Pro handles this format better? Am I correct?
Its also near silent compared to a maxed regular iMAC i7, which is always a bonus!

I would also like the 10GBe considering I have a 10GBe network with a 10GBe compatible NAS, and the iMAC Pro has this built in - although I am happy to purchase the Sonnett Solo 10 TB3 to 10GBe adapter should I need to anyways, so this isn't a huge issue.

At this point in time I feel its best to wait to see what an updated iMAC could bring to the table, but even with a 6-core CPU, 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD (both of which are in the iMAC Pro regardless) and an updated GPU, would it still serve my H.265 editing needs in several years, or would I be best served with an iMAC Pro?

 

[Ifti]

Anyone?

 

[09872738]

Well. If you can wait - do so. Apple announced a modular Mac Pro is in the works to be released in 2019.

This device should be upgradeable, so if you really intend to use the computer for 6-8 years this seems a more future-proof approach.

 

[joema2]

...looking for a system I can use for the next 6-8 years at least...My most intensive use for the machine is for editing with FCPX...At the moment I edit 1080p footage H.264 - which is easily served with even my MacBook (which is filling the gap for now!). An iMAC would easily handle this with no problem at all....However, in the future I wish to move towards 4K, using my GoPro more, as well as my iPhone and possibly an incoming Mavic 2 Pro - all of which will use H.265 for the highest quality.
I understand the iMAC Pro handles this format better? Am I correct...

The iMac Pro is no faster than a top-spec 2017 iMac at most 4k H264 editing tasks in FCPX. FCPX is the fastest NLE at editing H264 on Mac hardware. Premiere and Resolve ver 15 are much slower -- at editing, not just exporting. The 2018 version of Premiere can *export* H264 fast on a Mac, but this is encode-only. It does not use hardware acceleration for *decode*, used for scrubbing the timeline.

Resolve ver. 15 is faster than Premiere at *editing* 4k H264 on an iMac Pro -- JKL commands in the timeline are more responsive, and Resolve has a "poor man's skimmer". But even it is not as responsive as FCPX.

Despite the advantage of running Apple's own FCPX on their own OS and hardware, even FCPX is not fast enough to edit 4k H264 with total smoothness on a 10-core Vega 64 iMac Pro unless you use proxies. The 2017 i7 iMac 27 is actually somewhat more responsive, probably due to use Intel's Quick Sync instead of AMD's VCE which is necessary on the iMac Pro since Xeon doesn't have Quick Sync.

However in general the iMac Pro is a better machine - quieter and more capable of handling GPU-intensive effects.

Re H.265, both 2017 iMac and iMP can handle this in 8-bit form, but 10-bit H264 is not supported with hardware acceleration as of macOS 10.13.6 and FCPX 10.4.3. Therefore exporting to this is extremely slow.

There is currently no Mac made which can edit 4k H264 with the fluid smoothness of H264 1080p on a five-year-old iMac. If you have a single stream of 4k H264, currently the fastest Mac is the 2017 iMac 27 using FCPX. If you use proxies, then they are all fast -- iMac, Mac Pro, Premiere, Resolve, FCPX, etc.

Since you are talking about future situations, in general I'd suggest waiting to see the specs and 3rd-party tests of the 2018 iMac.

 

[Trebuin]

I am in the market for an iMac and have been patiently waiting to see if the current version will be refresh any time this/next month.
However, the more I wait the more I'm leaning towards a base iMAC Pro (possibly with GPU upgrade to Vega 64?). Have plenty of external SSD TB3 drives so internal storage isn't an issue - although the increased TB3 ports on the iMAC Pro will defiantly be of use as it will mean less daisy chaining for me!

As many others, I don't upgrade every often - so am looking for a system I can use for the next 6-8 years at least.....

My most intensive use for the machine is for editing with FCPX.
At the moment I edit 1080p footage H.264 - which is easily served with even my MacBook (which is filling the gap for now!). An iMAC would easily handle this with no problem at all.

However, in the future I wish to move towards 4K, using my GoPro more, as well as my iPhone and possibly an incoming Mavic 2 Pro - all of which will use H.265 for the highest quality.
I understand the iMAC Pro handles this format better? Am I correct?
Its also near silent compared to a maxed regular iMAC i7, which is always a bonus!

I would also like the 10GBe considering I have a 10GBe network with a 10GBe compatible NAS, and the iMAC Pro has this built in - although I am happy to purchase the Sonnett Solo 10 TB3 to 10GBe adapter should I need to anyways, so this isn't a huge issue.

At this point in time I feel its best to wait to see what an updated iMAC could bring to the table, but even with a 6-core CPU, 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD (both of which are in the iMAC Pro regardless) and an updated GPU, would it still serve my H.265 editing needs in several years, or would I be best served with an iMAC Pro?

As Loki mentioned, you're probably better off waiting at this point. If you insist on an iMac design, then I would recommend a Pro vs the standard if you intend to do a lot of workload intensive tasks. I owned both the 2017 iMac & the iMac pro now & the Pro has far better cooling design. It also sounds a bit better, especially if you tune it using something like Boom3D or Hear. The 10GBe is probably a gimmick unless you have a 10GBe NAS that you don't intend to share elsewhere. You're actually better finding a TB DAS as it will be faster & not limited to the NAS hardware.

Your main point on 264 & 265 workloads. the 2017 iMac has the ability to run 264 & 265 accelerated, but only using the intel QS profiles. If that's not incorporate in the software you use, then you gain no benefit from the 2017 iMac CPUs. Also, the Intel QS is a profile setting, so if you're a videophile like me...you may not like that profile at all. The iMac pro simply has more computing power & runs cooler than the iMac, & that's what ended up selling me. Also, my iMac had a IO bus failure less than a month in. Heat could have been a factor, or the massive IO work I was doing, or both. The CPU on the iMac Pro can be upgraded, but it will cost you. If you can wait for the Mac Pro, I'd do that at this point...it will likely run you less for the same raw power. I hope this helps.

 

[Ifti]

The 10GBe is probably a gimmick unless you have a 10GBe NAS that you don't intend to share elsewhere. You're actually better finding a TB DAS as it will be faster & not limited to the NAS hardware.

Thank you for your informative reply!
I edit via FCPX with a 4TB ThunderBlade V4 as my editing drive - so no issues there.
My main reason for the 10GBe is to speed up backups and file transfers to my 10GBe enabled NAS.
My typical workflow is to work on a project on the Thunderblade, and once complete I archive to my NAS (which is also accessed by all others in the household for file storage). Hence I'm just looking to speed up those archive and backup tasks really. I have a 10GBe Switch as well, so wanted to put it all to good use.
This is not a deciding factor on the iMAC Pro though, as I could always pick up the Sonnett TB3 to 10GBe adapter.....

Since you are talking about future situations, in general I'd suggest waiting to see the specs and 3rd-party tests of the 2018 iMac

Thank you for your reply.
I will definitely be waiting for a refreshed iMAC at this point, although I'm not sure I can wait for the Mac Pro next year. I feel an iMAC refresh is imminent (even just a spec bump) whereas I could be waiting until the latter part of 2019 for a new Mac Pro for all I know!
Even with an iMAC refresh though, its the coling system I also have a little concern over - hoping it comes with the iMAC Pro cooling system!