I'm a video artist and my programs of choice are FCPstudio7 and Adobe CS5.5 and up. I plan to use After Effects and FCP7 heavily and ideally on the same computer. What system configurations/models should I look for? I'm really only interested in a desktop. My budget is pretty small: $2,000 and under, though even that much is a lot right now.
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I need a video workhorse
- Thread starter jchrisj
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Given financial restrictions, I would say to check out used/refurbished Mac Pro's.
As has been discussed ad nauseam, the previous model will allow for upgrades as finances improve.
In regards to exact models, I will leave that to others here, but initially I would say consider the areas where it is harder to upgrade later, like the processor. Technically though, even that, on some models at least, is upgradeable.
For 2000$ grab a Mini 2.6 quad, put 2 Sammy 840 pro's and 16GB inside, grab a nice USB3 enclosure for 1 or 2 Seagate barracuda's and grab a 24p capable Dell U2713HM.
Trying to get similar or better speed in an iMac is costing more than 2 grand
Trying to get similar speed on an old MacPro within budget is also pretty hard, unless you grab an old 45nm beast with dated IO tech.
But even more honest: BUY A PC! Then you can have a hex-core with 32GB, SSD, GTX 780 and other fancy stuff for the money. The current Adobe CC is cross-platform anyway.
Trying to get similar or better speed in an iMac is costing more than 2 grand
Trying to get similar speed on an old MacPro within budget is also pretty hard, unless you grab an old 45nm beast with dated IO tech.
But even more honest: BUY A PC! Then you can have a hex-core with 32GB, SSD, GTX 780 and other fancy stuff for the money. The current Adobe CC is cross-platform anyway.
I would buy a used 8 core MacPro and add a 128 Gb SSD for system and apps and add 2 2 Tb HDDs (or larger) for the video files. And I would make sure that there is at least 8Gb RAM. This setup should cost less than 2k and will give you a heavy duty video-workhorse which will run smoothly for years to come. And it won't mind running 7/24 compressing those nice video's. Spend any left over money on a pair of monitors.
Which 8 core do you have in mind? The 2010-2012 ones still do way above 2K.
Even the 2012 MacPro's have only SATA 3GB, very bad for running modern SSD's. The 8 core has a multi-core power maybe 20% above the quad mini, yet the single core power is way behind.
So the little machine is maybe not having a workhorse class processor, yet it does offer Thunderbolt, 2 Sata 6GB bays for PCI SSD like performance, USB 3 for fast storage. All things the Pro's are lacking.
Even the 2012 MacPro's have only SATA 3GB, very bad for running modern SSD's. The 8 core has a multi-core power maybe 20% above the quad mini, yet the single core power is way behind.
So the little machine is maybe not having a workhorse class processor, yet it does offer Thunderbolt, 2 Sata 6GB bays for PCI SSD like performance, USB 3 for fast storage. All things the Pro's are lacking.