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Is 8 GB of RAM enough for just a compressor machine?
- Thread starter Ethosik
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You say iMac, but have posted in the MacMini section, so just want to check.
The MacMini has a T2 chip which really helps with this type of transcoding - the iMac doesn't, so it's all down to your CPU & GPU. The 8-core i9 will certainly help, but I'd say 8GB RAM is the bare minimum, but more will be better as the system can hold the file in RAM instead of reading from disk.
Memory isn't particularly expensive...as long as you don't buy it from Apple. A 16GB kit (2x8GB) to take yours to 24GB can be had for about $75, or a 32GB for about $150.
The MacMini has a T2 chip which really helps with this type of transcoding - the iMac doesn't, so it's all down to your CPU & GPU. The 8-core i9 will certainly help, but I'd say 8GB RAM is the bare minimum, but more will be better as the system can hold the file in RAM instead of reading from disk.
Memory isn't particularly expensive...as long as you don't buy it from Apple. A 16GB kit (2x8GB) to take yours to 24GB can be had for about $75, or a 32GB for about $150.
Yes I already have an iMac that produces master files. I would rather not tie the iMac up as sometimes h.264 or h.265 compression on my large videos (8+ hours long) takes about the same time, 8+ hours. So I want a dedicated system to convert my master files to HEVC mostly. All my editing where I will need more RAM will be done on my iMac.
Not sure more memory would help much, as the biggest part of the workload would be carried out by the T2 chip.
I think the OP is asking about using a Mini for Compressor, but as you said, that is not quite clear. Anyway, there is no option for an 8-core i9 in the Mini, a 6-core i7 the the top spec.
I do not think you guys understand. I have a 2019 iMac 64 GB of RAM 2TB SSD. I use Final Cut Pro X on this system to produce a master file. However, compressor usually takes 8+ hours per master file. Instead of using up my iMac, I want to get a Mac mini that just takes the master files and converts it to HEVC.
Yes it is enough, though 16Gb would be better for 4K. I dedicated my Macbook Air with just 8Gb and use a fast USB 3.0 external SSD drive @ 450MB/s as the boot drive and paging drive to be used as a h.264 compressor either via VideoProc or under Davinci Resolve to render the master Davinci Resolve files that were created by my Mac Pro via QuickSync. I work mainly with 1080p HD high bit files. My Mac Pro 5,1 is the main machine to produce those master files and my Mac Mini is the network server for the master files via a Thunderbolt 10Gbps network (Mini and Air), so that the Macbook Air's CPU and Quicksync are focused JUST on compressing the master files to h.264. I am actually shopping for a cheap Mac Mini 2018 Core i3 8Gb ram to replace my Macbook Air as the main compressor machine just because of that juicy T2 chip which will be even faster to compress than Quicksync on the MB Air alone. So the answer is yes and I had advised many clients who are indie commercial movie producers to adopt the same path; using their main iMac, Macbook Pro and Mac Pros as their main machine and use a Mini with the T2 chip to act as the h.264 and hevc compressor. The Mini or the 2019 Macbook Pro with the T2 is also an ideal candidate as long as you have a big massive thermal fan underneath which my MB Air had underneath when it is doing the compressing, as the Air gets really hot. The Air isn't really the ideal candidate for a compressor machine, but I thought why not use it as it sits there when I am not using it to browse the net in the coffee shops these days. Hope this helps.
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Would the i7 be preferred for just using Compressor? Or is the T2 chip just as fast no matter what processor I get?
If you are doing it commercially, then yes the i5 would be preferable, or the i7 be the most ideal and flexible for CPU rendering or T2 rendering in a networked environment. Davinci Resolve prefers a network rendering environment so that's how I set it up. If you are just after T2 and localized rendering, then i3 runs cooler because it does not have turbo boost. Keep in mind that with T2 rendering your HEVC, it will be miles ahead of whatever CPU based rendering can achieve. Take my Mac Pro for example. While the Pro with the RX580 smokes my Air in rendering effects, color grading and timeline editing, the Air smokes the Pro in h.264 rendering up to 4 times faster than what the Pro could achieve even with the RX580 in tow. And that's the Air; just imagine what a Mini core i3 or the beast i7 could do. I no longer do movie editing commercially, so that's why I can't justify the i7 nor i5. The faster the processor, the quicker its ability to move large amount of data throughout the storage and memory systems.
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I am not on tight deadlines, so you think the i3 will be okay?
Is there an option in Compressor that you need to set to use the T2 vs the CPU? Or does Compressor by default use the T2 if its available?
I think the i5 would be a good balance for you since it almost doubles the storage capacity (256Gb in the 2018 model and 512Gb in the 2020 model) plus 2 extra cores for better CPU rendering on higher bit files for not much more money. Remember that the T2 chip only accelerates 8bit HEVC compression, so having an extra 2 cores for no much more money than a stock i3 gives you the flexibility if you are working on projects commercially when there's a chance you might need to have to render a higher bit rate compression, which then defaults to Quicksync rendering as Quicksync supports 10bit HEVC. However, if you are absolutely sure you will be exclusively working on 8bit HEVC compressed files, then any flavour of the Mini will be fine. Either way, the i3 will smoke your iMac in 8bit and 10bit HEVC compression. Just have to make a choice of how not so tight of a deadline or how tight your wallet is to afford the setup.
Apple's T2 chip makes a giant difference in video encoding for most users | AppleInsider
Apple's T2 chip in the Mac mini, MacBook Pro, and iMac Pro can greatly speed video encoding, but by how much? Now that Apple has two machines with the same CPU, one with the T2, and one without, there's a good way to tell.
appleinsider.com
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I think the base i5 one sounds good. If I am only running Compressor, will I be fine with 8GB for a few years? Its not like I am editing the videos on the Mac mini, I just am not sure if it is RAM heavy just compressing a master file to HEVC.I think the i5 would be a good balance for you since it almost doubles the storage capacity (256Gb in the 2018 model and 512Gb in the 2020 model) plus 2 extra cores for better CPU rendering on higher bit files for not much more money. Remember that the T2 chip only accelerates 8bit HEVC compression, so having an extra 2 cores for no much more money than a stock i3 gives you the flexibility if you are working on projects commercially when there's a chance you might need to have to render a higher bit rate compression, which then defaults to Quicksync rendering as Quicksync supports 10bit HEVC. However, if you are absolutely sure you will be exclusively working on 8bit HEVC compressed files, then any flavour of the Mini will be fine. Either way, the i3 will smoke your iMac in 8bit and 10bit HEVC compression. Just have to make a choice of how not so tight of a deadline or how tight your wallet is to afford the setup.
Apple's T2 chip makes a giant difference in video encoding for most users | AppleInsider
Apple's T2 chip in the Mac mini, MacBook Pro, and iMac Pro can greatly speed video encoding, but by how much? Now that Apple has two machines with the same CPU, one with the T2, and one without, there's a good way to tell.
I know this isn’t the OP’s use case. But for others following this thread….
I’ve been transcoding a lot of real time video stream files (.ts) into mpeg 4. This is what that looks like on a 2018 i7 Mini with 32 GB RAM.
This mini is my main computer. For everything else i do, the i5 would have have been plenty. But this transcoding uses 95% plus of the i7 with the temps at 90+C and fan running 4700+rpm.
GetRealBro
I’ve been transcoding a lot of real time video stream files (.ts) into mpeg 4. This is what that looks like on a 2018 i7 Mini with 32 GB RAM.
This mini is my main computer. For everything else i do, the i5 would have have been plenty. But this transcoding uses 95% plus of the i7 with the temps at 90+C and fan running 4700+rpm.
GetRealBro
Well, the 2020 i5 model comes with a 512Gb SSD, so if it needs more than 8Gb, then it will page in/out the SSD and since this paging is so fast, it's like having 16Gb onboard RAM and you won't even notice a slight slowdown. The only downside to this is that, if it does page consistently then it will wear down the built-in SSD, but being a 512Gb, the wear level will be the least severe than say on the i3 which has only 256Gb SSD for 2020 model and 128Gb SSD for 2018 model. You can not replace the built-in Mini's SSD when it dies, so which is why I recommend the i5 as a good balance. You can always upgrade the i5 memory to 16Gb if you find you are doing more complex 4K rendering. I find that 8Gb is enough for 1080p rendering, but I found that 16Gb is good for 4K. So if you do mostly 1080p HD rendering with the occasional 4K project, I think 8Gb would probably be fine for now.
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It will use almost all your CPU power because it is moving a large amount of data, because a movie is basically a series of moving still frames, from memory to storage through the T2 chip or Intel Quicksync accelerator, unless you are doing solely CPU rendering which may even get hotter, not T2/Quicksync rendering.
This is the reason why Apple is moving to the Apple Silicon Chip where all of this will be moved into one single chip where it is done internally. Less heat and more efficiency which translates into faster encoding with no fan noise. Which is why Apple Silicon Macs can be very appealing as a nice fast efficient compressor box. Quite, cool and fast, because the T2 is an Apple silicon chip.
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I have the last Mac Mini, top of the line with 64 of ram. 64ram means nothing, 16 would do. I think your workflow is good with the mac mini as a "render" machine. I would buy the top of the line and have at least 16GB of ram. I used to work at a place where we had 6 Mac Minis for batch rendering while we edited on the iMacs.
Yes I produce instructional videos for programming and stuff so there is no need to have them at 4k. 1080p is good enough. Sometimes I have marathon sessions that last 8 hours of training so this is why I don't want to have my iMac stuck at compressing it to HEVC for 8+ hours.
And I am only using HEVC for the file size benefits. I have a 20TB NAS that is at 16TB now, I would like to convert all my existing content to HEVC so I can free up some space.
I think I will go with 8GB of RAM for now.