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Mac Mini 2018 i7 with eGPU or 2019 iMac i9
- Thread starter markjns00
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MM 2018 with i5 with eGPU (Vega56 inside Asus XG Station Pro) is quite fast and less noisy for sure!
Why are so many opposed to a bit of fan noise? It helps stop the computer and its components from being dead.
I think that users like you are to blame for modern Macs having subpar cooling. Because so many like you cried about it for so long that Apple finally gave in.
I agree about getting the mini, but not because it's quieter. Because it's more future-proof, and AIO computers (like the iMac) are horrible in the first place.
If modern computer users weren't such snowflakes about footprint size and fan noise I doubt we would bee seeing all the limitations we do now. If all users accepted the reality of computers, and the very minor negatives are all part of the experience, then I truly believe we would be seeing much more practical hardware these days.
Having tested it, the i7 and Final Cut work fine for basic video editing and rendering, for both 1080p and 2160p, without an eGPU. If you are doing complex editing, there are benefits.
Apple talks about what an eGPU will do on this support page: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208544
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He’s talking about a mini plus an external video card. For the latter, fan noise is an issue. People using the enclosure that he’s talking about have found it relatively quiet.
iMacs (non-pro versions) have terrible cooling, and very very quickly run up to the 90-100 degree celsius range, which is far from ideal in the long run, and out of peace and mind. A proper GPU with fans in an eGPU enclosure will always run cooler than one fan for the CPU and GPU in the iMac. It's about time Apple brought over the 'pro' cooling system to the consumer iMac. Fingers crossed for a complete redesign inside and out next year....
You'll almost certainly see an increase in speed for some functions, but whether it matters depends on what you're using Final Cut for. On RAM, I have 32GB, but I couldn't tell someone with a straight face that I need 32GB and 16GB isn't enough.
To me, how big an internal drive you get depends on what you use it for. I use my 512GB internal drive strictly as a workspace, which means that it's basically empty at the end of the day or a project. If you use your internal drive for day-to-day storage, 1TB may make sense.
On export/renderring, the single best investment you could make is a copy of Compressor. The new version, which is 64-bit and, as I understand it, uses the T2 chip (but not, interestingly, an eGPU), whips through video exports. I am really impressed with it.
Cheers
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For what it's worth, I agree with this. If you don't need portability, there's a lot to be said for the iMacs, starting with great monitors that do indeed "just work". I'm saying this as the owner of both a 5K iMac and a 2018 mini (specs in my signature).
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Interesting. Aren't you running into power issues with the Vega56? The Asus XG only has 330 Watts right?