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F-Train

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 22, 2015
2,272
1,762
NYC & Newfoundland
I'm curious to know what other people are doing who have similar needs, but here's where I'm at.

I'm purchasing this machine because I can easily move it between residences in two countries. I'll have a monitor in each location.

I'll be using Capture One (photo), Final Cut (video), Logic (sound) & iZotope apps (sound) as the principal applications.

Having spent more time than I should have investigating options to save money, reality and convenience now hold sway.

Processor: 6-core i7
RAM: 16GB (32GB if we find out Wednesday that it's easy to install third party RAM)
Internal SSD: 512GB
Ethernet: 10 Gigabit

Of the internal SSD, about 20GB will be taken up by apps. For me, this is down by 50GB - 60GB as a result of Apple's recent announcement that Logic sample files can now be stored on an external drive.

The balance of 480GB will be used for whatever my current project is. I've concluded that this is not excessive for 4K video, that there are no external storage options that will equal the internal SSD for performance, and that options that come reasonably close are at least as expensive, and as far as I can tell more expensive, than Apple's internal SSD storage. I considered 256GB, particularly in light of the Logic announcement, but I think that that's cutting it closer than I want.

The purchase of 10 Gigabit Ethernet is future proofing. I have no immediate need for it, but I think that it may prove useful down the road, including for internet, and the price ($100) is both minor, verging on trivial, and attractive compared to what it costs to add it.

I currently have a fair amount of external storage, which I use for original data that I'm not currently using (I'm pretty disciplined about keeping only current projects on my computer) and for backups. I think that the purchase of this computer, with its four Thunderbolt 3 ports, calls for a review of my external storage, and replacement of some of it with more efficient options.

I'm still investigating monitors. I'd like them to be reasonably close to my iMac's 5K Retina monitor in quality. I'm currently focusing on NEC, which apparently is about to release a new monitor that may be appropriate. I own an Eizo, but they are very expensive, probably beyond what I'm prepared to spend for this setup.

An external GPU is on the back burner until I find out what problems, if any, the integrated graphics present.
 
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I'm purchasing this machine because I can easily move it between residences in two countries. I'll have a monitor in each location.

I'll be using Capture One (photo), Final Cut (video), Logic (sound) & iZotope apps (sound) as the principal applications.

Having spent more time than I should have investigating options to save money, reality and convenience now hold sway.

Processor: 6-core i7
RAM: 16GB (32GB if we find out Wednesday that it's easy to install third party RAM)
Internal SSD: 512GB
Ethernet: 10 Gigabit

Of the internal SSD, about 20GB will be taken up by apps. For me, this is down by 50GB - 60GB as a result of Apple's recent announcement that Logic sample files can now be stored on an external drive.

The balance of 480GB will be used for whatever my current project is. I've concluded that this is not excessive for 4K video, that there are no external storage options that will equal the internal SSD for performance, and that options that come close are at least as expensive, and as far as I can tell more expensive, than Apple's internal SSD storage. I considered 256GB, particularly in light of the Logic announcement, but I think that that's cutting it closer than I want.

The purchase of 10 Gigabit Ethernet is future proofing. I have no immediate need for it, but I think that it may prove useful down the road, including for internet, and the price ($100) is both minor, verging on trivial, and attractive compared to what it costs to add it.

I currently have a fair amount of external storage, which I use for original data that I'm not currently using (I'm pretty disciplined about keeping only current projects on my computer) and for backups. I think that the purchase of this computer, with its four Thunderbolt 3 ports, calls for a review of my external storage, and replacement of some of it with more efficient options.

I'm still investigating monitors. I'd like them to be reasonably close to my iMac's 5K Retina monitor in quality. I'm currently focusing on NEC, which apparently is about to release a new monitor that may be appropriate. I own an Eizo, but they are very expensive, probably beyond what I'm prepared to spend for this setup.

I'm curious to know what other people are doing who have similar needs.

Thanks for the details. I am using it for Logic Pro and Final Cut and bought the i7 and 1Tb just to future protect and I also got 32Gb pre installed. .

I am using the newly released Samsung Cj791 thunderbolt monitor which is 4K 34” curved. I replaced my iMac 2013 with a MacBook Pro but I realize I prefer a desktop and a portable compared to a portable that acting as both. I am also using the iMac as a monitor for the MacBook.

I am hoping that the Mac mini won’t need a eGPU
 
Thanks for the details. I am using it for Logic Pro and Final Cut and bought the i7 and 1Tb just to future protect and I also got 32Gb pre installed. .

I am using the newly released Samsung Cj791 thunderbolt monitor which is 4K 34” curved. I replaced my iMac 2013 with a MacBook Pro but I realize I prefer a desktop and a portable compared to a portable that acting as both. I am also using the iMac as a monitor for the MacBook.

I am hoping that the Mac mini won’t need a eGPU

Thanks,

I'll have a look at the Samsung monitor. I'm not inclined to go with a curved monitor, but no doubt they have a non-curved version. Unfortunately my iMac, having been made after mid-2014, can't be used as an external monitor, and I'm about to move the iMac outside my residence anyway.

I've amended my post to say that I've put the question of an external GPU on the back burner. I want to see how the integrated graphics perform. Also, I watched a video earlier today that raised some serious questions about the benefits of an external GPU, depending on machine. I'm not going to worry about it right now :)
 
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I'm still investigating monitors. I'd like them to be reasonably close to my iMac's 5K Retina monitor in quality. I'm currently focusing on NEC, which apparently is about to release a new monitor that may be appropriate. I own an Eizo, but they are very expensive, probably beyond what I'm prepared to spend for this setup.

Here's a thorough site for your monitor investigations: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/news.htm
 
Thanks for the details. I am using it for Logic Pro and Final Cut and bought the i7 and 1Tb just to future protect and I also got 32Gb pre installed.

If you have time to share your first impressions, in this thread or elsewhere, that would be great.
 
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This video from filmmaker Griffin Hammond's YouTube channel is also worth watching (discussion about the Mac mini from 01:49):

[doublepost=1541444388][/doublepost]Also, here is Max Yuryev's three-month review of the Blackmagic eGPU, about which he has significant reservations:


However, I don't know whether he was running Sierra or Mojave when he did these tests, which may have affected the results. Mojave is thought to have resolved an issue about using the Blackmagic eGPU with Final Cut Pro X.
 
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