Need advice on Mac for medium FCP X editing...

[ScreenSavers]

Hi everyone- I'm looking for advice on a Mac to buy for medium to heave editing in Final Cut Pro X. Here's the deal:

I record and edit 4K videos of our family's band often, using two 4K Sony FDR-AX33's in a multicam setup. I then do the editing, audio work, color correction, and some other things with the videos before exporting them from Final Cut Pro X.

I'm currently using a 12-core 2013 "Trash Can" Mac Pro that's maxed out except it's the Dual D500 GPU option. Before this, I had a loaded 5,1 that performed much better but produced way too much heat for my small office. The Mac Pro really struggles with even two streams of 4K, despite all the advertising they did back when it was released. (Yes, I know that was 7 years ago...)

The problem is, with the impending switch to Apple Silicon, I'm not sure if there's a really good upgrade available as far as value goes. The new 2020 iMacs look appealing, but I've already started hearing about GPU issues. I'm not sure how much of an upgrade the 2017 iMac Pro would be, and the Mac Pro is too expensive with the switch coming soon, and it generates even more heat than the 5,1 according to specs. Before the 5,1 I had a 2018 Mac Mini and a 2015 5K iMac. (I also have a decently specced 16" MacBook Pro but I want a desktop.)

Any suggestions? Keep waiting?

Thanks in advance.
Luke

 

[James_C]

I would look at the top spec 2020 27" iMac with the 8 Core i7. Most reviews tend to say that the small performance gains of the i9 are not worth the additional cost, as the i9 tends to be throttled at max load. The T2 chip should make a significant difference to FCP X workflow and should be able to handle 4k editing with no problem. You could wait for a high spec Apple Silicon iMac, but given Apple's 2 year transition I think you will be looking at next September for suitable machine at the earliest.

 

[ScreenSavers]

I would look at the top spec 2020 27" iMac with the 8 Core i7. Most reviews tend to say that the small performance gains of the i9 are not worth the additional cost, as the i9 tends to be throttled at max load. The T2 chip should make a significant difference to FCP X workflow and should be able to handle 4k editing with no problem. You could wait for a high spec Apple Silicon iMac, but given Apple's 2 year transition I think you will be looking at next September for suitable machine at the earliest.

Great advice. Thank you. What do you think of the GPU bugs that are reported lately? Just software issues?

 

[pldelisle]

Great advice. Thank you. What do you think of the GPU bugs that are reported lately? Just software issues?

Yes I'm 100% convinced it's software.

Most reviews tend to say that the small performance gains of the i9 are not worth the additional cost, as the i9 tends to be throttled at max load.

Not convinced. The temperature is the independent variable. The clock speed is dependant. I've seen i9 working flow blown at 4.05 GHz, which is pretty good for a 10 core CPU. The max with default settings I've seen in a PC for a 10900K is 4.3 GHz all core. Not that bad considering an AiO form factor and in line with the 300MHz less the 10910 is supposed to have in peak frequency.


As always with a Mac, spec it the most you can afford and make it last the longest you can work with. I'd go i9, 5700XT, 64 GB Crucial aftermarket RAM and storage as high as you can afford. Maybe 10 gbps ethernet if you want to work from a NAS in the future which in video can be very handy. A 4-bay 10Gbps NAS with a mix of SSD volumes for working on and HDD for storage and Time Machine backup is the best storage solution you could adopt.

 

[James_C]

Not convinced. The temperature is the independent variable. The clock speed is dependant. I've seen i9 working flow blown at 4.05 GHz, which is pretty good for a 10 core CPU. The max with default settings I've seen in a PC for a 10900K is 4.3 GHz all core. Not that bad considering an AiO form factor and in line with the 300MHz less the 10910 is supposed to have in peak frequency.

Take a look at this review - skip to 6.40 when they start the FCP / Video benchmarks - Unless you are doing video editing for your job, which the OP is not then 10 core is not worth the premium. You are better spending the money on additional SSD or memory (Not from apple though).

 

[pldelisle]

Unless you are doing video editing for your job, which the OP is not then 10 core is not worth the premium

Yeah totally agree. You must use your Mac for a living to justify the price premium.

I was discussing more about the frequency.

 

[ScreenSavers]

I actually use my desktop Mac for a lot more heavy lifting than just video editing… But these multiple stream 4K videos is where it has been struggling lately. Appreciate all the advice and links. I always buy the minimum RAM and upgrade it myself. Apple is way too expensive for that.

 

[HDFan]

Rumors a few months ago had a revised iMac Pro around the end of the year. If so it would likely be the last that is Intel based. In my very limited FCP experience the number of cores is a significant factor when rendering is done via the cpu rather than the gpu. I see CPU usage a tad higher than 1000% which might indicate the more cpus the better.

There are also a number of videos discussing how even the latest MacPro has problems with some Canon 4K footage. Dunno if there is a problem with FDR-AX33's.

Update: After adding some transitions and effects I saw cpu usage at > 2000%. The more cpus the better, if that is your only performance improvement option.

 

[ScreenSavers]

My new iMac just arrived today. Maxed out CPU, GPU, and 1TB SSD. Installed 2 more 16GB DIMMs for 40GB total. Standard glass. Time to put it to work! Thanks everyone.

 

[James_C]

My new iMac just arrived today. Maxed out CPU, GPU, and 1TB SSD. Installed 2 more 16GB DIMMs for 40GB total. Standard glass. Time to put it to work! Thanks everyone.

Gratz on your new Mac, hope you are loving it. It is always great when the OP posts back what they got.

 

[pldelisle]

My new iMac just arrived today. Maxed out CPU, GPU, and 1TB SSD. Installed 2 more 16GB DIMMs for 40GB total. Standard glass. Time to put it to work! Thanks everyone.

You cannot keep the stock Apple RAM with aftermarket RAM. Your RAM speed dramatically decrease by doing this. Not recommended at all. see the multiple Memory threads in the iMac section.

 

[James_C]

Yep, @pldelisle is correct. Take out the 8GB stock RAM.

 

[ScreenSavers]

You cannot keep the stock Apple RAM with aftermarket RAM. Your RAM speed dramatically decrease by doing this. Not recommended at all. see the multiple Memory threads in the iMac section.

Did not know that. Is the stock RAM not 2666MHz?

 

[James_C]

Did not know that. Is the stock RAM not 2666MHz?

It is, but if you mix memory modules of different sizes, the iMac drops the clock speed down, impacting performance. Even having the same spec modules from two different manufactures can also cause problems. Lose the 8GB RAM that the iMac shipped with, you will improve the performance of your system as it will operate at 2666 MHz. dropping the total RAm from 40 to 32GB would make negligible difference to performance even if it was capable of running at 2666 MHz

 

[ScreenSavers]

You are right! See screenshot. I regularly utilize 24GB+ of RAM, so I'll definitely get more to complete the upgrade and get rid of those lousy 4GB DIMMs.