eddiehackintosh Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 looking to get into hd video editing with fcp and after effects. on a very limited (mac) budget. what would be a better choice for the money: 1.) macbook pro -possibly 15" with i5 2.) mac pro with 2 duo core processors (4 cores) 3) imac i7 assuming used with the same amount of ram for each thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro17 Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 looking to get into hd video editing with fcp and after effects. on a very limited (mac) budget. what would be a better choice for the money: 1.) macbook pro -possibly 15" with i5 2.) mac pro with 2 duo core processors (4 cores) 3) imac i7 assuming used with the same amount of ram for each thanks If you can afford an imac i7 it should have the best specs by far. Besides, its gorgeous 27-inch screen makes it very good value for money: http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/the...a_game_changer/ Unless you really need a notebook, you don't want a Macbook Pro, not very good value for your money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FKA Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 If your doing a lot of HD video edit and running after effects you may struggle with the iMac. We have dual Xeon MacPros here running (generally) DVCProHD 1080 50i on the sequence and they sometimes struggle. Obviously the most expensive option though! D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiehackintosh Posted August 16, 2010 Author Share Posted August 16, 2010 If your doing a lot of HD video edit and running after effects you may struggle with the iMac.We have dual Xeon MacPros here running (generally) DVCProHD 1080 50i on the sequence and they sometimes struggle. Obviously the most expensive option though! D do you think the core 2 duo mac pro will outperform say an i7 imac? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FKA Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 do you think the core 2 duo mac pro will outperform say an i7 imac? sorry i missread your OP as 2 x 4 core Xeon MacPro. Either way - It's not an easy one. Looking at cache for example - you have 8MB with the i7 and you have 2x 4MB with the Xeons and the Xeons each sit on a seperate channel! multi threading - yes you have effective 8 threads with the i7 but again all on one channel. without a proper test im just making educated guesses here but the iMac is more of a home setup and the MacPro has always been an industry standard for running FCP. could you add a BlackMagic card to an iMac ?! D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiehackintosh Posted August 16, 2010 Author Share Posted August 16, 2010 sorry i missread your OP as 2 x 4 core Xeon MacPro. Either way - It's not an easy one. Looking at cache for example - you have 8MB with the i7 and you have 2x 4MB with the Xeons and the Xeons each sit on a seperate channel! multi threading - yes you have effective 8 threads with the i7 but again all on one channel. without a proper test im just making educated guesses here but the iMac is more of a home setup and the MacPro has always been an industry standard for running FCP. could you add a BlackMagic card to an iMac ?! D thanks, I think I understand a little more now. What you're saying is that 2 x duo core (4 cores) is better than a single quad core, etc.... right? so, if you were me, where would you put say $1,800 to get started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FKA Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 thanks, I think I understand a little more now. What you're saying is that 2 x duo core (4 cores) is better than a single quad core, etc.... right? i would say so for multi-threading apps yes. hmmm $1800 - it depends how much messing around you can be bothered with or do you just want to get down to editing? you could feasible build a dual CPU hack but then you are looking at a lot of messing around, there isn't much support online as not may people have previously built such a beast - for the same money you could get a used MacPro ... Personally I'd build the hack but that's just me D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro17 Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 do you think the core 2 duo mac pro will outperform say an i7 imac? No, no way. The Core i7 is 4 core, 8 threads, all on one die, and very fast too (2.93GHz). Besides, it is the most modern arch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiehackintosh Posted August 17, 2010 Author Share Posted August 17, 2010 No, no way. The Core i7 is 4 core, 8 threads, all on one die, and very fast too (2.93GHz). Besides, it is the most modern arch. what's your opinion on the advantage of having 2 processors (2 channels) vs 1 processor with same cores/threads as "formely known as" stated. I understand everything being equal a mac pro is built to outperform an imac, but what about a new tech. imac vs and older tech. mac pro? i would say so for multi-threading apps yes. hmmm $1800 - it depends how much messing around you can be bothered with or do you just want to get down to editing? you could feasible build a dual CPU hack but then you are looking at a lot of messing around, there isn't much support online as not may people have previously built such a beast - for the same money you could get a used MacPro ... Personally I'd build the hack but that's just me D I agree the best bang for your buck is the hack, but as you mentioned I want to get right to work. I've only used pc's so far and I'm not into driver's, tweeks, updates, settings, etc..... If someone had a great working hack for sale, I would consider it, but I'm not into building it. so I know the mac pro is the better build over the imac, but what about the new imac vs an older macpro? do i still go with a mac pro? if so,, what specs over the newer i7 imac? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro17 Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 what's your opinion on the advantage of having 2 processors (2 channels) vs 1 processor with same cores/threads as "formely known as" stated. I understand everything being equal a mac pro is built to outperform an imac, but what about a new tech. imac vs and older tech. mac pro? Having 4 cores on the same die is better than having 2 CPUs with 2 cores. Besides the Mac Pro you are talking about is "old technology" now: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_Pro Of course if you could buy the latest Mac Pro it would be a different matter. However I have still doubts if the latest Mac Pro is good value for money: http://www.osnews.com/story/23652/Apple_Lo..._Money_More_Now Consider all the specs of an iMac i7 and you'll realize that it is the best value for money Mac available now, IMO http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/the...a_game_changer/ As a result of the critical design factors, up to 16 GB of RAM, a huge LED backlit display, a powerful i7, the new high end iMac is a formidable computer. It literally takes your breath away. Combined with Snow Leopard, it's the dream machine we always wanted. It has the horsepower to run virtualization really well. For many, it's the only sensible computer to have, and the perfect computer to run Windows 7 on, if you must. This computer is so far advanced over the PCs you can purchase at, say, Best Buy, it isn't even funny. More links: http://gizmodo.com/5407204/benchmarked-the...c-is-super-fast http://www.geek.com/articles/news/geekbenc...-imac-20091116/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiehackintosh Posted August 17, 2010 Author Share Posted August 17, 2010 Having 4 cores on the same die is better than having 2 CPUs with 2 cores.Besides the Mac Pro you are talking about is "old technology" now: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_Pro Of course if you could buy the latest Mac Pro it would be a different matter. However I have still doubts if the latest Mac Pro is good value for money: http://www.osnews.com/story/23652/Apple_Lo..._Money_More_Now Consider all the specs of an iMac i7 and you'll realize that it is the best value for money Mac available now, IMO http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/the...a_game_changer/ More links: http://gizmodo.com/5407204/benchmarked-the...c-is-super-fast http://www.geek.com/articles/news/geekbenc...-imac-20091116/ thanks, that helped. what is your opinion on the differences in the i7 processors. (bloomfiled vs lynnfield?) 2 channel vs 3 channel memory, quickpath vs no quickpath? how do I know which processor is in a particular imac I'm looking at online? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro17 Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 Bloomfield vs Lynnfield: http://tech.icrontic.com/articles/making-s...-really-better/ 2 channel vs 3 channel: http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Memory/Int...emory-Mode.html QuickPath: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/610/2 How do you know which processor is in a particular iMac I'm looking at online? It is written there. Often you can choose. For instance when looking for an iMac 27-inch quad core you can chose between Core i5 and Core i7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FKA Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 obviously this is just IMHO -but have you checked bench results for iMac11,1 and MacPro1,1 They come out almost Identical - The MacPro obviously will allow for addons, as I said earlier BlackMagic for example if you where to need HDSDI output for mastering, I dont think you can add this card to an iMac. Obvious downside 32bit EFI. http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/search?q=iMac+11%2C1 http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/search?q=MacPro1%2C1 Obviouysly look for the real Mac's in the list, there are clearly a few hacks at the top of the MacPro list with core 3 duo's anywho, happy shopping D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiehackintosh Posted August 17, 2010 Author Share Posted August 17, 2010 Bloomfield vs Lynnfield: http://tech.icrontic.com/articles/making-s...-really-better/ 2 channel vs 3 channel: http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Memory/Int...emory-Mode.html QuickPath: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/610/2 How do you know which processor is in a particular iMac I'm looking at online? It is written there. Often you can choose. For instance when looking for an iMac 27-inch quad core you can chose between Core i5 and Core i7. thanks, much appreciated I guess i7 bloomfield is the way to go. I'll keep hack in mind too if I can find one.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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