Existing thread for building high end expandable a/v (Logic/Adobe) editing machine.

[muzakninja]

Sorry, may not be right subforum, but I've looked through all of them, and don't see anywhere for opening questions like this.  In fact, newbie intro forum says specifically not to ask questions. 

 

Anyway, I've done a/v professionally on macs for years, but looking to replace my 2008 macpro, and it's looking like the hardware has gone the wrong direction (poor support for Adobe products with built-in gpus, limited expandability, etc). 

 

Looking to do something along the lines of largest, fastest cpu available, fastest ram available, gpu optimized for adobe editing, super fast drives and connectivity (no sata, etc). I've already got a 2008 Macpro octocore with 32GB of ram, and manage to bring it to it's knees all day every day.   I've also got a 2013 trashcan macpro at work, and it struggles with what I ask of it in After Effects (not to mention being too limited in terms of storage, etc.  Need something MUCH faster that is optimized for Adobe, multiple 4k monitors, and rock solid for 100 tracks with ridiculous number of fx in Logic.  I fully expect to pay at least $3-5k to put it together.

 

Is there a particular term I should be looking up, or particular thread I should be reading that's already here?  A forum member who has already worked out all the bugs for an Adobe editing system that is fast, stable, expandable, and proven?

 

Really not looking to spend the next few months getting philosophical on here.  Just want to quickly (this week) decide if hackintosh is the route for me, and if so, order the bits and get on with it ASAP.  I'm not looking to get geeky with overclocking or spending all my time monitoring minutia.  I need a fast, proven system with no downtime.  I have an ongoing professional business that can't afford to be taken offline for even a minute while I get this up and going.

 

Suggested threads or terms to look up?

[remote.syst3m]

Sorry, may not be right subforum, but I've looked through all of them, and don't see anywhere for opening questions like this. In fact, newbie intro forum says specifically not to ask questions.

 

Anyway, I've done a/v professionally on macs for years, but looking to replace my 2008 macpro, and it's looking like the hardware has gone the wrong direction (poor support for Adobe products with built-in gpus, limited expandability, etc).

 

Looking to do something along the lines of largest, fastest cpu available, fastest ram available, gpu optimized for adobe editing, super fast drives and connectivity (no sata, etc). I've already got a 2008 Macpro octocore with 32GB of ram, and manage to bring it to it's knees all day every day. I've also got a 2013 trashcan macpro at work, and it struggles with what I ask of it in After Effects (not to mention being too limited in terms of storage, etc. Need something MUCH faster that is optimized for Adobe, multiple 4k monitors, and rock solid for 100 tracks with ridiculous number of fx in Logic. I fully expect to pay at least $3-5k to put it together.

 

Is there a particular term I should be looking up, or particular thread I should be reading that's already here? A forum member who has already worked out all the bugs for an Adobe editing system that is fast, stable, expandable, and proven?

 

Really not looking to spend the next few months getting philosophical on here. Just want to quickly (this week) decide if hackintosh is the route for me, and if so, order the bits and get on with it ASAP. I'm not looking to get geeky with overclocking or spending all my time monitoring minutia. I need a fast, proven system with no downtime. I have an ongoing professional business that can't afford to be taken offline for even a minute while I get this up and going.

 

Suggested threads or terms to look up?

You'll be fine, look at the asus x99ews or the gigabyte x99 designaire. The designaire has 1 onboard thunderbolt that works more reliable than the asus add-in card.

 

I'm using 6950x, and TitanX.

 

Either way you'll need to do some research to build the system to your needs.

 

I left apple hardware 10 years ago, it was the smartest decision for my business.

[muzakninja]

You'll be fine, look at the asus x99ews or the gigabyte x99 designaire. The designaire has 1 onboard thunderbolt that works more reliable than the asus add-in card.

 

I'm using 6950x, and TitanX.

 

Either way you'll need to do some research to build the system to your needs.

 

I left apple hardware 10 years ago, it was the smartest decision for my business.

Thx.  Looked into everything you mentioned and much more today.  Actually, a bit depressed to realize so many limitations of hackintosh build.

 

I really want mac because I strongly prefer Logic for audio, but the more I look into it, the more it seems to make sense for Adobe stuff to build best pc possible and forget osx.

 

I knew of some of the issues like not all chips compatible, but did not realize so many other limitations like no sli, and motherboard issues like not being able to do dual socket 6700, no thunderbolt, no kaby lake, iffy support for broadwell etc.  At least x99 gives more flexibility with core count (really hadn't occurred to me that I couldn't combine 6700 chips to up the core count, but the more I read up, the more disappointing the gains seem over my upgraded system.  I was thinking ddr4 memory would be a bigger deal, but no one using it seems to think so.  Faster drive access?  Maybe, but I've already got ssd on pcie bus.

 

I've also already got 8 physical cores, 64GB of ddr3, etc.  Just not sure how much improvement I'd be seeing on any of the hackintosh systems I've looked up.  GPU can be improved for sure, but After Effects (very oddly) doesn't seem to do much with GPU.  Just not sure the gains are there... which is a bummer since I'm choking my cpu to death daily with logic, and waiting days for renders on AE.  So much for Moore's law after 8 years.

[mxbill]

Look into the Asus Z10PE-D16 WS as a possible end all motherboard.

Dual sockets, so you can update along the way OR buy that killer CPU pair at first build.

 

Xeon's will determine what you willing to spend. When it comes to hitting the BUY NOW button, you have two choices,

buy legit Xeons, or ES (engineering samples) chips off ebay. Both have advantages/disadvantages, I guess.

 

Beware, that E5 v4 works, E5 v3 does not... in my experience.

 

Memory wise, 16 slots. 

PCI slots should make you pleased as well.

 

I'm running Parallels as well as Sierra OS, Adobe products, Houdini, plan to install CS6 after testing is done, along with Zbrush.

 

There is no "perfect" box that will load everything you want. RAM is limited, GPUs are limited, it's just a matter of what are you will to pay for as it becomes exponentially not cost effective to build with all the best parts. But as far as choosing good mid-range to upper range hardware, along with this mobo... or whatever you care to toss in it, The only other choice I guess would be the micro mobo, not sure what model is friendly, but it too has an established fan base.

 

Best of luck,

 

Bill

Bill

[surfinchina]

I don't mean to put you off, but...

 

I run a CAD business with hackintosh - an X99 with a 5960x and nice GPU. It would work really well for your setup.

I think that X99 is the only system fast enough for your purpose.

 

Here's the but.

It needs a lot of work. If there is an os update it takes hours to get it going again. Some things are a little buggy. It needs a helper card on another monitor just to run a decent gpu.

It soaks up my time and to be honest, if I didn't have another computer to use when this one stops I'd be out of business.

However, I'm sure a stable system can be made by someone more literate in programming and with more hack experience than me.

 

Just for the record, I also have a 12 core xeon (on X99) and it renders the same as my overclocked 5960, but is slower with software that uses only a few cores.

If you want to compare with your current system, my cinebench (my cad uses cinerender) R15 score for both computers is around the 1800 mark.

This means that if you want faster, you need to go for xeon and more than 12 cores.

 

Benchmark your own CPU, decide how much faster you want to render, look up cinebench scores for various systems and buy the number of cores you require to achieve that.

If your computer is multi use, it probably pays to get xeons with the highest clock frequency you can afford, so that software that uses only a few cores will go better.

 

Hope this helps

[remote.syst3m]

I have just solved the ThunderBolt3 Hotswap on GA Designare-EX Add-in Card. I suggest this board as the Highest Performace X99 System with working ThunderBolt3 Hotswap.