-
Which RAID for FCPX?
I’m looking at getting a Thunderbolt RAID. For $1,500 I can get either the Promise 6TB Pegasus R6 RAID, or the 8TB Pegasus R4 RAID. The R6 has 6 drives, so will be faster (800MB/s). The R4 has more space but slower speed (500MB/s). Will the extra speed even make a difference editing 1080p AVCHD on my Macbook Pro in FCPX? Even in RAID 5, will the R6 be less reliable because it has 6 drives that could fail versus 4 drives? Pertinent thoughts appreciated.
Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style! -
13 Replies
-
Both speeds will be fine with either ProRes, h264, or even uncompressed HD.
I’d go for capacity.
-
The R4 with 4x 2TB drives is working fine for me, even the 5400RPM WD Green drives I’m using. I’m also editing 1080p AVCHD on a MBP (2011 2.2 quad core i7). Speed is fine except for rendering. I’m maxed out on RAM (8Mb) so my only option may be to create a rendering farm…
johnmflores.com
whatblogisthis.blogspot.com/ -
[john flores] “The R4 with 4x 2TB drives is working fine for me, even the 5400RPM WD Green drives I’m using. I’m also editing 1080p AVCHD on a MBP (2011 2.2 quad core i7). Speed is fine except for rendering. I’m maxed out on RAM (8Mb) so my only option may be to create a rendering farm…”
Did the R4 increase your render speed at all? I’m using a single external SATA drive now and I’m wondering if I’ll see a boost in render speed when moving to a faster RAID. FYI, Other World Computing has a 16GB RAM upgrade for the Macbook Pro.
Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style! -
[Jeremy Garchow] “Both speeds will be fine with either ProRes, h264, or even uncompressed HD.
I’d go for capacity.”
Thanks for chiming in, Jeremy. Will a high speed RAID decrease render time at all?
Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style! -
[Jason Jenkins] “Thanks for chiming in, Jeremy. Will a high speed RAID decrease render time at all?”
Not of any significance, especially with the speeds you would be getting from either of those raids. I would love it if an NLE could render @ 4-500 MB/sec! 🙂 Unfortunately, it just don’t work that way.
Faster/more/better processors are the biggest factor in render performance.
Jeremy
-
[Jeremy Garchow] ”
Not of any significance, especially with the speeds you would be getting from either of those raids. I would love it if an NLE could render @ 4-500 MB/sec! 🙂 Unfortunately, it just don’t work that way.Faster/more/better processors are the biggest factor in render performance.”
Will a faster RAID increase realtime performance? In other words, will it decrease the need to render?
Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style! -
[Jason Jenkins] “Will a faster RAID increase realtime performance? In other words, will it decrease the need to render?”
Yes, but at those speeds, you won’t notice a difference there either. 400 or 500 MB/sec is great speed, and with FCPX’s much improved real time engine, I would go for capacity as there’s never enough space.
Jeremy
-
[Jeremy Garchow] “[Jason Jenkins] “Will a faster RAID increase realtime performance? In other words, will it decrease the need to render?”
Yes, but at those speeds, you won’t notice a difference there either. 400 or 500 MB/sec is great speed, and with FCPX’s much improved real time engine, I would go for capacity as there’s never enough space.”
Actually, I was thinking of performance in terms of my single ESATA drive (110MB/s) versus the RAID (500MB/s). Will I see a difference in realtime performance there? I’m just trying to get a feel for what I’m getting for my money. If I’m only getting data security, then a much less expensive mirrored setup will work just as well.
Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style! -
[Jason Jenkins] “Actually, I was thinking of performance in terms of my single ESATA drive (110MB/s) versus the RAID (500MB/s). Will I see a difference in realtime performance there? I’m just trying to get a feel for what I’m getting for my money. If I’m only getting data security, then a much less expensive mirrored setup will work just as well.”
Got ya. Sorry, I thought you were comparing the two. Yes, you should see more playback performance vs the single drive but FCPX is a totally different beast when it comes to this. The playback engine is much improved.
-
[Jeremy Garchow] “Yes, you should see more playback performance vs the single drive but FCPX is a totally different beast when it comes to this. The playback engine is much improved.”
Ha! I was hoping for something more definitive, but FCPX is still too new. I am amazed at what it will do on my 2011 Macbook Pro!
Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style!
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up