-
Suggestions for Used FCS machine
I would love some suggestions on a used desktop for FCP/FCS. My needs are this:
I edit 5 camera multiclip shoots with stereo audio for a website – all music (band in studio recordings – can check it out at freqcontrol.com), so roughly 3-5 minute clips. No fancy motion or graphics. Pretty straight forward.
I have been using a 2.4g macbook Pro, FCP 6.0.5, with esata drives through the express 34 slot. This has been fine for my needs, and no complaints other than the speed (or lack thereof) while converting AVCHD (shot on Canon HF100)to workable format and exporting (both full res and finally flash). It is time for us to get a second machine for converting/editing etc.
So my question is this: I have found original Intel xeon 2×2.66 woodcrest processor machines for very reasonable rates online (reputable refurb company I have past experience with). Knowing I would A) get new video card, B) up the RAM to what is suggested and C) get esata card or extra internal drives…would this machine be an improvement in speed over my newer MacBook Pro? Mostly I want something I can edit on as well as the laptop, but with better speed for transfer/convert/export.
I am obviously on a very tight budget – and would like to keep costs (out of pocket as usual) as low as possible. If this unit would not be good – can someone suggest a model that would be used, but better than this?
-
4 Replies
-
I’ve used a 2007 dual 2.66GHz Mac Pro (four cores total) for the last two years and I’m quite pleased with it. With adequate RAM, GPU and HDs, the Mac Pro you specified will serve you well, and will most likely be faster than your existing laptop.
-
Thanks so much for the quick reply. Is there any reason to believe that the original woodcrest processor type would not be as capable as your machine? I think it would have been from sometime in 2006.
Also, can you suggest a good value (cheapest) Video card for these machines? And how much RAM you use? I have read that some programs do not benefit from RAM past a certain amount.
Appreciate all your help.
-
Your one question has grown all of a sudden.
Find the most current Intel Macintosh you can afford.
Calculate how much RAM you think you want and budget for it. It doesn’t matter what I think you need but a gig per core is all I need. You will want to include in your budget three or four fresh drives.If you expect to use Motion, you must have at least a 4870 card.
FCP does not benefit from the GPU in this incarnation which is why you want the most current rig you can afford. If you go for the older Intel, you might not be able to put the 4870 in it or it might not run the next rev of FCP which, rumors be damned, might or might not run on older machines because it may or may not require whatever comes after Snow Leopard.
bogiesan
-
Thanks for your input. The additional questions were in response to the other reply. it seems there is some debate over whether more RAM helps after a certain amount – but I have definitely seen your method (1G per core) mentioned before.
I am obviously looking to get the cheapest machine – with an improved performance over the Macbook Pro. The original Intel Mac that I listed has been presented to me for a good price, and from several vendors.
i am having a hard time determining my opinion on different machines – and the capability/benefits they may provide for my uses, from online resources – other than knowing that buying the latest machine (wich i can’t afford) will provide the latest tech/speed/etc.
I would have just settled for another version of my laptop (I have been very happy with it) except these original intel mac towers are selling for less than my used laptop – and I hoped to determine whether the tower would provide a speed increase for the export/convert scenario listed in first post. It stands to reason that 2×2.66 dual core (4 total) should be better than my single 2.4 duo – but I am not sure that FCP works that way.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up