Building New FCP System (Please Advise)

Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy

Building New FCP System (Please Advise)

Posted by Michael Allen on September 30, 2008 at 7:44 pm

I am building a new FCP System on a budget of about 10K. I want the best system that I can build for the money. Mainly I do corporate work such as Marketing, training and corporate communications. I am shooting with Sony F350’s and editing in XD Cam HD and ProRes. One question I have is the graphics card. The rep I spoke with liked the 8800GT. Many systems seem to use the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT. Is one better that the other for using applications in FC Studio 2. Also, is there a better storage solution than the Caldigit that I have selected? All of your comments will be appreciated.

1 APPLE 2×2.8gh QC/2GB/320GB/SUPER/8800GT/REG 2,998.50 2,998.50
#APMP228D/Z0EM75344

1 CRUCIAL 2GB KIT DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400 ECC/REG 119.50 119.50
#CRCT2KIT1280/CT2KIT1287

1 WESTERN-DIGITAL 1TB CAVIER SATA INTERNAL DRIVE (7/REG 168.95 168.95
#WES300D1TB/WD10000CSRTL

1 APPLE 3-YEAR APPLECARE F/POWERMAC/MAC PRO/REG 239.00 239.00
#APACPM/MA516LLA

1 AJA KONA LH 12-BIT CAPTURE CARD PCI-E/REG 1,449.95 1,449.95
#AJKONALHE/KONALHE

1 AJA KL BOX BREAKOUT BOX f/KONA LH & LSE/REG 289.95 289.95
#AJKLBOXLH/KLBOXLH

2 SAMSUNG 220WM SYNCMSTR 22″ WD LCD MONITOR/REG 278.95 557.90
#SA220WM/220WM

1 JVC 20″ MULTI-FORMAT LCD MONITOR/REG 999.95 999.95
#JVDTV20L1U/DTV20L1U

2 GENELEC 3″ 2-WAY BI-AMP ACTIVE MONITOR – BLACK/REG 319.95 639.90

1 LACIE DVD BLU-RAY DRIVE USB/FIREWIRE 4x/REG 529.95 529.95
#LADVDBRFWU4/301828U

1 PYRO 3-PORT FIREWIRE 800 PCIe CARD/REG 54.95 54.95
#PY3PFW800E/PVC815

1 CALDIGIT HD-ONE DESKTOP 2TB/REG 2,239.95 2,239.95

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Mike

David Roth weiss replied 17 years, 7 months ago 2 Members · 3 Replies
3 Replies

David Roth weiss
September 30, 2008 at 7:51 pm

You really should have 8Gb RAM. OWC (Other Wold Computing) has a special for only $350.

You need an AJA Kona LHe, not the LH, which was for ealier models with PCIx slots.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
Michael Allen
September 30, 2008 at 8:03 pm

I checked the part number at B&H and it is a LHe. Can you tell me why I need that much ram. I am sure I need it if you suggest that I do, however can you tell me what I will gain? Also, what did you think about the graphics card and storage?

Mike
David Roth weiss
September 30, 2008 at 8:22 pm

Compressor is multi-threaded and can be setup to run with each core running in it’s own space, each with 1Ghz of RAM, like a mini render farm with faster renders.

More apps can run simultaneously with no caching to hard drive.

Also, even if FCP is not optimized to run in a 64-bit environment, when running under Snow Leopard (the next OS due out early next year) it will undoubtedly benefit from the multi-proccesor environment and will take advantage of the RAM for each core.

I’ll let the others comment on the graphics card and the Cal Digit raid.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.

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