-
Hardware question/dilemma
Hey all. Here’s my dilemma. Any and all feedback is welcome.
The setup:
We’re a small post house with three stations currently. Right now the brains of the system is a 12 core mac pro with 32 gigs RAM and we’ve got two client stations connected via Gigabit for editing. We’re looking to expand our setup a bit so I’m in the process of trying to decide what other machine(s) to buy. We’re running a mix of final cut studio and adobe cs 6 on all machines but transitioning to Adobe.The current plan:
Buy an additional mac pro (a used 8 core 2010 model) to serve as the hub (with a six port gigabit card) that would allow us to have up to six client stations, or for right now, 3 client stations running 2 gigabit lines each. We’re for sure buying 1 new late 2012 27″ iMac in addition to our 12 core mac pro and we’ve also got a retina macbook pro as the third client. The 12 core mac would be used primarily for after effects and still currently has the stock ATI video card it shipped with. We currently do little to no 3d on the 12 core.Cost of the new (used) mac pro with some RAM: around $1700
The question I’m wrestling with:
Is it better to get a semi beefy video card (recommendations welcomed) for the 12 core and stick with the current plan OR
Is it better to get one of the new beefed up 27″ iMacs with the 680MX and keep the 12 core as the hub of the operation?Cost of a beefed up 27″ iMac: around $2500
Basically I’m asking how we can get the best bang for our buck. I’m anticipating that we’ll continue expanding in 2013 (staff and hardware wise) so is it better to put the money into a mac pro that’s due for a refresh or put it into some of the shiny new iMacs?
I don’t have a great grasp of what really makes after effect run efficiently (beyond buying a pretty pricy graphics card), hence my conundrum. And maybe pricy graphics card IS the only solution, I’m just a little bit in the dark here.
Sorry for the convoluted question, but any input at all on the matter (2012 imac vs mac pro) is welcome. Thanks all.
-
7 Replies
-
RAM is what makes AE very happy. CS6 and up will benefit from Nvidia cards. Also, a SSD for cache will help.
Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist -
Tim
Many new features of AE works better with good graphic cards.
Have a look at this:
https://www.nvidia.com/object/after-effects-cs6.html
Vishesh Arora
3D and Motion Graphics Artist
Films RajendraBlog:
https://digieffects.wordpress.comDemo Reel(3D):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHPgIJU_BR8 -
Tudor is right.
One thing that people get wrong a lot is thinking that After Effects needs an expensive graphics card. One feature requires that. If you’re not using that one feature, then you don’t need an expensive graphics card.
Details are here:
https://blogs.adobe.com/aftereffects/2012/05/gpu-cuda-opengl-features-in-after-effects-cs6.htmlSee this page for information about hardware for After Effects: https://adobe.ly/pRYOuk
———————————————————————————————————
Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
After Effects quality engineering
After Effects team blog
——————————————————————————————————— -
Have a look at this too:
Vishesh Arora
3D and Motion Graphics Artist
Films RajendraBlog:
https://digieffects.wordpress.comDemo Reel(3D):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHPgIJU_BR8 -
Thanks for the help guys. So it sounds like staying with the 12 core mac pro is still the way to go for After Effects. Would it be worthwhile to upgrade the video card to a CUDA enable card as opposed to the ATI card we’re currently using? Right now the pro has 32 gigs of RAM and sounds like it might be worthwhile to boost that even further. Thoughts?
-T
-
64 is better. If you will use the 3d features in CS6 and Premiere Pro, then it is worthwhile investing in a Nvidia card.
Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist -
[Tim Seley] “So it sounds like staying with the 12 core mac pro is still the way to go for After Effects. “
Yes. (Or go PC.)
https://barefeats.com/sandy01.html
https://barefeats.com/macs11_01.h[Tim Seley] “Would it be worthwhile to upgrade the video card to a CUDA enable card as opposed to the ATI card we’re currently using?”
If you intend to use the new 3D ray-tracing renderer, then yes, absolutely. If not, then no, not necessary.
[Tim Seley] “Right now the pro has 32 gigs of RAM and sounds like it might be worthwhile to boost that even further. Thoughts?”
32 GB is a pretty good start. More RAM may not help that much. How busy do your CPUs get during render?
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up