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spending money wisely.
I have a 2008 8 core MacPro with 10 gigs of RAM. Kona Lhe. Nvidia GT8800, and about 17 TB of hard drive hanging off of it through various interfaces E-sata FW800 internal drives etc. I have transitioned from FCP 7 to X and surprisingly love editing with X. I might dabble a little more with PP6, but I see X as being my primary NLE for the time being.
I need to buy a new output device because AJA won’t support the LHe with X. My workflow is 80% tapeless with only one client using DV, that I import with a Sony HDV deck. I probably will buy something like the BMD Intensity Pro and run component to my Panasonic monitor. I would also like to go up to 16 GB or 24 GB of RAM.
My question is: would my performance improve significantly if I also bought the ATI 3770 graphic card update, and if I had to choose between 24 GB of RAM or the card and 16 GB what would bring the best FCP X performance increase.don walker
texarkana, texasJohn 3:16
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5 Replies
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Don, I also have a 3,1 and recently upgraded the RAM to 16GB and got a Radeon 5870. The 5870s work in the 3,1 and got better performance benchmarks than the 5770s. I’m not a graphics card geek, so I defer to others who might have a better opinion on which card to get. Be careful if you get a 5870 online since some might be PC models that have been flashed. I got a Mac model on Craigslist. So, it was a good deal.
Blackmagic is best price, I think. AJA has always had excellent support. I have a Kona 3 and there are still some issues with X. But since upgrading to the 5870, things run very smooth.
Overall, my performance did increase with the upgrades and I think I’ll get another year or two out of the system. How much of a performance increase I am getting, though, I couldn’t tell you. Most importantly, I have pretty solid video playback now.
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company -
The RAM can’t be more than $100. Why would you worry about that? Get as much RAM as you can afford. 16gigs does seem to be the norm.
I’ve got a 1,1 with a flashed 5770 and it works decently as an extra system to the iMac. The flashed cards often have extra ports. For example my flashed 5770 has an HDMI port.
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[Bret Williams] “The RAM can’t be more than $100. Why would you worry about that? Get as much RAM as you can afford. 16gigs does seem to be the norm. “
RAM for the 3.1 is $299 for 8GB. This particular Mac Pro has to have the RAM with with the heat sinks. I am trying to keep my total to about $1000, and I probably need to buy a 4 port SATA card, my 2 port card is only 1.5gps.
don walker
texarkana, texasJohn 3:16
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I thought the 3,1 was the first that didn’t need the heat sinks? Crucial and others don’t sell it with the heat sinks. But anyway, you really want both. 16gigs AND a 5870. The machine will get a bit more on ebay when you’re done with it too. But hey, I’m still making good use of my 1,1. It’s a workhorse. Course not much in it is original except the processor.
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Okay, that settles it! I will get both, unless of course I just break down and buy an iMac.
Thanks guys for the help.don walker
texarkana, texasJohn 3:16
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