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Which New Nehalem Mac Pro Should I Choose?
Just contemplating a move to FCP from Premiere Pro / Vista after many years of Windows. I’ve had several compatibility problems with other Final Cut-based post houses and Protools suites, and it’s becoming as real problem.
With the release of the new Xeon “Nehalem” processors, what would be the best bang-per-buck for general Final Cut Pro use?
1. Are 8-cores of 2.6GHz better than 4-cores x 2.92GHz? One 2.92 processor is a fair bit cheaper than a lower-power dual processor system.
2. Will FCP use all eight cores? Maybe FCS3 (NAB09?) will use more than 8 cores?
3. Should I buy a last-generation second-hand Mac Pro (2.8Ghz) instead?Mac is all new to me so any advice is appreciated.
Peter
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18 Replies
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In My country we say “Burro grande, ande o no ande”.
More or less “Walk or don’t walk, but always big horse”:-)
Go to the faster one. Soon or later even that one will get obsolete.
I hear ore about people that complains because they bought a computer too short.
Think never heard about somebody crying because bought a too Big Mac.
rafael(and here some clips for the friends: https://www.vimeo.com/2694745 )
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You need at least 1GB RAM per Core, so keep that in mind in your budgeting. Basically my advice is if you have the budget, buy the fastest Mac you can afford. That will keep you running for at least two to three years. Yes, the Macs will get faster over that time,but you’ll still be good to go. We have an almost three year old PowerPC Quad G5 still running in our third suite and it has no issues running Studio 2 with an AJA Kona 3.
The “slowest” Mac Pro will easily run Studio 2 so you really can’t go wrong buying any of them. If you do want to save a few bucks, look in the Apple Store online and go into the Refurb Section (down the lower left side of that page) and pick up a refurb Mac Pro Octo 3.2. Heck the top of the line iMac will easily run Studio 2 but you’re much more limited in expansion and storage options with an iMac.
One big thing to understand right now is that Apple is pushing multiple graphics cards, but as of right now, Color will not operate with multiple graphics cards installed in the machine. So that’s a big issue for me right now. Hopefully this will change in April, but as of right now, this is an issue.
What kind of storage are you going to need? That’s another factor in the equation. Will your Windows based Storage be able to be reformatted for the Mac or do you need to start over there too?
In my shop we’re set up to go all the way to 2k editing if necessary and we just installed a SAN to allow all three systems to edit ProRes HD. If you click on my name next to my picture there, you’ll be taken to my Profile and you can see how all three of my systems are set up. These are all used for broadcast and documentary work.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
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[Peter Corbett] “Are 8-cores of 2.6GHz better than 4-cores x 2.92GHz? One 2.92 processor is a fair bit cheaper than a lower-power dual processor system. “
Hi
We don’t know the answers until someone gets all the different models and tests them properly.
And when Apple introduces Snow Leopard and updates FCS 2 they will move the goal posts off somewhere else…The single CPU is limited (as far as Apple tell us) in that it can only handle 2GB RAM modules – the octocores are specified for up to 4GB per slot.
We don’t yet know if there is a downside to filling all four RAM slots per CPU – the CPUs are designed for triple channel RAM, so the fourth slot is sharing the bandwidth of one of the other slots.
https://i39.tinypic.com/2gvr89j.pngSo many questions, so few answers so far…
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[Peter Corbett] “With the release of the new Xeon “Nehalem” processors, what would be the best bang-per-buck for general Final Cut Pro use? “
Hey Peter!!! Long time no see…
Since you’re one of my old “homies,” let me suggest to you that you save some dough, and resist the temptation to buy the top of the line procs. The premium is way too high — as always, Intel is reserving the good ones for our U.S. military, who they know will pay ten times over.
Meanwhile, as Paul recommends, wait a few months to see what’s coming, and if you must jump in now, get yourself a previous generation MacPro at a bargain price and use it to learn FCP. That what our friend Pat McGowan is doing.
If you have any questions Peter feel free to give me a jingle anytime.
David
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-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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[Peter Corbett] “With the release of the new Xeon “Nehalem” processors, what would be the best bang-per-buck for general Final Cut Pro use? “
A refurb/reseller discounted 3.2/3.0Ghz last gen Xeon. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the new machines will be any faster per dollar spent, and an 8-core machine is likely to be the best way forward with 10.6 and (maybe) FCS3 some months/years away. Of course, if you have the cash for an 8-core, 2.93 Ghz machine, it’s gonna be a screamer…
You’ll get cheaper RAM, FW400 and 800 connections (yes, I know about 400/800 leads), a gfx card with 2 DVI connections, a proven architecture and compatibility.
Leave these new machines to the early adopter ‘must have’ types – I think most pro’s will stick for a little while.
Ben
Edit Out Ltd
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FCP Editor/Trainer/System Consultant
EVS/VT Supervisor for live broadcast
RED camera transfer/post
Independent Director/Producer -
[Ben Holmes] “Leave these new machines to the early adopter ‘must have’ types – I think most pro’s will stick for a little while.
“That’s what I’m doing. I’m investing in a SAN and some new LCD displays to replace my CRT’s. Either I’ll wait until the next bump in the Mac Pros or I’ll wait until some of them start showing up as Refurbs.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
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[Ben Holmes] “it doesn’t look like the new machines will be any faster per dollar spent”
I would wait for the barefeats verdict before claiming that. There’s a lot more to these new chips. It’s not just number of cores and ghz. For example they have hyperthreading, so one core acts as two.
Sean
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Sean
I really hope you’re right. Some are suggesting they could be a lot faster for certain tasks, like H.264 encoding, due to certain routines embedded in the chips.
I fear, based on other info on the architecture, that we will not see the gains until OSX10.6 and FCS3 are a reality, and who knows when that will be. Even then, many gains may be seen on existing 8-core machines.
I’m also watching Barefeats avidly for info – but I’m planning to waiting a while based on current info/pricing, based on their current advice.
Edit Out Ltd
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FCP Editor/Trainer/System Consultant
EVS/VT Supervisor for live broadcast
RED camera transfer/post
Independent Director/Producer -
[David Roth Weiss] “Hey Peter!!! Long time no see…
Since you’re one of my old “homies,” let me suggest to you that you save some dough, and resist the temptation to buy the top of the line procs.”
Hi Dave and everyone else. Yes long time, no see. I’m now thinking a current model 3.2 might be “better” for the moment. A new dual 2.66 i7 Mac Pro with 8gb RAM and beefed up ATI is going to cost me AUD$6500 which is about US$4K+. I have all the other goodies; Decklink HD, dual 24″ Dells, 8Tb RAID, etc.
The integration with the rest of the industry has been becoming a real problem for Premiere users. I think CS4 is great. It’s had a few bugs, not including lack of public Decklink support, but that’s going to change very soon. But I would like to pull my RAID and be able to visit another FCP suite if I had too. High-end dry-hire PPro suites in Melbourne are almost non-existent.
I don’t think you ever fully realize your investment if you buy the very top-end processor. Those times when you need those few extra minutes in rendering time are not as as common as one would think. They just feel like it at the time with a deadline coming down on you.
I’ll do some more investigating…
Cheers,
PeterPeter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
http://www.php.com.au -
We, like you Peter, suffered from being an island in our market and hoped for the CS4 environment to mature on Vista 64 and AXIO. After a good 3 year experiment we are ready to be assimiliate into the MAC and FCP nation.
We got our first MACPRO a week ago and after the initial shock of having new product announced only a few days after we took delivery there are no regrets.
We went with a KONA LHe to start. We plan to add 3-5 more systems over the next months and will go with the KONA solution (whatever NAB brings) and the midrange processors with 12 GB of RAM on the MACPROS. CalDIGIT RAID cards and 4 internal SATA drives plus Dell 24″ monitors will flesh the systems out.
We plan to run CS4 and FCP Studio on all of the MACPROS.
As far as our AXIO machines go, we’ll keep 1-3 of them in service for a time and see how that works out.
Will keep you posted as the migration evolves.
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