Michael Garber
Forum Replies Created
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I have an Ultrastudio Express. If I had it all to do over again, I’d get the AJA Io XT.
Lots of little issues with the BM box. Doesn’t update monitor as frequently when scrubbing. In Premiere, can’t set a master frame rate (like you could in FCP7) – you can do that with AJA and Premiere.
Also there are issues playing 23.98 when monitoring is set to 29.97. Support says they are fixing that one, but couldn’t give me a timeframe.
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP -
Hey Brett-
No worries! My feeling on AppleCare is that increases the resale value of the Mac. It’s peace of mind for buyers who might not be in the industry. It casts a wider net. Also, I’ve had to use it a couple times in the past and it paid for itself. So, for me, it’s worth it.
Eddie’s system might be $800, which is great. But he’s on here asking why his system isn’t working that well. That’s time spent and frustration added. He’ll probably need to spend up to $800 for a new CPU and GFX Card. At most $500 for a new gfx card.
Hackintosh part prices below are current and possibly not reflective of what I paid. But it’s very close. This gets you mostly in parity with a top of the line iMac (minus Bluetooth and WiFi, which cost about $46 total for the components). Here are my specs:
Intel Core i7-3770K $320
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5-TH (has 2 thunderbolt ports) $245
32GB 1600Mhz DDR3 $217
Corsair Carbide 500R $158
Corsair 650 Watt Modular $90
GeForce GTX 680 $497
480GB SSD Drive $363
Syba SATA III 6Gbps PCI-e Card $17
StarTech.com 3 Port 2b 1a 1394 PCI Express FireWire Card Adapter PEX1394B3 $63
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO: $33
I owned a Kona 3, which I installed and is working fine.TOTAL: $2003
iMac System Specs:
3.4GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM-2X4GB
1TB Fusion Drive
NVIDIAGeFrc GTX 680MX 2G GDDR5: $2600
AppleCare: $170
RAM from OWC: $270TOTAL: $3040 (before tax)
Now, here’s the kicker. While Geekbench isn’t the be-all end-all, I think it’s a nice cross-reference for the technologically-barely-informed (such as myself ;-).
My iMac 27″ top o’ the line gets a healthy 14268
The Hack Pro gets a substantial 14124For all intents and purposes, they are equal systems. One cost $3014 and comes with a warranty. The other cost $2003, works great, and is expandable, but has risks. Again, if you need to purchase a monitor, keyboard and mouse for the Hackintosh, that will add an additional amount and bring them much more in line price-wise.
Let’s look at the percentage difference if we take out AppleCare to get the systems more in line.
iMac: 2845
Hack Pro: 2003
Percent Difference: %30Now, let’s look at potential resale value and upgrade costs. This is assuming a new iMac will cost about the same amount in 2 years:
iMac late 2012 resale value in 2 years (conservative): $1250
iMac 2014 (high end) potential cost: $ 2900
Out of pocket difference: -$1650
Time needed to reinstall software and test new system: 1 day (based on purchase of iMac)Hackintosh upgrade option 1, resale and build from scratch:
Hackintosh Late 2012 Cost: $2003
Hackintosh Resale Value in 2 years: $400
Hackintosh Late 2014 potential cost: $2000
Out of pocket difference: -$1600
Time needed to research new system and find best prices on parts: countless nights on Hackintosh boards
Time spent building system: 1 day
Time spent testing parts and debugging: 2 days (conservative)Hackintosh upgrade option 2, upgrade CPU, Mobo, and RAM
New Motherboard, Processor, RAM (assuming all current PCI Cards work properly and base prices stay the same): $782
Time spent researching whether all parts will work with new system and what CPU/Mobo to get: 2-3 evenings on hack boards
Time spent installing new parts: 2 hrs
Time spent reinstalling OS, debugging: 1 day (conservative)So there you have it. At most, there’s an $870 difference (not including time spent) in favor of an equally spec’d Hack Pro and a top-end iMac over a 2-year period. Divide that out by 2 years and that’s $37 per month.
The ultimate question I propose (which I’ve already answered for myself): Is it worth it for you to build one?
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP -
My build, based on Tonymac’s Customac Pro cost me about $1800. My iMac, which has approximately the same specs, cost $3000 with additional RAM and AppleCare.
I’d say the extra cost of the iMac factors in because of the built-in display. On the Hackintosh, I used an old 23″ Cinema Display. So, if you figure in the original cost of the Cinema Display, that brings the Hackintosh up to $2600.
If any component of the Hackintosh goes down, there’s no one who will fix it under warranty. You’ll have to individually RMA parts. In fact, I had to RMA both my motherboard and processor to try to get to the bottom of an issue. That took a month to get fixed and 2 trips to City of Industry (an hour+ drive each way).
In 2 years, if I want to sell my iMac, I could probably get between 1000 to 1500. That means, I could get into the newest iMac for approximately $1500-$2000. I recently sold all my 3+ year old Mac Pro towers. I made far more on those than I did on my 3 year old PC. Far more.
I have had my Hackintosh for about 6 months and I posted it on Craigslist to see if I *could* sell it. After 1 month, I got no hits when I posted it for $1500. After 1 month posting it at $800, I got a couple hits. That’s more than 50% depreciation in 6 months.
So, ok, can’t sell the Hackintosh. Can I upgrade the mother board, processor, and RAM? Sure, I can. However, now I have to deal with the time spent doing that. Probably 2 days of my time (and that is not including the research to figure out what motherboard and processor are the right ones to get – will they be compatible with my old PCI cards, etc…). Then there is the time involved making absolutely sure that it is stable. What if a client brings in some drives and what if, by sheer bad luck, the system doesn’t like them and deletes them (it happened to me on my own drives when I first built the system).
If I upgrade the parts, I most likely won’t be able to sell the old motherboard, CPU and RAM. It’s possible, but I won’t make much on selling those parts.
I am also at risk in the long run of not being able to upgrade at all if Apple chooses to move away from Intel. The Hackintosh’s stability is in the hands of, albeit, a very active and smart community, but nevertheless by no individual who is motivated by the success of my own system.
My point to all this is that you have a much higher risk involved when choosing to build and operate a Hackintosh. If that risk is worth it to you, then go for it. It was worth it to me because it was a challenge and I wanted to see if I could do it. I think it’s important to know what goes into building a computer, what parts go where, etc… I’m happy I did. But I am very aware that, both financially and time-wise, it will be more of a loss than if I’d just purchased another iMac.
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP -
Agreed on the savings issues. It was fun to build and I’m glad that it works. But, the real place you lose is in resale value and time invested. Spend less up front, make less on the back end. If I had to do it again? Well, I’m a nyerd, so I’d probably build the Hackintosh ;-P.
It boils down to this: what I really got out of it is a super-stable and fast PC that also happens to boot OS X. Whereas, if I’d spent more on an Apple product, it would have been the reverse.
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP -
I’d recommend an i7 and getting a separate GPU. I have an Nvidia 680GTX. My Hackintosh is pretty much equal to my top-end iMac and the benchmarks are the same. FCPX feels more fluid and I can do separate renders and exports with no issues.
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP -
I actually used your article when I was re-doing my suite recently. So, thanks!
I am much happier facing the client. Much more collaborative for me.
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP -
I have a small 6 channel Behringer. Need it to send audio out to an extra set of client speakers. I have my room set up so I face the client. So, I have desk speakers and then there are a separate set on the sides of the plasma.
I also needed it recently for, gasp, an HDCAM layoff. While it’s nice to simplify, I like to have the ability to do some legacy work now and then.
That said, I still have a VHS to DVD recorder that I’ll never use or even sell!
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP -
From the timeline, highlight the clip and hit shift-t. Takes you into transform mode. You can repo the image and add keyframes. The keyframe buttons are on the top left of the viewer window. You can edit those keyframes in the inspector. Remember to hit the done button on the viewer when you’re, well, done!
Shift-C takes you to the crop editor. Again, all these functions can be edited in the inspector under “video.”
Hope that’s what you were looking for.
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP -
Get the high end iMac. You’ll need the better vid card. The system will last you longer than the lower end one. Also, you’ll get more resale value for it for when you decide to upgrade. Happy shopping!
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP