Advice on Configuring a MAC PRO

[Ameer Azari]

Hi, I'm configuring my MAC PRO and I wanted some advice on the best configuration when working with 4K/2K footage.

I'm on a budget of ~$9000

At the moment I'm thinking :
Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (8-core)
8GB (4 x 2GB)
Mac Pro RAID Card
300GB 15,000-rpm SAS
300GB 15,000-rpm SAS
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB (Two dual-link DVI)
Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)
Two 16x SuperDrives
Apple Mighty Mouse
Apple Keyboard (English) + Mac OS X
AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac Pro (w/or w/o Display) - Auto-enroll

Are 2 Monitors necessary?

Is 8GB RAM enough?

Which graphics card is best?

I'd really appreciate it if someone could get back to me.

regards,
Ameer


p.s. I'm new to this part of REDUSER so if I'm in the wrong place, please don't scream at me

 

[Cüneyt Kaya]

here is a link
http://silverado.cc/shop/home.php?cat=107




ask for torrey...he is nice

 

[Nick Wolf]

Brilliant link Kaya!

 

[Cüneyt Kaya]

yeah but torrey will hopefully update the specs soon...still fcp5.1, old ati card etc.....but i think you will get fcp6.3, new cards etc...


so best is to get in contact and tell him what you already have, what your needs are, what is your delivery format and your budget...

 

[Paul Hazlett]

Ok here is my 2 cents, which in todays econmy is worth about squat.

Get as much ram as you can afford. and don't buy the apple ram, very overpriced. I got mine at OWC (other world computing)for about a third of the price. I think the minimum you should have is 16 GB

There have been test done with the graphics cards that point to the ATI options as being faster in processes like motion and FCP the nvidia cards win hands down in 3d games. this may cahnge as they tune the drivers but here
is one link to a test http://www.barefeats.com/york2.html

I would also spend the extra saved on dumping the 2nd optical drive on a faster processor, since it will be out of date faster and not as upgradable as the optical drive.

here is the motion tests: http://www.barefeats.com/harper10.html
hope this helps

 

[Shawn Booth]

Agree with at least 16GB of RAM and dropping the second super drive.

Consider getting the other two hard drives.

Consider a KONA 3 card.

Consider a bigger budget. (If possible)

IMO - 2 monitors is necessary. You can save money by buying Dell monitors over Apple.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

At the moment I'm thinking :
Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (8-core)

Get either the 3.0GHz or 3.2GHz CPUs. There are some other significant internal differences between the upper end Xeon models. More than just clock speed.

8GB (4 x 2GB)

Buy the minimum amount of RAM from Apple. Then upgrade or replace with RAM from OWC or TransIntl. It will save you a boat-load of money. I'm running with 16GB (8x2GB) from OWC. Runs flawless and cost me $1480 instead of whatever $3800 something Apple was charging at the time.

Mac Pro RAID Card

OK, could be a good move, could be bad. Why do you want this? I have the RAID card in mine and have mixed feelings over it. Here's why...

No external connectivity. No drivers for support in BootCamp. It takes over functionality for all 4 internal drive bays unless you start running third-party cables and really mucking around with things.

It has a flawed cache-backup system with a battery that needs to be drained and reconditioned every two weeks or so. That doesn't sound bad, but it takes a few hours to do this and there's no way in system software to schedule this. If the system decides to do this one morning when you fire up the system, you may be working off the RAID at a snail's pace until well past lunch time while the system conditions the battery. This actually hasn't happened to me yet and I use the system around the clock, 7 days a week. But I've heard horror stories about it and lots of reports online.

Having only 4 internal bays to work with makes it a little awkward to configure a high-performance RAID system. This Mac Pro I have here with the card works great with a single 1TB HDD for boot/OS/applications. The remaining three bays have 1TB in each and are in a 3-drive RAID-0. The RAID-0 is very fast for 3 x 7200rpm drives. I can grade 2K DPX's in Color with it. It's almost real-time, so close, like real-time with a few hiccups. If it were a 4-drive array, I'd be there. It's plenty fast for working with REDCODE and multiple streams of DVCPROHD and ProRes.

In the end, you will want a nice external RAID that can really move a lot of data. The internal solution via the Mac RAID card is almost there, but not quite. I could convert my internal RAID into a 4-drive array by connecting a proper iPass cable to the primary SATA header on the mainboard (the one that controls the drives if you don't have the RAID card installed). And then find a place to put another drive to boot from (like in the second optical bay).

300GB 15,000-rpm SAS
300GB 15,000-rpm SAS

Why? Very expensive drives, especially if you buy from Apple <cough>. They do have performance advantages for some applications, but you won't see any real benefit with REDCODE. Seek times are nearly 2X as fast as the 7200rpm 750 and 1TB drives, but sustained transfer rates aren't much different. The platters spin 2X as fast, but the drives have fewer platters / heads and much lower data density. For database servers, satellite imaging, etc.. I'd recommend. For video / REDCODE, probably not. The cost doesn't justify the small performance bump and you have to ask yourself if you can live with the lower capacity. Put your money into a fast external RAID.

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB (Two dual-link DVI)

Yes.

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

OK. But don't forget there are other options out there, many of them are just as good or better for less money. A few are better for a lot more money. I personally wouldn't buy one. I like the new Dell 30" displays. They're a newer model of the LG panel than what Apple is using and they have more than one DVI|DL input, so you can hook up another system to the same display and not deal with expensive DVI|DL switches.

Two 16x SuperDrives

Just get one. You will want a Blu-Ray drive in the second bay... Whether Apple starts offering it or you add it yourself.

Apple Mighty Mouse

I prefer Logitech and my Wacom. Although, Apple's patented scrolly-ball is nice. The wireless MightyMouse sucks.

Apple Keyboard (English) + Mac OS X

I kinda like their new keyboards. But they F'd up with the wireless one, IMO. They made it "compact" by eliminating the numerical pad and some other keys. WTF?

AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac Pro (w/or w/o Display) - Auto-enroll

Necessary evil.

Are 2 Monitors necessary?

You tell me. It's your workflow. I personally work on 2 Dell 30" LCDs connected to mine. But I would trade that second LCD for a 1080p plasma grading monitor any day. And will probably be going for one of the Panasonic xUK models with the SDI add-on board. That 50" one would look real sexy connected to a Kona3. I'm waiting to see what NAB brings first though.

Is 8GB RAM enough?

If you're continuously working with 3 or more applications like Final Cut, Photoshop, etc.. then probably not.

Which graphics card is best?

8800GT unless you do a lot of 3D work and could use the Quadro.

 

[BASSAM MSSALATIE]

Jeff :w00t: this is more than MAC PRO Technical Course thanks

 

[michael zaletel]

Save $$$ as Apple Developer

Save $$$ as Apple Developer

Best advice I can give for a system of that price is to sign up for the Apple Developer Program for $499 per year which entitles you to buy one discounted system each year. You'll probably save $2,000. You'll also have access to beta releases of the OS, tools for custom programming and a lot more.

Details Here:

http://developer.apple.com/membership/usa.html

On that page, you can click on the link to the Developer store and shop for the same system to see the amount you would save.

http://developer.apple.com/products/select.html

Read this too to see all the other benefits the $499 ADC membership gives you. Remember though, if you are spending $9,000 on the system, you will save much more than $499 so that alone is worth signing up.

I would personally suggest Apple Ram and an Apple Cinema Display just because then everything is covered under the same Apple 3-Year warranty and which greatly improves Ebay resale value down the road. With the ADC discount, you may even be able to sell the system in 2 years for close to what you paid for it. The developer discount on RAM is substantial.

Hope that helps.

-shooter

 

[Alex Carr]

The same RAM is available on any computer site for much less than the Apple discount

The optical 18x SATA Drives are $50 each, or 16x IDE is $30, I dont think your saving a wad of cash by losing one. But definately dont buy the second one from apple. Any PIONEER drive will work in any Mac Pro or older G5 or Powermac.

Buy Ram From Newegg.com you'll get the best deal and as long as you get the specs you need RAM is RAM as a HDD is a HDD... So Third Party RAM is completely safe, The service Manuals are extremely generic when it comes to RAM specifications, So to me I assume that as long as you follow the specs you'll get what you need. Kingston brand and Patriot brand are good from my experience. OCZ is also pretty good. Just dont get any RAM sticks that dont have heat spreaders... Any computer will lock up if the RAM overheats.

800mhz 2GB PC6400 non-ECC Fully buffered, thats what your looking for. I went with unbuffered Patriot at $55 per 2GB stick from Fry's w/ heat spreaders. I'm not going to use more than 8GB, RAM flips out when you use over 4GB of unbuffered RAM, But I havn't seen anything crazy yet, I just saved myself $30 is all...

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

NewEgg is a great vendor. But don't just order up any FB-DIMM modules. Aside from proper specs, make sure they also have good heat sinks on them!!! I know several people who have loaded their system up with quality modules from PNY, Mushkin, Kingston, etc.. Only to blow a module from overheating at about 12 hours into an intense render.

I usually find that OWC is priced right inline with NewEgg for proper modules when you factor in proper heatsinks. And they have a much better warranty - NewEgg sticks you with manufacturer warranties after the first 30 days or so runs out.

Hard drives -- NewEgg is the place. Also check ZipZoomFly. Same with optical drives. The LG H-20L drive is a great choice for a second optical drive in a Mac Pro. It writes DVD's, CD's and Blu-Ray single or dual layer and it can also read HD-DVD media. But so far there isn't a whole lot of options on the Mac for Blu-Ray authoring. I'm hoping this will change with NAB... I need a good Blu-Ray solution, complete with interactive menu capabilities, yesterday.

 

[Nick Wolf]

I heard something about student discounts maybe that can help if you find out what the qulifications are and how to arrange to appease their criteria...Anyone know what those discounts are in relation to list price?

 

[michael zaletel]

I heard something about student discounts maybe that can help if you find out what the qulifications are and how to arrange to appease their criteria...Anyone know what those discounts are in relation to list price?

http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/routingpage.html

Check that link for starters...

 

[Alex Carr]

Hey now dont forget Toast 9! You can use the Adventure theme to the DVD creation tool for your Professional Blu-ray authoring.


just kidding, if you could create the menus elsewhere, Toast at least has the capability to author BD .iso

 

[Ameer Azari]

Sorry for not replying to anyone here, my account wouldn't let me write on my own threads (wtf?) anyway. Thanks alot for all you're help.

For now I'll stick with my iMac as I plan to use 2K/1080p with Scarlet (and I can't afford to get 2 Scarlets and a MAC PRO, so Macbook Pro for now...

 

[Alexander Alexandrov]

digging up an old thread, but need help with this.
I have a previous generation Mac Pro (not the early 2009 Nehalem, but the 2008 one)
it is 2x2.8 Ghz quad core Intel Xeon 8 cores. 12GB ram, 300GB HD. AT Radeon HD 2600 256 mb.

i've been editing in premiere pro on it 720p footage from Nikon D90.
now I've moved up to canon 5d II 1080 and would like to set up a simple raid.

what are my better options with this?
i'm thinking of buying 2x1TB 7200rpm WD hard drives and putting them in internally as RAID0. is this sufficient? or would you recommend going with the external system, buying the raid card, etc. if so, which setup would you recommend.

long term, i'm waiting for red ff35 to come out. thinking towards this future in say 8-12months, is this system worth upgrading even more later, investing long term into, or it's pretty much not worth it with 15000rpm hdd and nehalem processors coming out.

should i just buy a couple of 7200rpm 1tb HDDs, stick them in internally, set up raid0 and be done with the setup for the next 12mo. or so.

i'm learning & migrating towards more pro envir./workflow, red workflow

 

[Cüneyt Kaya]

should i just buy a couple of 7200rpm 1tb HDDs, stick them in internally, set up raid0 and be done with the setup for the next 12mo. or so.

i'm learning & migrating towards more pro envir./workflow, red workflow

yes dont buy computer power for the future.....waste of money