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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

The Monolith - kick arse Red rendering PC!

Roberto Lequeux said:
I am planning on making the same thing with just two single SSDs for a dual boot for FC and Vegas
Click to expand...

FC as in Final Cut? Does this configuration run OS X???

Looking into upgrading my workstation and was looking at a pimped Mac Pro 2.26 Ghz 8-core machine with a RocketRAID from Highpoint, using the Maxupgrades backplane mod (see article at Barefeats), with 16GB of Trans Intl ram and the same GPU Paul used, but that costs well over 5000 euros and probably won't have the edge on drive speed, like Paul's SSD solution does.

If this config's faster, cheaper and it's runs OS X then it would be a no-brainer for me...
 
I have been told Hackintoshes can be a bit unstable when running FCP, so look into it.

Paul can you spin up some render time test renders I'm mad keen to see how it rolls and what kind of render times it shoots out.

I'm working on an i7 with a big ol' Raid sitting in the bottom of it. I had a friend punch his Core i7 975 Extreme up to 4.5GHZ and I read about some guys hitting 5GHZ stable! which is crazy. If I could do that it would give my 5k AUD machine more punch than an 8 core base modle Mac Pro, it would smash the Mac into itty bitty bits of junk.

The rig I'm looking at is something like this but I havn't locked in the mobo.

Adaptec ASAR 3805 (raid card. I don't trust software raid anymore :<)
Case: Lian Li PC-X2000
PSU: Corsair HX-1000
Storage: Samsung 1TB SATA II Silencer x6
RAM: OCZ 6G(3x2G) DDR3 Blade C9 2000Mhz may jump to 12 but not sure how much it would be needed.
Processor: Intel Core i7 975 Extreme
GPU: XFX HD4890 (may go crossfire with x2)
MOBO: Asus P6T-SE (the OC controls seem okay but I might try for a EVGA mobo I hear they have bad ass OC stuff.)

I'm thinking of putting a couple of these in OCZ 250G Summit Series SS but that would add almost 2k to the price.

I put the AMD cards in because AMD are working on some tech to get PP to use the GPUs to boost video proccessing by a hell of a lot from what other people have told me about there tests so far.

Anyway what do you think its 5751 total atm.
 
Roberto Lequeux said:
It isn't illegal to install Mac OS on PC hardware, just a bit tricky. http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/

I haven't done one yet, so I hope I don't wimp out or encounter serious compatibility issues with any of the other hardware like the RAID card, RED Rocket™™™, GTX 285, sound. We'll see.
Click to expand...


Hey roberto, I've tried everything to get OS X on my pc, Its bloody hard I tell you. Get the wrong mother board and thats all it takes. Nothing I've done will make it work I even tried virtual machine. If your going to do it make sure you copy or check what hardware has successfully loaded the Mac OS. I spent about 5 grand on my pc, thats 3000 US doolars. Im really guttered that I cant use FCP on my PC, now all I can do is play Crysis Wars with everything on High...!


Jono
 
Hi guys, been busy shooting so not much time for the forums of late!

But to answer your questions, I'm still loving Windows 7 and definitely will buy the final version when it hits shelves in October. Until then RC1 is working just fine! This one's the real deal folks - fast, stable and ready to kick butt!

Richard, if I had to choose a set of SSDs today it'd probably be the new G2 Intel series, 160GB drives, or OCZ's current offerings. Both companies are not only pushing the speed boundaries but giving firmware updates to optimise them even more, as well as actively supporting the new TRIM command.

HTH

Paul
 
Paul Leeming said:
Hi guys, been busy shooting so not much time for the forums of late!

But to answer your questions, I'm still loving Windows 7 and definitely will buy the final version when it hits shelves in October. Until then RC1 is working just fine! This one's the real deal folks - fast, stable and ready to kick butt!

Richard, if I had to choose a set of SSDs today it'd probably be the new G2 Intel series, 160GB drives, or OCZ's current offerings. Both companies are not only pushing the speed boundaries but giving firmware updates to optimise them even more, as well as actively supporting the new TRIM command.

HTH

Paul
Click to expand...

Google the G.Skill 128GB Falcon series, its jsut as fast as the vertex series only way cheaper. I got one and its lightning fast i highly recommend it to anyone :D
 
Dear Paul,

I was curious what made you decide not to go for an NVidia FX Quadro series Graphics card? i.e FX1800

With kind regards,
SDV
 
SDV said:
Dear Paul,

I was curious what made you decide not to go for an NVidia FX Quadro series Graphics card? i.e FX1800

With kind regards,
SDV
Click to expand...

Quadro cards have a way worse price/performance ratio than GeForce cards. And in vast majority of cases, there's no advantage in using a Quadro over GeForce.

My guess is that Geforce GTX 260 costs half of what Quadro FX1800 costs, and is at the same time twice as fast, or something to that ballpark.
 
What Eki said :)

I am not rendering 3D graphics etc so a Quadro is of no use to me at all. PLus I play the odd game when I get a chance.... ;)

HTH

Paul
 
Jonathon Laing said:
Hey roberto, I've tried everything to get OS X on my pc, Its bloody hard I tell you. Get the wrong mother board and thats all it takes. Nothing I've done will make it work I even tried virtual machine. If your going to do it make sure you copy or check what hardware has successfully loaded the Mac OS. I spent about 5 grand on my pc, thats 3000 US doolars. Im really guttered that I cant use FCP on my PC, now all I can do is play Crysis Wars with everything on High...!


Jono
Click to expand...

If you bought and build the PC with the intent to install Mac OS then you definitely missed the all important step you mentioned. You should check and see if people have successfully installed it on the hardware you plan to buy and weigh your options. Trying to do it on a set of hardware that wasn't successfully used before may help others but it is an expensive hobby. All I want to do is get it going and move on. However with Snow Leopard coming out so soon I guess I will probably sit this one out, unless the installs are a breeze.
 
Paul Leeming said:
I am not rendering 3D graphics etc so a Quadro is of no use to me at all. PLus I play the odd game when I get a chance.... ;)
Click to expand...

Even with 3D software and OpenGL shading, GeForces usually seriously kick Quadro butt. And the final renders are mostly done with CPU anyway...
 
What's the difference between an SLC solid state drive and an MLC?
 
I did some reading and found out that most the gamers cards are identical to the professional cards. However, aparantly the drivers are significantly different.
So technically you pay more for the drivers rather than the hardware.
In earlier days you'd be able to download drivers for your cheaper card, but they make it harder to interchange.

I asked because my dad's company use FX quadro's for their high speed roaming with large amounts of photo's (+ Stereoscopic imagery and 3D).
But so said, roaming and browsing through files of larger size seems to be more stable and enhanced in speed on the quadro's. Especially on editing there is plenty of roaming going on I think. (Also since AVID has a keyboard with Jog Shuttle wheel).
That's why I'm going to call my new computer "Romy". And if it doesn't work, I'll call it "Rommel" (meaning "trash" lol) :smash:

Have you been able to run an editing and render test with 2K files on a processor speed of 2.66 Ghz? I'm really curious if it works. It would save me the trouble of overclocking.
Does overclocking reduce the lifespan of your processor? And how does it influence the power consumption need (power supply)?

I'm asking since you wrote that you used to have your own computer workshop / store.

Thanks in advance for your time.
SDV

PS: would it help to post a list of specs what I'm looking at?
 
So Paul, from the picture it looks like you overclocked to just under 3.6GHz?
 
Stefan Christou said:
So Paul, from the picture it looks like you overclocked to just under 3.6GHz?
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's been running at 3.6GHz since the picture, 100% stable :drool:

That's a free GHz essentially.... well, for $100 extra that a top notch CPU cooler cost me over the stock version.

I'm going to upgrade to the release version of Windows 7 Ultimate shortly, then re-bench everything. May put new SSDs in too.... we'll see. Nothing wrong with the old ones as you can see previously in this thread!! Just got that itch to push the system even harder is all.... :ciappa:

I have over 7TB of hard drives in there now. Smallest is 1.5TB Samsung F2.

Ah the fun of 4K footage :drool:

Cheers,

Paul
 
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