Building a mac for editing?

It is time for me to get a new computer for video editing and from what I hear it is much cheaper to buy the parts and build a computer that will end up being faster and better for video editing. At my last internship the owners built their macs for $800-$900 and they could edit any HD footage using FCP/After Effects and Maya flawlessly. When I try to search this all I see is "hackintosh" and PC's with mac operating systems. Is there a way to build a mac? anyone have a good tutorial or parts list? Is it a good idea to use PC pieces? Would I be better off just buying the 1200$ iMac from best buy? i currently own the older version of this iMac and it cant even watch HD footage in FCP.

Being that this is Apple's discussion boards, it's probably inappropriate to get into a discussion about unauthorized 'hackintosh' solutions. But if you're serious about video production, and need something that you can depend on, then you definitely want to stick with an actual Mac. While some of the hackintosh users have had great experiences building their own boxes, they have universally all had to do a lot of additional tinkering, and had problems with compatibility and updates over the life of their machine. That may not be so bad if you're just goofing around and don't depend on the machine for anything, but it's an absolute dealbreaker if you use the machine professionally.
The good news is that unless you're doing some seriously advanced stuff, you can do a lot on a fairly modest Mac these days. 15 or 17 inch MacBook Pro's (paired with an external drive), and an iMac (ideally also paired with an external drive) are solid solutions even when editing HD video (assuming you're not doing anything too effects-heavy), and a Mac Pro (which can easily accommmodate several internal drives) can handle just about anything you can throw at it. While Mac Pro's are expensive to start and just skyrocket upwards, they're extremely powerful and reliable (designed from the ground up to be 'always-on') and even the base model is pretty capable for video production.
Whichever route you go, opt for upgraded graphics/GPU (if it's available), and you'll want to aim for 8GB RAM (on iMac and Mac Pro, you have the option of 16GB or more). A second hard drive is also highly recommended (for your cache and data files).
Good luck!

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Message was edited by: kennethfromtoronto

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Copertop wrote:
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Hi,
I'm interested to buy a new Mac for video editing and I don't know which mac to choose. I need a laptop computer that can run Adobe After Effects and Final Cut Studio without too much bugs. I asked some people which Mac I need to buy, and they told me a Quad-Core iMac 27 inch or a Mac Pro.
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Franklin Schrans
<Email Edited by Host>

appsandhacks(youtube) wrote:
Hi,
Thanks for the great advice, but since I live in Belgium I can't order a Mac from the US Apple Store.
Franklin Schrans
[email protected]
Franklin,
You are correct you cannot purchase from the US Apple Store however the Belgian store does have refurbished section located at: http://store.apple.com/be-fr/browse/home/specialdeals/clearance?mco=OTY2ODY2NQ
I see they don't have anything to sell right now however I would continue checking this site very frequently, products come and go very quickly. If you decide to purchase new in order to get the most powerful iMac purchase a machine based on the i7 processor. You can also call the online store their number is in the upper left corner of the store's home page, they can also provide advice or if you visit your local Apple Store they can assist as well.
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Building a mac for editing?

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