Opinions, Mac pro 12 core or 6 core for video editing?

Hello everyone,
I know that this a most likely a rhetorical question but i currently have a mac pro 12 core 2.4ghz 12 gigs of ram (plan on upgrading to 32 gigs) and a 6 core 3.33ghz 12 gigs of ram. I do a lot of video editing (starting to use Final cut pro X) and i do a lot of visual effects work in Adobe after effects and 3D animaton work in cinema 4d. I am only keeping one of the computers.. what are your guys thoughts? Should i keep the 12 core even tough it has a lower clock speed, or should i keep the 6 core since it has a higher clock speed? I dont mean to ask such a dumb question but i want to hear what your guys thoughts are.
Thanks in advance!

After Effects: http://www.barefeats.com/aecs6.html
If you rely on cpu alone, it may look like it is working, or lagging, or wating, but with the combined power of GPGPU can make all the difference.
Communicating over Quick-Path is okay but Intel knows that they need to up the GT and L3 cache to improve it more. ie, there are times when two 6-core Mac Pros are faster than one 12-core, given the same GHz.
the real reason people bought dual with lower clock was hoping it would do more work, but when you have 3.33GHz a lot of work that cann't be dispatched and is not multi-thread or multicore all benefit.
W3680s are relatively cheap @ $600, you will not find X5600 sets unless you can make your system pay for whatever you throw at it and do so in a year to write it off and pay for doing more projects and more income.
This guy goes kind of crazy with custom setup 12-core 3.33s, 960GB SSD PCIe and 96GB RAM.
More RAM helps some areas but not rendering. So find the bottlenecks or throw everything at the problem and hope.
$1660 a piece X5680 - $1470 on Amazon
http://ark.intel.com/products/47916/Intel-Xeon-Processor-X5680-(12M-Cache-3_33-G Hz-6_40-GTs-Intel-QPI)
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-X5680-Processor-Socket-LGA1366/dp/B003ELYSJQ/
Only if you shop ebay for used parts, and by then whatever Intel and Apple agree on next go round new is a better system solution most of the time than to throw $3000 into an older system. $3k would be another 6-core 3.33 if that helps.

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What kind of mac pro specs should I have for video editing?

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Virtually any Mac Pro 6-core or up will work well, but obviously the more cores the better. Save the budget by adding your own RAM (I like 2GB per core) and hard drives (3TB Hitachi 7200 RPM drives are a good value) from reputable vendors. Avoid "green" drives that use lower spindle speed to save energy.
Get the fastest available video board (currently the 5870) and consider consider dial third party displays (I'm using a pair of 27" Samsungs, half the price of a single Apple 27) and look into a Matrox MXO2 mini to handle your grading monitor.
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If you need more help, let me know... I've been on FCP since version 3 and I'm a native Washingtonian. Just don't call me Homie!
Good luck!

I want to upgrade my Power Mac G5 Quad (Mac OS X 10.5.8) for video editing purposes. What upgrades should I make?

Hello!
I want to upgrade my Power Mac G5 Quad (Mac OS X 10.5.8) for video editing purposes.
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Here are other video cards that you can search for that will also work in your G5.
NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT with 256 MB of GDDR3 SDRAM, and NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 with 512 MB of GDDR3 SDRAM
http://www.amazon.com/nVIDIA-Quadro-FX4500-PCI-Express-631-0110/dp/B004XCYG10/re f=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1365657320&sr=1-3&keywords=NVIDIA+Quadro+FX+4 500
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I am comparing the...
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Both will work fine with 1080p AVCHD but you will notice an increase in performance simply because Premiere LOVES a good GPU and the 750M is a good one as far as laptops go. Yes, its more but if you're serious about performance go with the better GPU.
That being said...save a bit and go with this below (same as your 2nd option but cheaper):
Refurbished 15.4-inch MacBook Pro 2.5GHz Quad-core Intel i7 with Retina Display - Apple Store (U.S.)
It'll save you $400. Bam! Thank me later. Apple's refurbished program is top of the line. Comes fully warrantied and you can get apple care, etc. if you want as well. It's like buying it new. These refurbished computers are often just ones bought and then returned within a few days by customers trying things out and there's absolutely nothing wrong with them. They can basically be looked at like new.

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Hello,
I am totally new to mac world.
I read some posts but not clear to me if better a mac mini 2012 i7 2,3Ghz and video card Intel HD Graphics 4000 or an imac 2012 i5 2,7GHz and NVIDIA GeForce
GT 640M with 512MB of GDDR5 memory.
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Thank you
Gianni

If the Mac Mini has not had its hardware changed since the release of Mountain Lion, July 25, 2012, Final Cut Pro 7 is reported as not working in some situations under Mountain Lion. If it has been hardware changed by Apple on or after July 25, 2012, you won't be able to run Lion, and may not be able to run all Final Cut Pro 7's features. The two entries for Final Cut Pro 7:
http://roaringapps.com/app:4449
and
http://roaringapps.com/app:4909
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http://roaringapps.com/app:1384
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Hi,
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You are in a hurry... so?
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http://www.barefeats.com/hard94.html
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/IDE/1TBHDs_MacPro/1TB_hard_drivetests.html#storytop
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http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/

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Among the choices you see under Display Profile on a Mac, what is considered "best" choice for video editing, so that you can assess color, exposure, etc. in your footage as you edit? I have always used Adobe RGB (1998), but realize that I have no knowledge about whether that's a good choice.
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-- Mark Strand

what is considered "best" choice for video editing
there is only one setting for Final Cut; Generic RGB
This is an apple stipulation, its how Final Cut must be set up, choosing any other profile will cause problems with any out put files you create.
Do top editors calibrate their monitors for video
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http://www.storagereview.com/best_drives
http://www.storagereview.com/buying_an_ssd_the_top_10_brands_that_matter
Prices have crashed. Look and you can find Samsung 128's and others for $89 sometimes.
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http://thessdreview.com/category/our-reviews/

Mac pro 2.66 Quad Core - boot drive mirrored, replace?

All,
I have a Mac Pro 2.66 Quad Core system.
I got all 'sexy' when I set it up - loaded four 1-TB drives in the 4 bays, Mirrored the boot set, also mirrored the secondary set for data.
I am getting ready to have these guys filled up (I do lots of video, pics, etc), and am thinking about 'growing' the drives to 2TB or even 3TB disks (mirrored of course, I'm paranoid).
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Can I simply take out one of the mirrored boot drives, put in a larger drive, and it will then rebuild the mirror?
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thx

You cannot just add a larger drive and grow your RAID Volume size. You need to create an empty larger RAID Volume and COPY the data to the larger Volume, e.g., from your Backups.
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Implementing this would suggest a single small fast Boot Drive, typically with an offline clone as Backup for emergencies, and forget about RAID-ing the Boot Drive.

Mac Pro 2.66 Quad-Core 1GBRAM, how much more RAM and HOW?

I just got my Mac Pro 2.66 Quad-Core, and I had a budget so I left the RAM down @ only 1GB because I knew I could upgrade it later. Well later is here & I want to put more in it, but I hear it is a little more complicated than the sensless shoving of big ram chips into empty slots...
I am a heavy user of Logic 7, soon to be of Logic Studio, and hopefully I will be using AutoCAD at home soon (for school). How much RAM would be optimal for me to eventually have? Right now I think I can afford to purchase 2GB more, but I dont know how exactly to put it into my machine. Right now it has a 512MB per xeon.
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I just pulled out 1GB (2 x 512MB) simms in replaced them with 4GB (2 x 2GB) simms.
I had added more memory as 2 GB (1x2GB) and ran out of space. Now I have a total of 11GB RAM:
1GB = 2 x 512MB
2GB = 2 x 1GB
8GB = 4 x 2GB
Leaving me with 2x512MB simms sitting in the box on the self. Sure wish I knew someone local I could give these things to for a reasonable price. Anyway, I wouldn't go any higher than 2GB simms (4GB) as that seems to currently have the best price/space ratio. Crucial is good enough and order it from NewEgg.com or MacConnection.com and you'll get a good price (I got mine at MacConnection.com).

Full backup ( ~ 1 TB ) using external HD - speed USB vs. Firewire vs. eSATA - what are relative speeds - how to install eSATA on mid-2010 Mac Pro desktop ( dual hex-core processors)_

    Hi All,
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Thanks

Jim Bogy wrote:
...I suspect eSATA connection may be considerably faster … how to install eSATA on mid-2010 Mac Pro desktop ( dual hex-core processors)?
      ( The quicker and easier backup protocol is, the more likely one is to use it to backup on a routine repetitive basis.)
Adding a USB 3.0+eSATA PCIe card, which The hatter mentions, is the best solution that I've found. See http://eshop.macsales.com/item/CalDigit/FASTA6GU3/. The card is not cheap, but the USB 3.0 works flawlessly (which can't be assumed; ask me how I know) and the eSATA connection allows booting from the connected drive. Grant Bennet-Alder's point about HD speed is important to consider; in addition, the size of the individual files being backed up and where on the backup disk they're going will affect overall transfer speed. For example, using the USB 3.0 connection on that CalDigit card going to a Toshiba 3TB external, the transfer rate for a big file (say a virtual machine file) from an internal SSD boot drive was about 145 MB/sec while a bunch of little files might drop to 30 MB/sec and both rates decrease as an inner partition on the external is used. All told, a nearly 700 GB backup took under 1.5 hours. Using a HD as the source added almost an extra hour, though a WD external was used for that. Using a WD green drive plugged into this http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/FWU3ES2HDK/ with an eSATA connection took about 2.5 hours also, but that was bootable whereas the USB 3.0 connection is not.
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Obsolete new "Mac Pro" vs Windows 6 Core 3930K PC - What should I expect?

OK, I ordered a pretty fast PC from Amazon, kind of a no-name gaming PC but it had great specs, i7 3930 Six Core at 3.2 ghz.
Installed a Nvidia GTX 670, did the supported cards text file hack, and Premiere Pro 5.5 on it, along with Quicktime Pro, and fonts I needed. I also installed a nifty program called X-Mouse which allowed me to customize my logitech scrolling mouse to use Premiere Pro as I also using USB Overdrive on my Mac - indispensable software.
Got a KVM so I could use my 2 large displays currently hooked up to my Mac on the PC without totally disabling my Mac Pro 2008 8 core - it is my workhorse and I use it all the time.
Finally got the PC somewhat functional on with Premiere Pro and even got it working with projects and media via a fast network connection. It seemed like butter vs my old Mac Pro. My lack of being a Windows power user I'm sure was responsible for my ultimate failure at getting my Windows system, but there could be hardware issues with this particular PC as well. Ultimately it was a total pain to share projects and media that resided on my Mac. Using Premiere Pro on the PC was identical in many ways to the Mac, just faster.
However the PC started going downhill pretty much as I got it working. It wouldn't properly reboot, always spinning in the 'Shutting Down' screen. I had to hard restart it all the time.
Then things started to go south, probably due to system corruption from having to hard reset it. I installed a fresh OS on the other internal drive in hopes it would fix the problems, a whole new set of software to get Premiere Pro working well. Again, shutdown hangs, without any diagnostics other than windows coming up at the hard restart saying there was a problem with the previous shutdown, and wiping out a lot of stuff each time. Then in hopes of curing the ills, a reformat of the drives, reinstallation of Windows 7 Pro, and then the ability to actually install the OS. 2 reformatted drives that cannot b installed with OS. Epic failure. The replacement is on the way.
But this being said, the amount of time in order to make this environment 'cross platform' as well as the indiocyncracies of Windows (to me, I'm not bashing Windows - it seems to be a fine OS!) makes me rethinking the PC for Premiere Pro switch.
I realize the current Mac Pros are basically obsolete, however, MY Mac Pro really is, it's from 2008 and not the fastest model from that era (2.8ghz 8 core, non threading Xeon.)
Investigating "new" Mac Pros, I can get a 6 Core 3.3 ghz threading Mac Pro plus 32GB of RAM for about $3,500. I can get a 12 Core 3.09 ghz for $6,700 and a refurb 2.93ghz with 32GB for about $5,700. The Windows PC with everything I need is in the $4K range. I don't need any new peripherals to make it a direct replacement for my current Mac Pro, all PCI, peripherals will just work. I'm familiar with the OS, and all my apps and plugins will work, no KVM necessary, no cross platform issues. Just not as cost effective as the PC and perhaps slower.
However...
Disregarding the cost, my time is valuable and I probably spend a good 3 solid days getting something non functional to work. There will be continual inefficiencies because I'm not a Windows shop, and I don't foresee this.
Will any 'new' Mac Pro, regardless of the cost, get me to the speed using Premiere Pro of this 6 core 3.2ghz i7 3930K? If I get the answer that the Mac 12 core will get me there, it may be a viable option. If the 6 core will get me 80% there, it might be the 'best buy' option.
Thanks for any advice, really!
-Keith

Thanks Eric and Harm for the helpful answers. I was hoping that Windows 7 had evolved to the point where knowning and using some of the troubleshooting techniques that Harm mentioned would not have to be necessary. I do have the ability / skill, etc, but not necessarily the desire to troubleshoot, but was kind of hoping that I wouldn't need to get to this level on such a simple installation, really it was just CS 5.5 and Video drivers. It is very possible the KVM was blocking on the USB request. This occasionally will happen with a hung device on Mac OS X and firewire, but usually it times out after a while. However there have been those odd times where I needed to unplug everything and even do a NVRAM reset on the Mac to get it back. This is pretty rare though. I even have my Mac set to 'verbose mode' which leaves the unix console up on boot and shutdown so I can track offending things like this. Maybe there is a Windows equivalent to this, which would have been helpful. Knowing that there might be some request that wasn't returning, I left Windows in this state for hours, it never got back. I had no choice but to hard restart it. I didn't examine logs and such, though I could have. I just want it to work or to fail gracefully, and not fail in such a way that makes it unusable and unrecoverable without in depth troubleshooting. I also have to use the KVM, without it I can't possibly use the system. So if the KVM makes the PC hang, then I can't use the PC. It doesn't make my Mac hang.
I am also quite positive that ADK's systems would have been a lot more robust and their emergency DVD's would have actually been able to help me as well as their expert tech support. I also appreciate that though Eric and ADK are a business, that the advice you have provided to me is just helpful and agnostic. This goes a long way to pushing my next PC purchase in the ADK direction!
Getting back to my original question, which was not one of troubleshooting Windows PC's though that advice is helpful...
Seems like a 12-Core Mac would allow me to edit well. I can edit right now with my 2008 Mac Pro 8 Core with 24GB RAM and 240GB SSD and Quadro 4000 and numerous internal and external RAIDs, but just scrubbing AVCHD I see all 8 processors go to nearly 100 % utilization and it's laggy. Not the best editing experience. If I have a few AVCHDs overlaid, which I do, it's almost unusable. As the Premiere Pro project gets bigger and more complex, it seems that everything gets slower. I have no scientific basis for this but I think it's true. It doesn't have to be just the sequence I'm working on, it seems to be even navigating simple sequences will be laggier if in a larger complex Premiere Pro project file.
On the Windows PC i7, for the few hours it was functioning, I was able to scrub AVCHD 1080P footage over a gigabit ethernet like butter. I was pleased with this. It was a very simple 1 track sequence, however. I didn't have a chance to try it with more complex projects before it was unusable.
Would I get smooth performance from a Mac Pro 6 Core, which is $2,500 less than the 12 core? From the basic Mac benchmarking I see, I see a 'rating' of 14000 for the Mac Pro 6 Core, and around 9000 for my current Mac Pro 8 core. This is about 50% more. I don't think 50% is going to get me to 'butter.'
Thanks again for all the helpful advice, Harm and Eric.
-Keith

Currently running 10.9.3. will i be able to upgrade to yosemite just as any os upgrade online? just acquired a Mac Pro 2.4 ghz core duo 2 gb ra 667mhz ddr2 scram 160 bg HD

currently running 10.9.3. will i be able to upgrade to yosemite just as any os upgrade online? just acquired a Mac Pro 2.4 ghz core duo 2 gb ra 667mhz ddr2 scram 160 bg HD

No one knows for certain what the requirements for OS X Yosemite will be unitil it's released.

Mac Pro 2.66 dual core xeon & FCX

Hey guys,
I'm trying to run Final Cut X but my Mac Pro needs a new open CL graphics card and I can't locate anything that will fit my Mac Pro
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
My Mac is a:
Mac Pro 2.66 Dual core Xeon

Read these and watch video
Also, if you read the comment section under this link on the APPLE store people tell yopu their experiences
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC742ZM/A
AND
http://blog.macsales.com/6856-owc-reveals-which-radeon-video-cards-work-with-200 6-2009-mac-pros
Or watch this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUh0uvUHn68
And if you feel like reading more
http://www.barefeats.com/wst10g5.html

Opinions, Mac pro 12 core or 6 core for video editing?

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