Mac Pro setup (everyone feel free to put in their two cents)

[joshreluctant]

I've wanted a mac pro setup since, god, since like high school. I'm out in LA now, and working as a doorman at a club downtown, so I finally have the cash flow to get a mac pro setup.

Currently, my friend\partner\director has an HVX200, and he's planning on getting one of the new Red Models next fall, and we're planning on doing a feature. So that's the type of footage I need to be able to handle.

I'm planning on getting dual 20" or 23" inch monitors. But other than that, I'm wondering what specs would be necessary for that type of footage, and if there's anything else, peripheral wise, that would help in editing.

This is what I was currently planning on, and I'd appreciate any input.

Dual 3.2ghz Quad Core Intel Xeon's
2gb Ram (going to upgrade to 8gb third party, where it's cheaper, any idea on where I could get the ram for this?)
8800 XT 512Mb card
320gb hard drive (going to get externals for video footage\sound files)
Final Cut studio 2
Logic Studio Pro

And also, if anyone knows a good external input\output sound device that would handle 2 1\4 inputs and monitor output, and also a set of good studio monitors, that'd be great too.



Any thoughts?

[adkimery]

Don't 'up grade' to the 8800GT (the ATi cards are faster and more compatible w/the FC Suite) and what's your budget?


-A

[joshreluctant]

budget's looking to be about 8 thousand. but if it goes up, it just means more time to save.

[aalleexx]

I have that same tower but a quad core 2.66, the old macpro, running with the 8800GT nvidia card to a matrox mxo with dual 23" apple cinema displays, sony triton ntsc monitor, FCS2, CS3 suite

6TB of space external hard drives connected via ESATA
I also have 16GB of RAM from the same company OWC
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB

all I can say I love my mac pro, stupid fast is what some people have said, I have no problem editng RED fottie although I edit dvcproHD mostly

[joshreluctant]

how do you hook the sony monitor up, and then set it up in FCP?

[aalleexx]

you can use the matrox mxo like I do or you can always do it the cheap way of buying the cheapest dv chamcorder u can find with firewire and use that as a bridge from the tower to the ntsc monitor

[NoahK]

FYI- the 23" Cinema Displays have been discontinued and replaced with *icky* glossy LED 24" that currently only work with new MacBook Pros. It's kind of a travesty. That leaves your choices at 20" which are not too bad or 30" which is way too big especially if you want two. So if you want the 23" now- get them while you can still find them at retailers. I suspect at some point the 24" screens will get a DVI adaptor(right now it's Displayport which is an apple invention) but they are still glossy which many people find hard to use compared to glossy. Some folks also buy Dell monitors for this reason, they're cheaper too.

Noah

[aalleexx]

Noah that is funny I was looking at those screens this morning, I was like wtf haha the latest gadget from apple, well this thing is useless for us editors, better get those 23" while you still can:)

[David Saraceno]

ATI 3870 video card.

[bigbossbmb]

the price to upgrade the CPU's to the 3.2's isn't that worthwile.... the next generation 2.8's (which should ship in the Mac Pro 1st quarter 09) are benchmarking faster than the current 3.2's.

save your money and get a good broadcast monitor.

[jcskeeter]

Go with dual dell 24" monitors

Panasonic BT-LH1700W (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/399256-REG/Panasonic_BT_LH1700W_BT_LH1700W_17_Inch_Widescreen _HD_SD.html) if you can
There are other preview monitor options for cheaper, don't know anything about them though.

Other than that the setup looks good. You could drop back to the 3.0 if you want to save a little cash there. Your definatly going to need eSATA Raid for your external drives.

Kona LHe (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/408186-REG/AJA_KONA_LHE_Kona_LHe_12_Bit_HD_SD_Video.html) good choice for input/output/monitoring card. $1384 (dont really "need" the breakout box, comes with breakout cables)

There's my couple cents

[aalleexx]

the price to upgrade the CPU's to the 3.2's isn't that worthwile.... the next generation 2.8's .

very true, I have played with a few 2.8's and my 2.66 will feel the same or maybe faster as far as the processor goes, and the price hike is quite a bit, so that was a big deal to me and I decided to go with the 2.66, going stong today :)

[joshreluctant]

I hear what you guys are saying on the 23"s, and yeah my local apple store still has them in stock. The idiot at the store didn't even know they'd been discontinued.

I also hear what you guys are saying on the processors, but the main reason I was going to get them tip top was so next year when I start with red footage, it's still got the power it needs.

[joshreluctant]

so if anyone works with red footage and really feels that 3.0 or 2.8 is enough, feel free to chime in. I value everyone's input very much, and appreciate the discussion.

[Kwan]

Wait for New Mac pro 2009 (January)...

[NoahK]

Exactly- January MacWorld is traditionally the time for new Apple gear to come out and this time around MacPros are due- IMHO.

Noah

[joshreluctant]

Exactly- January MacWorld is traditionally the time for new Apple gear to come out and this time around MacPros are due- IMHO.

Noah
agreed, i'm probably not going to be purchasing it until the end of january\beginning of february. Or, depending on the control surfaces and such i want (I realllllllly want the MC mix\MC Control, both), i may be pushing it back to early march. I'd rather get a good system later, than a cheap system sooner.