new iMac
- Thread starter Vultch
- Start date
Vultch
Well-known member
Ok my new mac arrived (i7 3.4 / 16G RAM / 2G graphics card / SSD main drive and thunderbolt raid etc maxed out) - stating the obvious it runs rings around my old macpro 1,1 both on FCP 7 and Motion..it really blasts along.
I just tried FCP X - it will take me a while to adjust..I threw a few filters on and thought performance slowed a bit..until I realised there was no render..it was doing it real time.. I need an idiots guide to FCP X
I just tried FCP X - it will take me a while to adjust..I threw a few filters on and thought performance slowed a bit..until I realised there was no render..it was doing it real time.. I need an idiots guide to FCP X
Limp along? 800 drives fly for me with FCPX.
bbalser
Veteran
I used T'bolt drives on a brand new MacBook Pro last week for the first time. T'bolt gives an incredibly noticeably performance and speed boost that has to be experienced to be believed. FW800, nope, not all that, trust me. Wait till you try out T'bolt. Remember that the hard drive is the largest bottleneck of any system. T'bolt is everything it's been hyped up to be, and more.
vision_filmz
Carbonite Member
Problem is, thunderbolt is VERY expensive....
With that said, you can install up to 3 internal hard drives (27" model) on the new iMac and even an eSata port. Also 32gbs of ram if you choose. Personally an internally drive even an SSD will be perfect and cost less.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/2011/DDR3_21.5_27
With that said, you can install up to 3 internal hard drives (27" model) on the new iMac and even an eSata port. Also 32gbs of ram if you choose. Personally an internally drive even an SSD will be perfect and cost less.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/2011/DDR3_21.5_27
bbalser
Veteran
Only two internal drives in an iMac, period.
Only 16GB RAM on all but the 12.5" 2.5GHz, period. Unless you want to run the risk of degraded performance.
We've upgraded to more than spec RAM based on what OWC claimed in the past, and had it totally ruin the overall performance of our Macs.
Only 16GB RAM on all but the 12.5" 2.5GHz, period. Unless you want to run the risk of degraded performance.
We've upgraded to more than spec RAM based on what OWC claimed in the past, and had it totally ruin the overall performance of our Macs.
vision_filmz
Carbonite Member
Which doesn't mean anything and yet you failed to comment on the cost of expensive Thunder Bolt drives. You can place a nice 240gb ssd drive for around $400 in your iMac. Also place another internal 1tb 7200rpm drive internally and you can have an excellent machine reading and writing data. It's all about options.....
Heck you can even set up a Mac mini server with it's dual drives for some excellent processing as well.
Thunderbolt with ssd drives built inside would be king, but what are they going to cost, something like $1000?
Vultch
Well-known member
I was keen to have the Applecare warranty so I had the machine built to order. i7 3.4GHz, SSD and a 2 TB old school drive 2 GByte graphics etc etc etc.
This is the first iMac i have purchased for business previously it had been Mac pro's because of the expansion options but the thunderbolt interface changed my mind.
Thunderbolt is not just for connecting to external storage - its a high speed data connection straight into your machines motherboard similar to PCIe.. so hardware such as additional processors or I/O interfaces or anything could be connected, the difference is that these devices dont need to sit physically inside your machine. You could probably mount an extra graphics card in an 2nd monitor now.
Thunderbolt was not really that expensive ( and it will become cheaper) a 4 Terrabyte raid 5 for some £750 uk -- ok I can buy a 1 TB USB 2 drive for £100 (4x100= 400) but I am also getting a Raid array say another £120 and the faster interface.
ps
BenB..you put higher spec RAM in and it degraded the performance ..??
This is the first iMac i have purchased for business previously it had been Mac pro's because of the expansion options but the thunderbolt interface changed my mind.
Thunderbolt is not just for connecting to external storage - its a high speed data connection straight into your machines motherboard similar to PCIe.. so hardware such as additional processors or I/O interfaces or anything could be connected, the difference is that these devices dont need to sit physically inside your machine. You could probably mount an extra graphics card in an 2nd monitor now.
Thunderbolt was not really that expensive ( and it will become cheaper) a 4 Terrabyte raid 5 for some £750 uk -- ok I can buy a 1 TB USB 2 drive for £100 (4x100= 400) but I am also getting a Raid array say another £120 and the faster interface.
ps
BenB..you put higher spec RAM in and it degraded the performance ..??
Last edited:
vision_filmz
Carbonite Member
I know what thunderbolt is and what it does. Im actually buying a base level mac mini and will be expanding it's capabilities with this product that will be released by the end of November http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echoexpresscard34thunderbolt.html
Also if you are not editing 4k files and above I think your iMac will overpower any current job you have right now. You can easily buy something less expensive and still do everything you need too.
bbalser
Veteran
Yes, older Mac Mini's only spec'ed at 2 GB RAM, we installed 4 cause OWC said it'd recognize 3GB in that config. We did three of them, and all three had problems, until we reinstalled the original 2GB RAM.
I think it's commonly known that T'bolt is more expensive than just putting a card or drive inside a Mac Pro.
As for SSD drives, they're still pretty tiny for serious media/video production where I can eat up a 1TB drive pretty fast.
The LaCie 2TB T'bolt units have SATA drives inside them, and still freakin' scream. I'm not concerned with SSD until the price point and capacity are more realistic. Even T'bolt is a tad on the edge now, but hopefully will come down as more drives and such are released.
I doubt you'll see actual "CPUs" in a T'bolt enclosure, but GPU's for sure, and that's much more valuable anyway.
I think it's commonly known that T'bolt is more expensive than just putting a card or drive inside a Mac Pro.
As for SSD drives, they're still pretty tiny for serious media/video production where I can eat up a 1TB drive pretty fast.
The LaCie 2TB T'bolt units have SATA drives inside them, and still freakin' scream. I'm not concerned with SSD until the price point and capacity are more realistic. Even T'bolt is a tad on the edge now, but hopefully will come down as more drives and such are released.
I doubt you'll see actual "CPUs" in a T'bolt enclosure, but GPU's for sure, and that's much more valuable anyway.
Last edited:
Hey Vultch,
Did you get the Pegasus R6 or R4? Just ordered the R4 myself, with 4x2TB, but I'm wondering if I should have gone for R6. The throughput is rated 800 vs. 500, but six drives seemed like overkill. I guess I'm asking, if you know, if performance for video editing is noticeably better on the R6 than the R4, or if it's primarily storage.
Vultch
Well-known member
I bought the R4 my reasoning the R6 will drop in price say in 12 months the R4 has plenty storage for me.
It really screams along, there no hesitation. The drives are raided to keep up with the thunderbolt interface you would really really really need to be pushing multiple layers & graphics before it slowed down, i cant get mine to slow my new iMac slows first.
It defaults to a RAID 5 config which I use, which means 3 T of storage and 1 T used for the parity check error correcting. mine is a 4 Terra system
When your drive arrives you need to leave it plugged into the mains and switched on for 24hrs, it does its own housekeeping on first switch on. Also i may be stating the obvious I mount my spinning disks drives on a separate shelf in my edit suite on rubber mats or mouse mats to eliminate any accident knocks or vibration.
I treat my spinning drives like fragile glass
It really screams along, there no hesitation. The drives are raided to keep up with the thunderbolt interface you would really really really need to be pushing multiple layers & graphics before it slowed down, i cant get mine to slow my new iMac slows first.
It defaults to a RAID 5 config which I use, which means 3 T of storage and 1 T used for the parity check error correcting. mine is a 4 Terra system
When your drive arrives you need to leave it plugged into the mains and switched on for 24hrs, it does its own housekeeping on first switch on. Also i may be stating the obvious I mount my spinning disks drives on a separate shelf in my edit suite on rubber mats or mouse mats to eliminate any accident knocks or vibration.
I treat my spinning drives like fragile glass
Last edited:
Good to know. I'll be moving from a 5-year-old Mac Pro to the 2011 Mac Book Pro (and maybe later try the new Mini) to go with the Thunderbolt RAID, so I'm looking for a real performance boost.
Thanks for the info!