reviving 2008 mac pro 3,1 8-core w/new video card-worth it?

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robfilms

Veteran
reviving 2008 mac pro 3,1 8-core w/new video card-worth it?

i have a 2008 mac pro 3,1 8-core.

it runs 10.6.8 w/a xt8800 512 vid card.

i'm thinking of updating the os to the last mountain lion.

and that would allow me access to non-mac blessed graphics cards.

i was thinking of installing a gtx660:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...30825&ef_id=k3RP39NIwFwAAB2V:20140612005640:s

i'm hoping that would offer me better performance with premiere and ae.

(and how would a card like that assist with fcp7 and fcp x?)

lastly, is it truly worthwhile to toss $250-ish at the 2008 mac pro to make it more "functional"?

if it does basic edit tasks at 1080p, i would be mucho satisfied.

any and all thoughts are appreciated.

be well.

rob
smalltalk productions/nyc
 
I have not turned on my Mac Pro (similar to yours, but with an ATI 5870 graphics card) in months. It is not too bad running 10.9, but it is not winning any contests in speed either. If there was a PCI thunderbolt port then I would likely look at extending the life of the machine. Good tech in its' time though.
 
David W. Jones said:
I have one of these decked out as bad ass as it can get, and it is a dog compared to my new iMac.
Click to expand...

david-

i hear ya!

but $1800-ish for a loaded i7 27" vs $250-ish so i can keep cutting short web docs in fcp7 and maybe fcp x which get posted to vimeo.

thoughts?

be well.

rob

smaltalk productions/nyc
 
robfilms said:
david-

i hear ya!

but $1800-ish for a loaded i7 27" vs $250-ish so i can keep cutting short web docs in fcp7 and maybe fcp x which get posted to vimeo.

thoughts?

be well.

rob

smaltalk productions/nyc
Click to expand...

If it works now, what's to stop you from cutting your web docs on your computer without spending $250 on a $500 computer?

I just don't think the performance increase will be noticeable. Especially using FCP 7.

If it were me, I'd sell the MacPro on ebay and put the $475 toward a new Mac & 64 bit apps. But then again, I'm doing multi-layer multi-plugin projects where we can't have long render times. That may not be an issue for you. Just my thoughts.
 
David W. Jones said:
If it works now, what's to stop you from cutting your web docs on your computer without spending $250 on a $500 computer?

I just don't think the performance increase will be noticeable. Especially using FCP 7.

If it were me, I'd sell the MacPro on ebay and put the $475 toward a new Mac & 64 bit apps. But then again, I'm doing multi-layer multi-plugin projects where we can't have long render times. That may not be an issue for you. Just my thoughts.
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david-

i looked up on ebay the sold 2008 8 core machines. most sold in the $500-$700 range.

that amount would be a decent return towards my next mac.

which imac do you have that offers decent performance across the nle platforms: fcp7/fcp x/premiere pro along with some light use of other adobe apps ae/ps?

thanks again for sharing your thoughts and experience.

be well.

rob
smalltalk productions/nyc
 
If you can hold off a little, there is suppose to be a new iMac being released in the near future.

As for FCP7, we keep it around running on the old Mac Pro for legacy projects, but hardly ever use it any more.
 
I think it all depends on what you want to do with the machine. For me, I needed an upgrade a couple years ago to do 3D ray traced renders in AE and the Nvidia GTX 570 that I bought off Craigslist for $100 made all the difference. At the time it was faster in my 2009 MacPro than a brand new iMac so it made sense. Added some RAM, SSD, striped a couple 3TB drives together for RAID, and I had a pretty beefy machine without spending too much.
If all you're doing is editing on FCP7 for web edits, do you really need the graphics card? I'm not sure it's going to do much for you as FCP7 isn't too taxing on the computer. Some of the other apps are, and some tasks there have huge dependence on the graphics card. A ray traced 3D animation went from 18 hours to render on the old card to just a few minutes on the GTX570 while FCP saw no difference for me.
 
I agree. We have done duplicate project tests where a project render in FCP7 took 2 hours, and in Premiere Pro it took 7 minutes.
 
David W. Jones said:
I agree. We have done duplicate project tests where a project render in FCP7 took 2 hours, and in Premiere Pro it took 7 minutes.
Click to expand...


david-

again, thanks for adding to the conversation.

which imac do you have that offers decent performance across the nle platforms: fcp7/fcp x/premiere pro along with some light use of other adobe apps ae/ps?

thanks in advance.

be well.

rob
smalltalk productions/nyc
 
I have a 2008 Mac Pro with an upgraded GFX card. It runs FCPx like a champ. I've edited 6 minute to hour long or longer projects without missing a beat. I bought it last September off eBay for $700. Well worth it.
 
FCP7 isn't too taxing on the computer. Some of the other apps are, and some tasks there have huge dependence on the graphics card. A ray traced 3D animation went from 18 hours to render on the old card to just a few minutes on the GTX570 while FCP saw no difference for me.
Click to expand...
David W. Jones said:
I agree. We have done duplicate project tests where a project render in FCP7 took 2 hours, and in Premiere Pro it took 7 minutes.
Click to expand...
What I meant was that FCP7 performance didn't change with the new graphics card because it didn't need to. Everything was just fine before and after. I understand that Premiere is heavily dependent on graphics cards though, as are a lot of the modern NLEs.
 
Well, FCP7 performance won't change because its coding can't take advantage of those things. You're talking about a product that was EOL'd three years ago.

FCPX is a modern NLE which will take full advantage of all cores, better (and multiple) graphics cards, etc. It's the FCP that should be compared with other currently available products.
 
Well I have a 2008 Mac Pro 3,1 and a couple years ago I upgraded it:

nvidia quadro 4000 2GB
20GB RAM
Ext blu ray writer
OSX 10.7 Lion

i have FCP 7 and CS4 installed on the Mac OS
and also boot to WIN 7 to run CS5 and 3ds max

it works well overall. I don't have FCPX though I edit 720 and 1080 footage all the time
 
David W. Jones said:
I have a Mac Quadra 950 with Avid Media Composer 4000 & Film in my attic if any of you want to go really retro. ;)
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Yes! I actually abandoned my Quadra in a move over ten years ago because I didn't even think it was worth the effort to put it in a box and carry it out. On the flip side I still have a more than ten year old MacPro running OS9 that I still use for some legacy software. It's old, slow, but is still earning money like the old man who won't retire!
 
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