Penn-Ohio

Q: Choosing iMac or MacPro

Looking for input and help in this decision process.  Considering an iMac over a MacPro that I currently have for space and portability convenience and want to ask folks here in the Mac Edit community for their "opinions" and/or "experience" with similar applications, work, or use.  I have retired and want to reduce the amount of work that I do plus clean up my work space from excessive cables and the like.

 

Either system I edit with FCPX, Lightroom, and Photoshop CS5 and use (will use) thunderbolt external RAID 0 Array having two internal drives, external thunderbolt mini hard drives, and an external BluRay/DVD/CD burner.  I will not edit 3D.  I will edit 1 camera 4K video eventually, but not much.  Most of my work will be no rush BUT having said that when I'm working I DON'T LIKE COLOR WHEEL WAITS or mini lock ups.  I'll eventually have thunderbolt single SSD's and hopefully sometime in 2016 thunderbolt RAID 0 with dual SSD's.

 

Below are my current and proposed specifications with the CURRENT MacPro being a Late 2013 "just above entry level" and the proposed iMac that is a Late 2015 and the very top of the iMacs.


CURRENT MacPro - PROPOSED SPEC'D iMac

 

MODEL:  6,1 Late 2013  -  Late 2015 (newest)

PROCESSOR:  3.7GHz Quad Core Xeon E5 -  4.0GHz i7 Skylake (burst to 4.3GHZ

VIDEO:  Firepro D300 2GB x 2  -  Radeon R9 M395X 4 GB GDDR5 VRAM

MEMORY: 16GB  1867 MHz DDR3 ECC-  32GB 1867MHz DDR3 ECC

SSD:  256GB  -  256GB

 

FORMER ANNUAL VIDEO WORK: 50-100 TV programs @ 3 camera HD; ~ 15 Weddings @ 3 camera HD; ~ 20 events; 20-30 commercials @ 1 camera HD; 20-30 other productions mostly @ 1 camera HD.

FORMER ANNUAL PHOTO WORK:  ~ 10 commercials; ~ 8-10 weddings; ~ 3-5 events, ~ 3-5 birthdays/anniversies

 

PROPOSED CURRENT VIDEO:  < 12 TV programs @ 1-3 camera HD; 2-5 Weddings @ 2 or 3 camera; 2-5 events @ 1-2 cameras HD; ~ 30 commercials @ 1 camera HD; 10-12 other @ 1 camera

 

Thanks to all who respond and if electing to make the iMac purchase, I will sell the MacPro and one year old Thunderbolt display.

Mac Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2), 3.7 GHz, 16 Gb, Duo FirePro D300, FCPX

Posted on Dec 23, 2015 4:06 PM

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Q: Choosing iMac or MacPro

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  • by Karsten Schlüter,Helpful

    Karsten Schlüter Karsten Schlüter Dec 30, 2015 2:03 PM in response to Penn-Ohio
    Level 7 (32,713 points)
    Video
    Dec 30, 2015 2:03 PM in response to Penn-Ohio

    Penn-Ohio wrote:

    … one of my least expensive external USB mini drives read 25MB/s.  …

    there's usb2 (white plug) and there's usb3 (blue plug)

    mechanically same

    but very different speed .......

  • by Penn-Ohio,

    Penn-Ohio Penn-Ohio Dec 29, 2015 9:48 AM in response to Karsten Schlüter
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 29, 2015 9:48 AM in response to Karsten Schlüter

    Karsten Schlüter wrote:

     

    Penn-Ohio wrote

    SO, I really don't need the 32GB? I mean I could save a lot of money by going with less memory.

    for FCPX, with consumer cams? I dare to say 16 is enough. (in combo with your GPU monster)

    But I vaguely remember, you mentioned Adobe Photoshop.... ? That eats Ram.

     

    aside: to install Ram in the 27" iMac you don't have to be an engineer. you don't even need tools....  (open compartment, swap in, swap out); so, there's no need to pay the astronomic Ram prices of Apple… premium Ram from reliable manufacturers cost a fraction.....

     

    advice from the mothership:

    Install memory in an iMac - Apple Support

    I do also do Photoshop and Lightroom.  By and far Lightroom a lot; occasionally Photoshop.  This machine will be my "go to" and total use machine with the hope of another run of a broadcast production and/or some events or on location edits.  That is, less emphasis on shooting and more emphasis on editing because it would be easier on my body.  :-)

  • by Penn-Ohio,Solvedanswer

    Penn-Ohio Penn-Ohio Dec 30, 2015 2:03 PM in response to Penn-Ohio
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 30, 2015 2:03 PM in response to Penn-Ohio

    Wanted to respond after receiving the USB3 and Disk Speed Testing it and found that the so called 480-525 MB/s SSD only delivered 312-331 MB/s which is about 25% faster but STILL not the double speed (500 MB/s) that I'm looking for.

     

    Called an expert at B&H and spoke for around an hour or so, ran some more tests, and discussed equipment and configuration and learned that the bottleneck in HDD's or SSD's is the bus highway.  Thunderbolt will handle the speed, no problem at all.  The issue is the number of highways as each highway is limited to about 100-150 MB/s, with 120-140 MB/s being the average.  Thus, a faster drive won't do a lot to help the matter but the number of drives involved.  That is, double the number of drives and basically one can double their throughput speed.

     

    I have also learned that I can plug in another drive box by daisy chain with the two drive unit I have now, and then reformat the new unit and old unit as a single RAID 0 and double the current speed I have now.

     

    Thus, my only question is IF I want to have all four drives in one handy box or have to deal with two boxes.  The difference is 337 for the enclosure and $48 a piece for the drives (6GB/sd, 1TB, 7200rpm) = $529 or purchase another box like I have now $399 a savings of 130 bux although a pain to have to deal with IMO.  Supposedly, I will get in the neighborhood of 600 MB/s.

     

    Thanks to all who have helped in this matter and since two of ya have pointed me in the direction of my source problem, I'll shoot the credits accordingly.  Thanks again.  :-)

  • by Penn-Ohio,

    Penn-Ohio Penn-Ohio Jan 8, 2016 4:22 PM in response to Penn-Ohio
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 8, 2016 4:22 PM in response to Penn-Ohio

    FOLLOW UP . . . I wanted to come back and do a follow up with the whole MacPro vs iMac issue after the machine arrived and got to work with it some.

     

    I LOVE IT !!!  Whether it is the 4.0 GHz (up to 4.2/4.3 GHz burst) Intel "Skylake" Processor . . or . . the AMD M395X 4 GB on board memory Video Card . . or . . the 32 GB 1867 Hz Ram, the new iMac kicks butt.I mean, it is out cooking the MacPro by at least 30% or more AND the back barely gets even remotely warm during hard cooking graphics work.  I'm working on my biggest project to date and it's kicking on like it was made for this.  I'd classify it as a PRO unit and I've had some healthy Pro units from HP as specified and built by Avid.

     

    I love the footprint and desktop space.  I'd post a picture of the set up but it's temporary.  I'm proud of it.

     

    So, for those thinking about taking a step into the iMac world, take a shot at it, just might work for ya.  Mine did.  Plus, if I ever go to sale and upgrade, I think there will be a lot more buyers.  :-)  Put the MacPro and Thunderbolt Display on ebay the next day.  :-)

     

    Thanks to all for your kind help in this matter. 

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