Can you add GHz to your MAC PRO??????

Question

Level 1

5 points

Can you add GHz to your MAC PRO??????

I want to buy an 8Core MAC PRO which consists of Two 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors

Can you add a third Processor?? because with video editing Two 3.2 Ghz is not as much as one might think.. You can buy PCs with Four 3.0 Ghz for 1,000.00 less

Mac OS X (10.5.4)

Posted on May 24, 2009 2:49 PM

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Answer 1

May 24, 2009 4:23 PM in response to Andronikosxx

No way to add more processors...

Jerry

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Answer 2

Shane Ross

Level 8

43,110 points

May 24, 2009 5:08 PM in response to Andronikosxx

My MacPro has 8 processors. Two QUAD CORE processors. MacPros come either Quad core (4 processors) or 8 core (8 processors).

Shane

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Answer 3

Andronikosxx Author

Level 1

5 points

May 24, 2009 5:23 PM in response to Jerry Hofmann

So is two 3.2 Ghz going to be fast enough for editing?? I am doing a lot of chroma keying right now I have an imac 2.66 ghz and I am having to downsize all of my footage from my XH-A1 because it takes so long to render when it is in 108060i. So.. yeah just wondering if maybe someone could give me some pointers as far as what to buy right now like i said i am doing a lot of green screening and I want to be outputing with the full resolution of my xh-a1 without having to convert to 720

Sorry if none of this makes sense. -Nick

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Answer 4

May 24, 2009 6:10 PM in response to Andronikosxx

It's fast enough I'd think.

Jerry

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Answer 5

Shane Ross

Level 8

43,110 points

May 24, 2009 7:50 PM in response to Jerry Hofmann

I'd think the same thing.

Shane

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Answer 6

May 25, 2009 6:17 AM in response to Andronikosxx

How could you add a third, fourth or fifth processor when the motherboard has only 2 sockets ?

Besides which the current problems with Macs and their inability to fully utilise the full power of the processors is not hardware related.

Macs have never made either motherboard or processor upgrades a user option although it is now possible to overclock the intel range of Macs at your own risk . . .but again if the software does not make full use of the hardware there's not much point.

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Answer 7

Zebulun

Level 5

6,749 points

May 25, 2009 8:36 AM in response to Shane Ross

I'd think this thread makes no sense at all and is based upon no experience in the world of tv in general and hdv in particular.

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Answer 8

May 25, 2009 9:20 AM in response to Andronikosxx

Adding another processor doesn't speed up computer performance as you may think. Even 8-core MacPro's is not fully loaded when working in Final Cut Pro - parallel CPUs computing powers do not simply add up. 8-core 3.2 MacPro will be more than enough for you.

But if you really need more power (but you have not justified it here) and money is no issue - buy the newest Nehalem model of Mac Pro.

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Answer 9

May 26, 2009 1:32 AM in response to Andronikosxx

HDV is a processor-intensive codec. Convert it to ProRes and you will experience dramatically faster renders.

P.S. Your system is only as fast as the slowest component. Disk speed, memory, graphics card, etc, all play a part too - not just the CPU.

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Answer 10

Zak Ray

Level 4

3,469 points

May 26, 2009 5:31 AM in response to Andronikosxx

Jon is 100% right (and if you're using Motion for the keying, the graphics card is actually more than the CPU). Steve is also correct when he said the problem with core utilization is not in the cores themselves-- wait for Snow Leopard/FCS3 for that.

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Answer 11

Andronikosxx Author

Level 1

5 points

May 26, 2009 4:39 PM in response to Jon Chappell

Jon you said to convert to ProRest do you mean convert from HDV to DV? How would I do that? Would i just export as quicktime movie and then select from the settings: AppleProRes 422 1920x108025

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Answer 12

Zak Ray

Level 4

3,469 points

May 26, 2009 4:44 PM in response to Andronikosxx

He means convert to ProRes. It's a less processor-intensive codec that uses the frame rate and size of your original media.

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Answer 13

May 26, 2009 10:55 PM in response to Andronikosxx

You could use Compressor for this or recapture the HDV footage as ProRes within FCP. It will remain in HD resolution and there will not be a noticeable quality loss.

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