Hi, I am stuck on deciding which Mac Mini to get primarily for use with editing AVCHD green screen footage with many filters and transitions using Final Cut Pro X. It comes down to whether the CPU or GPU is more important. Either will have at least 8GB of RAM:
Mac Mini: 2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 with AMD Radeon HD 6630M
or
Mac Mini Server: 2.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 with Intel HD Graphics 3000
Final Cut Pro X, Mac OS X (10.6.7)
I would investigate the best used Mac Pro you can get for the same money.
I will be living on campus housing with others so I'd rather not get a Mac Pro or an iMac. At least with a Mac mini I can either carry it along or lock it up in a small safe. As for a Macbook Pro, I want to wait for the upcoming line remodeling. Do you believe the CPU or GPU is more important speed wise when it comes to adding many effects to video clips?
I would normally not recommend the Mac Mini for "heavy" video editing either. The Mini uses "laptop components" so tends to have lower overall thoughput compared to an iMac or Mac Pro. This also means that a Macbook Pro (or Air) will likely have slightly less performance than a iMac and Pro as well.
...Do you believe the CPU or GPU is more important speed wise when it comes to adding many effects to video clips?
My past experience lends me to believe that it's a little of both, with more CPU than GPU. But a lot depends on what you're doing. Realistically, a 0.1 0.2 GHz difference in CPU or GPU speeds is not so important. But more complex effects often needs more RAM. You may want to consider getting 16GB at a later date. (Apple has a max of 8GB, of vendors like OWC have tested the current Minis to 16GB of RAM.) Again, it depends on what you're doing.
Mac Mini: 2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 with AMD Radeon HD 6630M
or
Mac Mini Server: 2.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 with Intel HD Graphics 3000
That said, do NOT get the one with the Intel graphics. That is not a separate dedicated video card like the Radeon, and uses "shared memory" rather than dedicated memory for the video. It's much better than "integrated graphics" of past Minis, but not as good as the Radeon.
And if you can afford it, get the 7200 RPM drive to partially compensate for the thoughput issue I mentioned previously.
So speed wise when adding many effects to video clips: the fact that the 2.7GHz dual-core Mac mini has a separate dedicated video card makes it more important than the 2.0GHz quad-core Mac mini that uses "shared memory" rather than dedicated memory for the video... is what I've gathered from here. I do plan on later adding 16GB RAM and I always opt for 7200 RPM.
Your thorough answer to each question has been very helpful. Thank you.
There seem to be issues with the current driver for the Intel 3000 in the server model, especially in Adobe apps. No telling when/if Apple will ever fix it. I'd steer clear of it.
Fnyit wrote:
So speed wise when adding many effects to video clips: the fact that the 2.7GHz dual-core Mac mini has a separate dedicated video card makes it more important than the 2.0GHz quad-core Mac mini that uses "shared memory" rather than dedicated memory for the video...
The dedicated video card won't make adding the effect faster, but it will make preview/playback of the effect smoother, so a better overall experience. (IOW, less likely to stutter during playback.)
azdawg99 wrote:
There seem to be issues with the current driver for the Intel 3000 in the server model, especially in Adobe apps. No telling when/if Apple will ever fix it. I'd steer clear of it.
Yikes, good to know! Thanks.
Asatoran wrote:
Fnyit wrote:
So speed wise when adding many effects to video clips: the fact that the 2.7GHz dual-core Mac mini has a separate dedicated video card makes it more important than the 2.0GHz quad-core Mac mini that uses "shared memory" rather than dedicated memory for the video...
The dedicated video card won't make adding the effect faster, but it will make preview/playback of the effect smoother, so a better overall experience. (IOW, less likely to stutter during playback.)
Okay thanks, that smooth flow during preview/playback after adding an effect is exactly what i'm going for. The less the playback lag, the quicker I can make decisions.
My experience is .....FCP or FCPX have trouble with AVCHD. however, Adobe Premiere on the Mac with it's Mercury Playback Engine worked great with AVCHD. We edited with a older i3 iMac and Adobe Premiere and it sees all the footage (FCP doens't ) and Played it back fine. Tough for me to admit it being a Media Composer person but Adobe has some nice products.
Hey there you can get the mac mini for final cut pro bro I am using same set up and it is sweet.
I have this one and it working fine. Have final cut studio 3 on it and still need some extra memory. i had same problem i did not want to buy a mac pro till new ones come out so i use now mac mini server and buy me an extra dsrl canon d7 with the monney i saved out form buying a mac pro quad core. so i wait till next year or wen ever they come out and buy the newest version. I almost bought a new mac pro but i am glad i did not. some one pointed this out to me and had some money to buy a new canon 7d.
2,0-GHz : Dual 500-GB
You all are talking without testing i just bought it with out testing and it works fine. Also wen i am ready to buy mac pro 8 core of quad i will use server as a server 🙂 LOL apple just have you all fooled LOL makes you all drool over more expensive whahah. I tested it ande it works LOL it is even faster then the old i mac LOL
I strongly recommend that you upgrade the ram to 8GB's. That extra ram makes a lot more resourses available to the Intel 3000. Namely you will have 500MB's of video ram and video is much more responsive. 7D footage is H264 Quicktime not AVCHD. Final Cut Pro 6 or 7 reads it.
The quad core mini Server is much faster than the dual core Mini.
It also comes with faster drives.
>The quad core mini Server is much faster than the dual core Mini. It also comes with faster drives.
The only way the server is faster is if it uses all 4 cores, which few apps will do efficiently. As for the harddrive, the i7 dual core has the same drives available as the server.
I own and operate a Mac Mini server with Corei7 Quad core running at 2.0Ghz 8Gb RAM Dual 7200rpm %00Gb drives, alongside a Wacom Cintiq 20WSX, (The older version with 16:9 aspect ratio). Although it doesn´t have a dedicated graphics card, with this configuration it all works a treat. Principally I´m using Adobe Photoshop CS5 with the Cintiq and it´s all as smooth as silk... That new Cintiq looks droolworthy I have to say...
I'm running Final Cup Pro X on a 13 inch 2011 MacBook Pro 2.7 GHz i7, 8GB ram, Intel 3000 Graphics with 512 shared memory. The major issue with this setup is the massive heat generated while skinmming, importing, exporting etc.It reaches 200F regularly, even with SMC Fan Control set to 6000rpms. Other than that FCP X runs reasonably well with the 2.7 i7.
A 2.7 GHz Dual Core i7 with the AMD Radeon HD 6630M dedicated GPU sounds tempting.
My two questions for actual users:
1. does your 2.7 GHz Dual Core i7 Mini get hot when using FCP X? Do you have 8GB ram and a 7200 rpm drive?
2. does the GPU take on some of the non-graphics processing load or does it simply aid in display functions?
Which Mac Mini for heavy video editing?
