Q: Final Cut Pro X freezing on top spec new 27" iMac, help!

This is an interesting post from the macrumours forum..

"

Yes, that was my problem too. A new iMac with the 680MX and a 1TB Fusion drive.

During an edit with FCP X it would slow down while rendering titles and finally freeze.

Also had the same problem with Motion 5. This was with titles too. the machine would slow down to about 6 FPS then freeze. Not even a cursor.

I talked to Apple rep. 3 times then took it to the Apple Store and demonstrated the issue.

They reloaded the OS.

Next day I took it back and they ordered a new machine for me."

So do we need to replace all our imacs now?????

Bad news, you won't be able to use your machine with FCPX. And going thru the motions and disruptions of back and forth trips to the Apple Store like Gaddster will not contribute in any way to change things. This machine and it's specifictions is not working with FCPX, period. No point in changing it unless it's for another model with different hardware specs.

But other then that it's the best and fastest machine I have had. It really is impressive if you have the 2GB Graphics card lot's of RAM and in my case a 768GB HardDrive SSD

But the only way I can enjoy editing with it at this point is by using Premiere Pro and After Effects. But to benefit from the machine's hardware on these two pieces of software you need to install the NVIDIA driver and make a small tweek so that the software recognizes the card.

Here is a link to how to enable the NVIDIA CUDA capabilities on the new iMac 27" with a 680MX 2Gb card.

http://www.vidmuze.com/how-to-enable-gpu-cuda-in-adobe-cs6-for-mac/comment-page- 1/#comment-8928

Enjoy and don't worry, Apple will fix this.....one day!!!!

Just got of the phone with apple. Getting the same story. The guy I talked to on the phone put me on hold and talked to a "senior advisor" and came back and told me that the engineers are aware of the problem and are looking into it. I've waited a month to get this machine and have people waiting on their projects to get done. they've waited this long on me, I can't make them wait for apple to come up with an update. This is absurd.

Just a thought to you iMac users..

Can you switch Graphics in the system preferences under Energy saver ?

Reason I ask/suggest is that on my rMBP if turn off Automatic graphics switching (Thus in theory should get better performance) I actually get WORSE performance...

Perhaps you guys could experience with that, at least until Apple comes up with a solution.

PS --- Although the system does NOT warn you --- you HAVE to restart the mac for the changes to take effect... At least on my machine..

The rMBP has two GPUs (nVidia 650 & Intel 4000), while the iMac has just one GPU (in our case, nVidia 680MX) - so we can't switch the graphics.

;-)

Sorry - I did not know that ;-)

Just went into an Apple store in London, tried adding 'pixel dust' title to a brand new fcpx project on 27inch iMac with 660mx graphics, which was fine, then tried 680mx graphics and it did indeed crash! Mine is coming in 4 weeks so i really hope Apple fix it by then. I hav submitted feedback to them

Well, I just finished reading all this and canceled my order for an identically configured machine. I'm gonna go with the 675 card with maxed out system RAM instead. What do you think I'll be losing in real world terms, given that I mostly work on projects less than 20 minutes long (although I do tend to go wild with layering effects and filters, having been a long time PhotoShop guy)

in the "Final Cut Pro" Menu there is a menu item called

"Provide Final Cut Pro Feedback"

That will take you there directly

@jstuartbaker You'll be losing quite a lot - here are some benchmarks:

- http://goo.gl/1fzek & http://goo.gl/Mf9v8

- http://goo.gl/KqmDd & http://goo.gl/niD0T

- http://goo.gl/fQc50 & http://goo.gl/D49gB

- http://goo.gl/lQih8

That's a tad disheartening.......... but not so much as what sparked these 19 pages. Basically, I can live with those numbers, although I'm not happy about them. What I can't live with is being at the mercy of Apple's rejiggering efforts on this one. Thanks for the data, Hirschkorn

What I can't live with is the idea that the early bird guys not to call ourselfs idiots cause some of us are (namely me) for having bought the first batch (I always get caught doing this) is that on top of having a machine that does not deliver what was promised we paid more then the guy ordering it today. I bought mine early December 2012 and received it first week of January. I paid 4329€ and it's now 3929€

Don't you love hating Apple? Really, I feel so stupid having fallen into their trap again and succombing to my impulsive buying habits. But then again, how am I supposed to know that one month later the price goes down by 400€ 

We all Paid for the top iMac here so that FCPX would glide and perform as it was intended.

I dont hate Apple, but I hate them for taking the gloss of a abulous machine with this software/hardware fault.

I posted something to macrumors.com, 9to5mac and maclife to see if they could champion the issue for us and maybe get a more thorough response to ease our pain

It was the possibility that this could be a bigger issue than any of us realizes at the moment gave me cold feet. I'm not getting paid for my work but I do volunteer stuff for local arts groups, and while they're not exactly in a position to fire me, they do need to get these projects out. I figure I'll regret bailing at some point.......I just hope it's far enough down the road to take the sting out of it. Anyway, I'm still pulling for Apple to solve this for the benefit of the rest of everyone with the big dog GPU

I've been editing in FCPX with mine and while I've had a few lock-ups, it's been working really, really well.  The sky isn't falling and I'm an Apple user because I trust the company will deliver top notch gear that performs exceedingly well. They'll work out the bugs and sooner or later this thread will die out and be forgotten. In the mean time the glitch is obviously more of a pain for some than others. I love this new top-spec iMac.

Keep the faith.