ok so i was originally considering an imac
but now i am leaning a bit towards a mac pro
looking for some info on some things that i need explained while building it
can some one explain
RAID Card?
Fibre Channel Card?
and which graphics card would be best?
http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB535LL/A?mco=MTM3NDc3NjI
core2duo vs core i5 vs core i7 goes way beyond JUST clock speed.
Get the core i7 if you can afford it
you should just man up and get the mac pro though
why not a PC? unless you are particular to using Final Cut.
Why Mac Pro is quite overpriced for what you get Really.
Core i7 iMac if it doesn’t break the budget.
the core i7 imac is practically the same cost, with ZERO room for improvement inside the case. 2200 for a core i7, 2500 for a mac pro. Only downside is no monitor.
You cannot add drives or video cards after the fact. Even adding RAM is limited.
i prefer final cut
and i am more of an apple guy
the imac i like better then the mac pro because its affordable for what i can spend
it gives you everything pretty much
27 inch monitor included
where as just the 30 inch monitor for the mac pro is 1800 alone
then its 2500 for just the tower, then once u add all the memory and stuff its way more then i am looking to spend at the moment…
What about a 65 with a Cinema display or something? When my friend did his film they had an:
Computer
[RIGHT][/RIGHT]
iMac 24" 3.06 ghz w/GeForce 8800, 4 GB ram [RIGHT]$2,413.16[/RIGHT]
G-Tech G-Raid 1 TB [RIGHT]$521.95[/RIGHT]
Final Cut Studio 2 [RIGHT]$542.66[/RIGHT]
Acoustic Research surge protector [RIGHT]$43.49[/RIGHT]
LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive [RIGHT]$689.99[/RIGHT]
[RIGHT]<b>Total:</b>[/RIGHT]
[RIGHT]<b>$4,211.25</b>[/RIGHT]
LOL @ spending 4k on a computer.
Yeah 4,000 on a PC side would teabag the shit out of w/e Apple had. Apple is however geared more towards the multimedia end. So Unless you are producing some really all out films an iMac or G5 should be sufficient enough
You can buy ANY monitor. It doesn’t have to be an apple monitor, just so you know. 200 can get you a really nice monitor.
I you decide to stick with the imac, definitely get the best processor offered.
yeah i know i can get any monitor, i was just saying, i mean i can get a 52 inch tv for like 1100 :lol:
Also, the memory and extra hard drives for the Mac Pro can be bought independently. IMO, for a few hundred dollar different, you are getting a machine that will LAST a long time. Also, check the resale value out. You can still re-sell them for a mint.
true and i do agree
but right now im not in need of anything rediculous nor do i have the extra cash just laying around to spend on a mac pro
i can get a loaded imac for a lot less and it will do the job just as well as the mac pro
lol @ mac haters
so what is the differences between the core2duo vs i5 vs i7?
OR… just buy a PC and run Leopard
it’s all the same hardware nowadays anyway
If video editing is something you’ll only do once in a while then you don’t need anything new or special. The base model imac would be more than enough.
If you’re going to work with hours and hours of footage on a regular basis and you’re sure this is something you’re going to continue with in the future, then you’ll want a tower for its expandability. It doesn’t have to be new because unless you decide to increase your budget by several times, rendering/exporting sizable movies will take long enough that you’ll either step away or let it run in the background while doing other things on the computer no matter what you buy.
You should also consider how frequently you replace computers. If you’re going to replace whatever you get in a couple years I wouldn’t blow the bank. Whatever you buy won’t be worth much in a couple years if you’re going to try and re-sell it.
Also, you pay a lot to step up each level with the chipsets. Generally the lower/mid level clock speed chips in each class are the best bet. The fastest clock speed in each family is generally overpriced for the performance upgrade you get and they’re more prone to issues. For example, I don’t think going from 2.6-2.8GHz or 3.0-3.33GHz within the same chip family is worth the cost.
Personally I like to let others bite the bullet on brand new big money machines and then I buy them off those folks when they’re a year or two old. For example, I bought a video editting Mac tower off an old roomate of mine for 400 bucks when it was 3 years old. It came with the original receipt for over 4 grand.
good way to put it mike
for now the whole video thing is just something as a hobby but i am going to school for it and i do plan on getting into editing as a career once schools done and i can get myself into the field a bit more
i was planning the 27 inch imac with the base processor, 8gb of ram, 2tb of hard drive, and the better graphics card
but then all the talk of the different processors came up and it got me wondering if it was worth spending the extra cash on it if would provide a great enough difference to get it
i figured it would be good enough for me now to start off, and then i figured once i got into it more and started to use my film as means of income then upgrade to something a bit more pricey and with the ability to expand (mac pro)
i mean i do use my macbook now for everything, and i have done editing on it before
its possible and works fine, but i feel like having alot better of a computer would help me get into it alot more
That imac sounds like a good choice if you want to buy something new. If you get a job in the field you’ll be using machines at work that you’d never want to buy on your own anyways. 
Personally I only edit video once every few weeks and I do it on my core 2 duo Macbook which I have a flat panel plugged into at all times so I have two screens for increased workspace. I don’t mind the render/export times since I just let that go in the background while I do other things, but if I had to do it on that one little screen it would suck.
i do the same exact thing mike on my macbook
i just wanna upgrade a bit and get into something better
i will most likely be running a 27 inch imac with it plugged into another 27 inch monitor and run them side by side to edit on