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A $2,800 Hackintosh video editing rig

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Hello,

A friend of mine is planning to buy a $2,800 iMac to use for video editing and some gaming (He is a film student). He wants the computer to be as fast as possible when working with Adobe software. I told him that I can build him an Hackintosh that is faster at the same price point. I am currently looking into what I should build, but the gist of what I am thinking of is shown here:

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930k
- Heard there were issues with using these.
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($43.85 @ Newegg Canada)
- Hyper 212 line is lovely
Memory: Corsair Dominator 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($301.98 @ NCIX)
- 32GB of Ram for all of his somewhat fast memory needs
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($249.00 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($249.00 @ Canada Computers)
- I am thinking of putting them in raid 0 and using them to store the OS, programs, and files he is currently editing
Storage: Western Digital WD Black 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($269.99 @ NCIX)
- This will probably have a very fast data throughput as it is 4TB; meant for items he is storing.
Power Supply: Corsair 760W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($161.74 @ DirectCanada)
- My PC uses a Seasonic PSU so why not give him one as well (I believe this Corsair model is Seasonic)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B3ST/BLK/G/AS DVD/CD Writer ($23.00 @ Vuugo)
- For all of his burning needs
Motherboard: ???
- What should I get?
GPU: ???
- I am looking into this. Apparently the newest Adobe software is optimized for AMD cards, but he may be using CS6 which is optimized for Nvidia
Case: ???
- I sent him a bunch of cases he may like that are under $200.

And that is my current draft build. I am wondering how good you would consider it to be and if there are any parts I should switch/add to increase performance or compatibility. This will be my first hackintosh build, so I don't want to mess up. He will also want to be on the latest version of Mac OSX all the time if it is possible.
 
You can go with the 2011 socket, but you are going to see some issues. For example: "Warning: Power Management is NOT working, and may not ever work. This means no speedstep, sleep, etc"

http://www.tonymacx86.com/371-building-customac-buyer-s-guide-july-2013.html

Although it is more powerful, you are going to have the weigh computing power versus non-fucntionality in your build. The i7-3770K is a great processor and is able to be over-clocked to achieve near 3930K level performances.

Adobe huh? Check this out:
http://ppbm5.com/DB-PPBM5.php
 
You can go with the 2011 socket, but you are going to see some issues. For example: "Warning: Power Management is NOT working, and may not ever work. This means no speedstep, sleep, etc"

http://www.tonymacx86.com/371-building-customac-buyer-s-guide-july-2013.html

Although it is more powerful, you are going to have the weigh computing power versus non-fucntionality in your build. The i7-3770K is a great processor and is able to be over-clocked to achieve near 3930K level performances.

Adobe huh? Check this out:
http://ppbm5.com/DB-PPBM5.php

I will check with my friend later to see if he is fine with the reduced functionality. I personally use a 4.4 Ghz 3770k and I found it to be very nice to use. Of course it is slower, which may be an issue when he uses multi-cam footage, and 4k footage (possibly). he really wants this rig to last for a very long time. The benchmark seems to show that the 3930k is pretty much the best.

Also what do you think about storage?
 
My advice would be looking at existing video editing builds, as they share their experience in terms of compatibility and performance as well. You may also want to ask current 3930k owners about how their cpu did over the time. For example 1-2 years after purchase.

btw don't forget to add a screen to the 2800 $ as an iMac has one included.
 
My advice would be looking at existing video editing builds, as they share their experience in terms of compatibility and performance as well. You may also want to ask current 3930k owners about how their cpu did over the time. For example 1-2 years after purchase.

btw don't forget to add a screen to the 2800 $ as an iMac has one included.

I will look into current video editing rigs that there are to see if there are any that are good.

Also my friend already has a 27 inch screen he recently bought that he wants to use. It is just a 1080p monitor though. I would have probably chose two 24 inch monitors for him anyways as there are some really nice ones you can buy for $300. I will check with him if he wants another monitor.

Edit: I talked to him and he prefers the 3770k as it can sleep and he is scared the 3930k will be a bit flaky
 
well if he prefers the 3770k there won't be any issues.
Yes 2 24" are better in my opinion as well. Maybe he can give it back.
 
Here is the final planned build without any monitor:


CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Amazon Canada)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($43.85 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($239.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($314.48 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($249.00 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($249.00 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Western Digital WD Black 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($269.99 @ NCIX)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($427.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($169.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: Corsair 760W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($161.74 @ DirectCanada)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B3ST/BLK/G/AS DVD/CD Writer ($23.00 @ Vuugo)
Total: $2469.01

Anything I should change to reduce costs (slightly lower costs is preferred) or increase compatibility?
 
Here is the final planned build without any monitor:


CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Amazon Canada)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($43.85 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($239.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($314.48 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($249.00 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($249.00 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Western Digital WD Black 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($269.99 @ NCIX)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($427.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($169.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: Corsair 760W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($161.74 @ DirectCanada)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B3ST/BLK/G/AS DVD/CD Writer ($23.00 @ Vuugo)
Total: $2469.01

Anything I should change to reduce costs (slightly lower costs is preferred) or increase compatibility?

I am probably late to the race here but what is your friend going to be working on while in college? You said 4K earlier. In college? WTH! Seriously!??? :lol:

1 - 4TB drive and he is working in 4K?

Will his school give him R3D footage to render and work with?

Which Adobe suite will he be purchasing? Will he be using FCPX?

Lots of questions to ask before plopping down all that cash.
 
I am probably late to the race here but what is your friend going to be working on while in college? You said 4K earlier. In college? WTH! Seriously!??? :lol:

1 - 4TB drive and he is working in 4K?

Will his school give him R3D footage to render and work with?

Which Adobe suite will he be purchasing? Will he be using FCPX?

Lots of questions to ask before plopping down all that cash.

He said that they will probably use 4k cameras in their 3rd/4th year. His current computer is too slow for his editing needs, so he wants a computer now that can handle raw 4k footage. He will probably buy a 4k camera one day when the prices go down (4k for a 4k camera right now).

What is wrong with a 4TB drive?

He is planning to use CS6, but not FCPX.

Is there any other suggestions you have about the current build? I want to make sure it will be able to handle high-bitrate footage which is why I use 2 ssds in raid 0.
 
I am not sure how much power 4k video editing will need but I think a 3770k will not be that amazing. Thats the situation where a dual xeon would be nice. But I can't tell from experience.

It depends on if he will work with uncompressed footage or not. For example 1080p @ 24fps uncompressed is about 600GB per hour. 4K would be about twice as much. Compressed is a lot less. So that will determine the size of the hdd. I guess that is what Solidww wanted to say.


In the end it will all depend on how "professional" he is going to work/wants to be.
 
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