Advice on building a powerful video and color grading system

[RutgerG]

Hi everyone!

This is my first post on the forum. Really like this amazing website and its community already , and I’m hoping to contribute to it in the nearby future.

About me


The reason I registered an account and started to read the forum is -you don’t expect it- that I want to build my own Hackintosh, especially for video editing en color grading purposes.
A few days ago I almost bought a Mac Pro after I almost bought an iMac 5K but then, only just a few hours before I planned to pick it up I made up my mind. Why not build one myself? I’m quite technical and I love to learn new things. I don’t have any experience building computers but I’m keen to develop this skill with the help of this website, and I’m sure it will succeed. Been using apple stuff for quite a while now and still love it, but this time I want it all a bit different.


About the use of the computer


I’m a video/film maker and I work for my own. In post-production I use professional software such as Davinci Resolve (important), Final cut X, Apple Motion, Adobe Premiere, Adobe after effects, Adobe Photoshop and Logic Pro. I mainly shoot HD, but I’m slowly making the switch to 2,5K and 4K RAW, which demands a lot of your computer.
So, I would like to build a machine that can edit 4K Raw in realtime and one that will work great for color grading purposes in Resolve. Also it needs the possibility to connect at least two 4K screens. Thunderbolt connection is important to me.


My idea of the components would be something like this but please correct everything that's wrong;

• Intel i7 (6-core), Which one do you suggest and is overclocking advisable?
• 1 GPU for resolve. Geforce gtx 780 maybe?
• 1 GPU for the GUI which I read was necessary. Which one do you suggest?
• 32 Gigs of RAM. Which one do you suggest?
• Motherboard with thunderbolt. Which one do you suggest?
• 250gb SSD for the system
• A few hdd's in a raid configuration for data
• PSU. I have no idea which one I would need.
• Cooling parts. I have no idea what to get. Water cooling maybe, for overclocking?
• For the housing I have an old Powermac G5 and a Mac pro housing which I would love to use, if possible.

I’m hoping you guys can give me advise on what to buy. Off course, one of the reasons for switching to hackintosh is also my wallet, so please; try to keep it as cheap as possible while still striving for a powerful system.


The last questions I have;

• Is it easy to upgrade when a new mac os comes out?
• What are things to keep in mind wen using a hackintosh?
• Should I overclock the cpu?
• Is it possible to keep the computer silent, as in 'mac pro silent'?

That’s about it. I’m really hoping you guys want to help me out! I’m excited to get started!

 

[trs96]

Welcome to the tonymacx86 forum !

For a new build to edit in 4K you'll need to go with an X99
system and at least the I7-5930K.

The following videos show building a rig with the I7-5960X 8 core.

http://www.learningdslrvideo.com/daves-beast-computer-build/

You don't have to spend 400 dollars on the motherboard though.
I would also go with the GTX 980 over the 780ti they used.

 

[RutgerG]

Welcome to the tonymacx86 forum !

For a new build to edit in 4K you'll need to go with an X99
system and at least the I7-5930K.

The following videos show building a rig with the I7-5960X 8 core.

http://www.learningdslrvideo.com/daves-beast-computer-build/

You don't have to spend 400 dollars on the motherboard though.
I would also go with the GTX 980 over the 780ti they used.

Thanks for your reply and your advice!

I watched the video, and although it's a beautiful system, it runs windows.
You stated that I should go with a X99 motherboard, which I suppose is the best. But after some research I found that setting this up isn't easy, will probably give many complications and the hardware won't work optimal with the current OS. Am I right? . Though I'm technical, I am no professional computer builder so do you think a beginner like me can do this?

 

[trs96]

Thanks for your reply and your advice!

I watched the video, and although it's a beautiful system, it runs windows.
You stated that I should go with a X99 motherboard, which I suppose is the best. But after some research I found that setting this up isn't easy, will probably give many complications and the hardware won't work optimal with the current OS. Am I right? . Though I'm technical, I am no professional computer builder so do you think a beginner like me can do this?

Everyone here was a beginner once too, so yes, I think you can do this. It does require more effort
on your part to learn what to do as opposed to just buying a Mac Pro that you plug in and start using
day one. Once there is a Mac Pro refresh with the newer chipset and DDR4 memory it will be a lot
easier to get an X99 build running OS X. You can start out with Windows on a system like Dave's in
the video. Once there is better OS X support just install it on a separate SSD and dual boot.

If you're completely unconvinced you can build one yourself you could have a pro PC builder do it
for you with the components you've chosen. You would then of course have to install Yosemite after
you've received it. There will be many complete and detailed guides to follow here as many have
already built X99 systems and have them fully working. Just find one that matches your specific
motherboard and CPU and then follow it and ask for help when you need it.

Here's a post from ericmaran who already has Yosemite working on the exact same cpu and
motherboard that D. Dugdale had built for him in the video. He's just using the 980 instead of a 780 ti. The 980 will work just as well after installing the Nvidia web drivers.

http://www.tonymacx86.com/desktop-c...x-gtx-980-early-2015-progress.html#post971932

 

[RutgerG]

Thanks for the effort to explain me this stuff. And, you're absolutely right. I'm just going to try it!

What are your expectations about the new mac pro chipset and when it wil arrive?

Anyway, Dave Dugdale's set-up seems like a good inspiration for building my hackintosh. Though maybe an overclocked 6 core processor is enough for me. And in my case the geforce GTX 980 is probably the one to order since Davinci Resolve is my most demanding task for which the gpu is the most important part.

 

[RutgerG]

Any other suggestions about my build?