Best architecture for video workstation?

[joe12south]

I built my first hackintosh quit a few years ago, to mixed success. Currently I edit on a Late 2013 MBPr. I can't cost justify the move to a Mac Pro, but I'd like to significantly improve my current performance.

I've been lurking on the forum and doing as much research as I can, and I think I've managed to confuse myself to the point where I really can't figure out which platform would give me the best combination of performance and stability.

It seems like Skylake isn't really more powerful...mostly power saving features which I don't care about in a workstation. Is that correct?

An X99 system seems like it would offer the most raw power, but potentially be the trickiest install. Is an X99 system realistic for a production machine?

Then I start getting confused between X97 and Z97? Are they similar in ease of install and reliability, or is Z97 trickier? Z97 chips are WAY more expensive. Does performance justify this?

Sorry for all of the questions, but it seems like this is the most critical decision that I have to iron out before any other pieces can come together.

 

[Going Bald]

I built my first hackintosh quit a few years ago, to mixed success. Currently I edit on a Late 2013 MBPr. I can't cost justify the move to a Mac Pro, but I'd like to significantly improve my current performance.

I've been lurking on the forum and doing as much research as I can, and I think I've managed to confuse myself to the point where I really can't figure out which platform would give me the best combination of performance and stability.

It seems like Skylake isn't really more powerful...mostly power saving features which I don't care about in a workstation. Is that correct?

An X99 system seems like it would offer the most raw power, but potentially be the trickiest install. Is an X99 system realistic for a production machine?

Then I start getting confused between X97 and Z97? Are they similar in ease of install and reliability, or is Z97 trickier? Z97 chips are WAY more expensive. Does performance justify this?

Sorry for all of the questions, but it seems like this is the most critical decision that I have to iron out before any other pieces can come together.

Rather than looking at the PCH (X79, X99, Z87, H87, B85, Z97, H97, Z170, H150, Q150, B150, etc.), look at the CPU socket. The difference between Z and H/B/Q boards is whether it will overclock - Z will, the rest will not
X79/X99 are socket 2011/2011-3 and are workstations grade. X79 is same as current late 2013 Mac Pro and is fully supported. X99 can be made to work with some effort, but no sleep or speed-stepping if that is important to you.
87 Haswell and 97 socket 1150 Haswell refresh/Broadwell boards are getting hard to find since the 100 series Skylake boards came out.
170, 150, 110 socket 1151 Skylake boards are the current "state of the art" boards, but are not yet fully supported last I heard, but that can change overnight.

EDIT: April Buyer's Guide now includes Skylake boards/CPUs.

 

[Stork]

If video is your driving application(s), then, IMO, the important components are in the following order: Processor, graphics card and memory/motherboard.

I would start with an i7 processor and fast graphics card. The processor hyperthreading is important for video work.

The graphics cards in the Buyer's Guide are more for gaming and general purpose coming (although a Nvidia 980 graphics could satisfy your requirement). IIRC, the Nvidia Quadra line of graphics cards are better suited to video work.

A good (not the cheapest or most expensive) Z170 motherboard is adequate if you don't need more than 32GB of memory. If your video applications recommend more memory, you'll have to look at a X99 motherboard, but they're harder to install El Capitan because Apple has yet to update the Mac Pro.

Additionally, check out and post your requirements in the tonymacx86 Video forum section > http://www.tonymacx86.com/video/. There are various topics there that might be useful to help you focus in on the components your need.

 

[trs96]

A good (not the cheapest or most expensive) Z170 motherboard is adequate if you don't need more than 32GB of memory. If your video applications recommend more memory, you'll have to look at a X99 motherboard, but they're harder to install El Capitan because Apple has yet to update the Mac Pro.

This used to be the limit with the Z97 chipset but now Z or H170 motherboards can handle up to 64 gigs
of DDR4 ram. You'd simply use 4 of the 16GB DIMMs to reach that limit. So if you buy a Skylake Micro- ATX or ATX motherboard with 4 ram slots, theoretically at least, you can install 64 GBs or ram. Haven't seen anyone do that yet but it is possible.

 

[Stork]

This used to be the limit with the Z97 chipset but now Z or H170 motherboards can handle up to 64 gigs
of DDR4 ram. You'd simply use 4 of the 16GB DIMMs to reach that limit. So if you buy a Skylake Micro- ATX or ATX motherboard with 4 ram slots, theoretically at least, you can install 64 GBs or ram. Haven't seen anyone do that yet but it is possible.

I stand corrected. Thank you, trs96.

 

[trs96]

I stand corrected. Thank you, trs96.

Tonymacx86 has even got the new 64GB DDR4 Kits in the latest Buyer's Guide !

I'd never need that much ram but if I ever got into Pro Video editing or Photoshop
it's good to know that I could have a higher ceiling for the max amount of ram.

So for the OP, if you will mainly be editing standard HD 1080p video a 4 core Skylake
system with the 6700K and either 32 or 64 GB of ram would be a highly compatible
system that could last quite a few years. Would certainly way outperform anything
you could do on a MBP. If you go with 32 GB make sure to get two of the 16 GB
DIMMs instead of the 4 x 8Gb kit. Then you could easily go up to 64 later on if needed.

 

[joe12south]

Thanks to everyone for their responses. Very much appreciated.

Almost all of my work is finished in 4K, so I can use all of the horsepower that can be thrown at the task. I will certainly stick with an i7. I'll start at 32GB (double what a MBPr can support) and see from there. A beefy nVidia card will surely yield the biggest performance improvement over my MBPr.

I like the idea of building a Skylake system, but I'm concerned about how "baked-in" the platform is for a Hackintosh. I do need this to be my main workstation, so reliability is a factor. I don't mind some level of tinkering (or else I wouldn't be here) but by in large I need to get it set-up and be able to trust it. I could fallback to Windows if necessary, but I much prefer OS X.

 

[trs96]

Thanks to everyone for their responses. Very much appreciated.

I like the idea of building a Skylake system, but I'm concerned about how "baked-in" the platform is for a Hackintosh. I do need this to be my main workstation, so reliability is a factor. I don't mind some level of tinkering (or else I wouldn't be here) but by in large I need to get it set-up and be able to trust it. I could fallback to Windows if necessary, but I much prefer OS X.

Support for Skylake will only get better as 2016 progresses, I wouldn't worry about that. Make sure to follow the standard 10.11 installation guide and a more specific User Build that uses the same CPU
motherboard and brand of GPU that you purchase. i.e. 900 series Nvidia if that's what you end up
getting. At first it seems like a lot of new information but once you get El Capitan installed and fully
working it's not that much maintenance work. You'll become much more self sufficient as you learn
more about how your hardware and software work together.