Final Cut Pro X Video Editing Hardware and Software on Z97X Motherboard and i7-4790K

[starcentral]

17 seconds is really good. I think breaking 50 second threshold is pretty good all together when you look at this chart. What are two 280x card going for these days?

 

[rwillett]

I think the top of the graph is now well out of date. The recent changes to FCP X and 10.11.x makes FCPX run a lot faster on the same hardware. From memory I went from 24 secs down to 16 secs just by upgrading the OS and FCPX.

Here in the UK 280X cards are holding their prices which is ridiculous given the price drops from nVidia. They are much the same price as this time last year, around £200 ($300) or s depending on version. Waaaayyyy too much (and I brought two of them).

Rob

 

[starcentral]

I'm using more Davinci Resolve for coloring on my hackintosh so for FCPX wasn't the priority. Still, it's nice to know there are ways to really speed it up if needed.

Your power supply must be a monster?

 

[rwillett]

I so actually have a monster EVGA 1200W PSU , not because I need it, 850W would be fine, but because it was wrongly priced at around £100. It might actually be 1400W now I think about it.

I was after a smaller one, saw it and brought it and hoped they didn't charge full price at checkout. They didn't.

It never breaks a sweat and is utterly, utterly silent. Very impressed with it and like the cable management.

Then again, its a PSU, I can't get excited about PSU's.

Rob

 

[dogen]

Hello Rob,

Thank you very much for the informative and detailed post.

I use FCPX semi-professionally on a 2012 MBPr and am looking to upgrade to a Hackintosh to speed up my workflow. Incidentally the main issue I'm having right now is real-time color correction rendering done through the ColorFinale plugin, which often overheats and crashes my system with longer files (color correction is being applied to ProResLT files from a Blackmagic camera).

As I'm about to invest in a new system specifically for FCPX work, I'd like to ask your advice on a few topics which I was unable to find in the thread. I hope this will be useful for other members as well.

1. 5th Generation Core i7 4790(k) vs. 6th Generation Core i7 6700(k)
I believe the 6700 has become slightly more mainstream since your original post—what are your thoughts on the newer technology in terms of video editing in FCPX? I realize this would require a motherboard that supports the new processor.

2. DDR3 vs. DDR4 Ram
Many motherboards that support the 6700 also support DDR4. What are your thoughts on DDR3 vs. DDR4 in terms of FCPX performance?

3. Large, High Resolution Display
After several years of editing on my current macbook pro retina display, I'm trying to avoid downgrading to an external 1080p or 1440p display for my Hackintosh. If possible, I would like to work with a 4k display at 60Hz, not only for the visual clarity, but so I can also playback and check 4k content at it's native resolution. However, while I found a lot of information about Nvidia 4k support, I was unable to find much about a) support for 60Hz 4k output from AMD cards within a hackintosh, and b) if it does work, how much stress a 4k display would put on the GPU—would this slow down my graphics performance in FCPX, essentially defeating the purpose of a the speed AMD offers? Do you believe it would be necessary to use Dual GPUs to still achieve notable performance while monitoring in 4k?

Thank you very much for your time.

 

[rwillett]

Hello Rob,

Thank you very much for the informative and detailed post.

I use FCPX semi-professionally on a 2012 MBPr and am looking to upgrade to a Hackintosh to speed up my workflow. Incidentally the main issue I'm having right now is real-time color correction rendering done through the ColorFinale plugin, which often overheats and crashes my system with longer files (color correction is being applied to ProResLT files from a Blackmagic camera).

As I'm about to invest in a new system specifically for FCPX work, I'd like to ask your advice on a few topics which I was unable to find in the thread. I hope this will be useful for other members as well.

1. 5th Generation Core i7 4790(k) vs. 6th Generation Core i7 6700(k)
I believe the 6700 has become slightly more mainstream since your original post—what are your thoughts on the newer technology in terms of video editing in FCPX? I realize this would require a motherboard that supports the new processor.

My views are not based on actual experience, but on what I've read, so take anything and everything with a pinch of salt. I think the 6700 CPU's and motherboards are *almost* there but not quite yet. I use my Hack for development (I run a mobile app business) and am quite conservative about my hardware. I would prefer stability over everything. There are still (IMHO) too many issues with the new Skylake systems though they are getting resolved. Personally speaking I wouldn't go with a 6700 based new system for at least three months so somebody else can iron out the bugs and configuration. I suspect that in three months time, it will be a good move but not yet. However I'm conservative YMMV.

2. DDR3 vs. DDR4 Ram
Many motherboards that support the 6700 also support DDR4. What are your thoughts on DDR3 vs. DDR4 in terms of FCPX performance?

I don't think there's much performance difference. See http://www.anandtech.com/show/8959/...-3200-with-gskill-corsair-adata-and-crucial/8 for more information. I know that some people get really excited about a 5% speed difference. Not sure what benefits DDR4 really brings.

3. Large, High Resolution Display
After several years of editing on my current macbook pro retina display, I'm trying to avoid downgrading to an external 1080p or 1440p display for my Hackintosh. If possible, I would like to work with a 4k display at 60Hz, not only for the visual clarity, but so I can also playback and check 4k content at it's native resolution. However, while I found a lot of information about Nvidia 4k support, I was unable to find much about a) support for 60Hz 4k output from AMD cards within a hackintosh, and b) if it does work, how much stress a 4k display would put on the GPU—would this slow down my graphics performance in FCPX, essentially defeating the purpose of a the speed AMD offers? Do you believe it would be necessary to use Dual GPUs to still achieve notable performance while monitoring in 4k?

Don't know much about this area at all. I have a Macbook Pro Retina as well and am happy with triple 1920x1024 HD monitors. FCPX can only really use two monitors (TIM COOK - WHY OH WHY?) but since I develop I want screen space for terminals, debuggers etc etc.

Certainly dual GPU's make life easier and smoother but can't comment on 4K so don't want to guess.

Rob

 

[zangadao]

How much hardware do you need for a good final cut pro build for editing 4k video?

CPU.... is 4-cores, 4-threads enough? ( Quad Core Intel i5, i7 , Xeon )
Ram....16, 32, 48, 64, 96gb ?
Graphics....Nvidia? AMD ? is GT 740 enough? is GTX 750ti enough or should I go with AMD 280x? GTX 980 is too expensive. Budget about $250. Which support HDMI 2.0 and 4K video Display ?
Hard-drive....Boot drive 256 SSD is this okay or should I use a 2nd dedicated 256gb scratch SSD or hard-drive?

I have saw this video on Youtube where you can edit 4K video on a Macbook 12-inch
notebook with Final Cut Pro.

Macbook 12-inch
CPU - Intel-M @ 1.2ghz ( 2-cores, 4-threads )
memory = 8gb.
hard-drive = 256 ssd
Graphics = Intel HD 5300

[video=youtube;KnapaZYD2cU]

Does the Intel CPU support "FCPX" ?
Which Graphics cards are best for "FCPX" and Support HDMI 2.0 and 4k Displays?


-Thanks in advance.

So, this MacBook editing 4k is ridiculous. They can edit, but... lets talk about export. FCPx and premiere in some cases, has a some trouble and take a long time to export a clip in real Mac Pro (and in a good customacs).
FCP and premiere can use proxys to accelerate edit in low system, yeah, but it not means you can "work" with MacBook. Maybe you can edit your home video, or little vacations video for Youtube or Vimeo.

Here, in my studio, we use A Mac Pro (2013) and Custom Mac (one is from my signature), and both works well.
My advice is you can thing in all workflow process. Just buy 2 ssds (one for system and other only for Scrath disk), and use large and fast HD (raid if is possible) to store all movie originals files. We prefer use premiere here, because is more easy management of all files from composition. FCPX uses a strange library system, putting all stuffs in a "close file folder" (include temporary files, copy of files, proxys and more more more junkies) and if you has a little codec error, corruption of file, is a nightmare to fix it.

edit: another point: the FCPX files is very hard to make a simple backup. because the strange system (see above), the project has a hugh sizes, and you will backup unnecessary files all the time. Premiere (like after) has a small files and the backup, management files (including spare files in many BD-disks) is more easy to do and restore.

In my custom macs we use a MSI gtx 960 4gb (2 GB of vram is a minimum require to decent editing in 4k) and in other we use a MSI GTX 970 4gb, both of then build with a GA-z97-D3H with 32 gb for ram (HiperX). We choose Nvidia because is more easy to install, more faster than AMD (but means is more racional choice too, because we use the adobe solution in a major part of all process, including Illustrator, After Effects, Photoshop).

We edit a original from c300, c300 mkII, goPro, 5DmkIII and Alexa materials, all in our workflow with no problems.

Sorry my poor English.

best regards.

 

[dogen]

Rob,

Thank you very much for your prompt reply. I'll be sure to use the information you've provided in this thread for my build! Again, very much appreciated.

 

[Slothy]

Can anyone explain why the z97x motherboard is preferred for fcpx?

There are many other z97 boards, and before i limit myself to the x series, I was hoping to understand why...

Thanks

 

[trs96]

Can anyone explain why the z97x motherboard is preferred for fcpx?

There are many other z97 boards, and before i limit myself to the x series, I was hoping to understand why...
Thanks

I'm not sure exactly what the X after 97 indicates. Someone from Gigabyte could tell you. Seems that the X versions are closer to the workstation and server motherboards. They never use Realtek LAN chips which are cheaper and less reliable. They are designed to last longer under intensive usage as opposed to H97 and Z97s which are more focused on general home and business usage. You could think of them as a Professional version of the standard Z97 motherboards.

From the Z97X-UD3H experience I've had I'd say they are definitely worth the minimal extra cost to buy one. Got a new one for under 100 dollars after rebate a few years ago.