GPU that will work OOB that is also silent for music studio

[slim.jim]

The only option you have for 4K and passively cooled that I can think of is the Palit GTX 1050ti KalmX.

 

[luckyal]

I guess I also failed to note that I’d edit in final cut from time to time. Not sure if Nvidia is as efficient as AMD for Fcp.

 

[luckyal]

The only option you have for 4K and passively cooled that I can think of is the Palit GTX 1050ti KalmX.

Very interesting! Found a video of a guy installing this very card in his music studio pc.

 

[pastrychef]

If you are a FCPX user, you will benefit from going with an AMD GPU.

 

[Snowy]

RX560?

#7

AMD all the way for my next card. osx86 project used to be fun but these NVidia drivers take all the fun out!
I'm still on 10.12.6 because of this mess. First time since 10.4 that I don't even want to upgrade OSX.
And even then these security updates still break our Nvidia drivers.
Why people still recommend Nvidia these days is beyond me.
Good luck mate!

 

[JCMunsonII]

I have an nVidia 1070 FTW2 card - for daily use, etc., haven't heard one peep from the fans.

Now, I haven't really "driven" the card through anything like FCP, but I do use PS CC (and done some 3D work therein) and AI quite a lot - still no peep from the fans.

I do have a game that I sometimes play, still no peep from the fans (and I have the settings turned up).

All that being said, I don't know how "noisy" that card would be under FCP. Considering Apple has gone with AMD, and if FCP is a high priority, you may be better off with the AMD cards. I understand they run fairly warm though and may thus require some better cooling. I am no expert there - I have an nVidia card.

There is a 1070Ti "silent" card that has been released. If nVidia is still under consideration, give that a look - it may work for you.

As for the nVidia drivers, I haven't had any problems with them (other than needing to wait for a driver release after an OS update). In fact, the current crop has fixed a previous-to-High-Sierra issue.

Just my two cents.

 

[luckyal]

I'm still on 10.12.6 because of this mess.

Considering you're on a hackintosh, that's not that old.

 

[luckyal]

I have an nVidia 1070 FTW2 card - for daily use, etc., haven't heard one peep from the fans.

Now, I haven't really "driven" the card through anything like FCP, but I do use PS CC (and done some 3D work therein) and AI quite a lot - still no peep from the fans.

I do have a game that I sometimes play, still no peep from the fans (and I have the settings turned up).

All that being said, I don't know how "noisy" that card would be under FCP. Considering Apple has gone with AMD, and if FCP is a high priority, you may be better off with the AMD cards. I understand they run fairly warm though and may thus require some better cooling. I am no expert there - I have an nVidia card.

There is a 1070Ti "silent" card that has been released. If nVidia is still under consideration, give that a look - it may work for you.

As for the nVidia drivers, I haven't had any problems with them (other than needing to wait for a driver release after an OS update). In fact, the current crop has fixed a previous-to-High-Sierra issue.

Just my two cents.

I appreciate the input. I don't want to exaggerate the silence. The noise level is only important when I'm recording vocals or live instruments with a condenser mic. Any noise from the computer during FCP editing is going to be negligible. I'm also by no means a heavy FCP user. I may go ahead and just use iMovie. All I really need it for is to take my massive collection of home videos of the kids, and properly archive them. 99% of the time this machine will be use for audio work in Logic Pro X. I'm a big fan of Slate plugins and my existing late 2009 2.8 i7 iMac just wasn't cuttin it, so it's upgrade time. Between the FreeNAS server with 8x8TB WD Reds I just put into my garage, and the cost of this machine, I'm pushing the limits of my budget, so I'm looking to cut corners on things like the GPU and possibly RAM. The latter of which seems like an impossible feat at the moment.

 

[JCMunsonII]

Consider an "insulated" case - that will cut noise down markedly. My Corsair 540 Air, being so open, while the system fans are actually pretty quiet, does broadcast a bit of noise due to the processor spiking via overclock. But, compared to my Alienware of a few generations ago, which is a jet engine, this is a whisper...

There are fans that are designed to be more quiet, so also consider that too.

 

[luckyal]

Consider an "insulated" case - that will cut noise down markedly. My Corsair 540 Air, being so open, while the system fans are actually pretty quiet, does broadcast a bit of noise due to the processor spiking via overclock. But, compared to my Alienware of a few generations ago, which is a jet engine, this is a whisper...

There are fans that are designed to be more quiet, so also consider that too.

Yep, I went with a Fractal Design R5. Don't care about aesthetics, though it's not an ugly case.