Video Editing Hackintosh - Avid and Adobe After Effects

[ZeppDog]

I'm looking to build a Hackintosh for Avid Media Composer and Adobe After Effects. I have some existing drives that do eSata or Firewire that I need to be able to use before replacing them with Thunderbolt Drives.

I have been thinking of using these parts:

Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD7 TH ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (Thunderbolt 2)
Crucial Ballistix Tactical 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory <--- or faster??

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card (2-Way SLI)
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card (2-Way SLI)

Fractal Design Define XL R2 (Black Pearl) ATX Full Tower Case

EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

Sabrent 74-In-1 3.5-Inch Internal Flash Media Card Reader/writer with USB Port
LG WH16NS40 Super Multi Blue Internal SATA 16x Blu-ray Disc Rewriter

Boot drive: Either
Samsung PCIe SSD SM951.with PCIe adapter OR
Samsung 850 Pro 256

PLUS IF NECESSARY (I've read about these and need more info):
Wifi and LAN connectivity
Behringer UCA202 Audio Interface - USB


I have some questions:

1. Will the Samsung PCIe SSD SM951 work with this motherboard in a Hackintosh build and is it worth it over the traditional SSD?

2. Will 2 Video Cards in SLI help with After Effects and Sorenson Squeeze (which uses CUDA for rendering)? I've read various things about the 2nd card not helping on a hackintosh - as if someone couldn't get it working the way it should be.

3. Connecting 2-3 eSata drives - A friend built his hackintosh and he said it had eSata ports on the board. This board has 10 Sata ports - can I make this work somehow.....
and/or...
can I install my old eSata card on this motherboard (It's in my 2008 mac pro now):
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/tempo_sata_e4p.html
or.... ???

4. Case: Do I need to buy extra fans, etc, how will I know?

5. Any recommendation on capture / output cards (ie BlackMagic) - whether via Pci-e or Thunderbolt, etc, pros/cons...

6. 4. I was thinking of adding an OWC Thunderbolt dock, have any of you used this?

7. Why do people buy additional audio interfaces (many boards I see have them?), and is it a good idea to buy the one above?

8. Any advice on connectivity cards?

Thanks for your time.

 

[LiteGaming]

Well let me help since it dosnt seem like people are helping:

1. I will Go with a normal SSD i think the 480GB SandDisk Ultra II SSD is a great deal and pretty fast

2. GTX 970 SLI isnt going to help SLI since its not compatible but 2 CrossFire R9 280x will but it dosnt have CUDA Cores which you need for After Effect i will say go with a GTX 980 ti if you really want to go a head just remember aint going to work well or just use 1 GTX 970

3. Well i am not sure but if you sure wanting this to work then go use the old msata from the mac pro

4. You dont need extra fans unless if you have air flow issues

5. Umm I Guess Both should be fine since they will work but keep in mind if you go with thunderbolt you will need it plugged in first before you open your computer and its not hotswapable

6. Since its a Mac Item i think it will work but you will need to remember this is not hotswapable and you will need it plugged in before boot

7. People Buy other Audio interfaces because the ports or they want to show off or believe it gives better audio or there audio interface isnt compatible or they want to be plug in play

8. well i will recommend you to get the Apple Wifi Card and get a adaptor and you can use the Features like using your iPhone and use Bluetooth stuff and when you dont have ethernet drivers yet the Apple Wifi card is plug in play. Also i dont see a CPU Cooler you want to overclock or do stuff that will pressure the CPU alot like After Effects i will go with a Cooler Master Seidon 120V and also Watercooling is better if you Ambient Temperature is high but will cause you room to get alot hotter but nice in the winter

Also Most Mac now use 1866MHz Speed RAM and also i dont recommend crucial since i ask alot of people from computer stores there repair/replacement rates are high and also SAMSUNG stuff soo i will go with G.Skill for RAM and i will use SandDisk For SSD and SandDisk SSD are high quality and also they cheaper and you can get like a 1TB for like $300 or 480GB for $140 Also since you will be doing after effects you will need more space i will get a SSHD you can get like 2TB under $100
and they are faster than normal HDD

SSD: http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra-2-5-Inch-Height-SDSSDHII-480G-G25/dp/B00M8ABFX6/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1442714276&sr=1-1&keywords=sandisk+ultra+II+ssd

SSHD: http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Desktop-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST2000DX001/dp/B00EIQTKAS/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1442714413&sr=1-1&keywords=sshd

RAM: http://www.amazon.com/G-Skill-PC3-17000-2133MHz-10-12-12-31-Channel/dp/B00CKPJ41E/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1442714507&sr=1-4&keywords=32GB+Gskill


And i also recommend you to use the Mac Pro SMBIOS First to use the Nvidia Web Drivers and move to the 5k iMac 15.2 because they use the 4790k as the CPU and if you dont overclock it will work great

 

[ZeppDog]

Thank you so much for the great advice. It's very clear. I really appreciate it.

For the last paragraph you said "And i also recommend you to use the Mac Pro SMBIOS First to use the Nvidia Web Drivers and move to the 5k iMac 15.2 because they use the 4790k as the CPU and if you dont overclock it will work great".... I may follow up on that with you later if you don't mind, when I get my head around that part of the process.

 

[ZeppDog]

I am reading a lot of negative things about the SanDisk and am hesitant to use it. Anyone else care to weigh in on any of my questions please and thanks?

 

[LiteGaming]

Well SanDisk is a known brand in the Flash Memory Place and i got my SanDisk SSD and it been working for a long time and it still work as the advertised speeds