- Video Editing Hackintosh (budget), Do I have the right GPU? -

[TheM0rk]

Hi everyone,

Just want to start by saying that I'm realy excited about the Hackintosh community and tonymacx86. I'm going to build my first Hackintosh very soon and all the info and support I have found at this website has been of great help. I'm planning on building a fast video editing computer, for a relatively small amount of money.

I found a great guide on building a video editing hackintosh on nofilmschool.com. This guy explains that it is better to buy an nVidia graphics card since it specifically works well with Adobe software, like Premiere Pro. The Geforce GTX 570 seems to have the best price-to-quality ratio.

Now the thing is, I am planning on using Avid Media Composer and Final Cut Pro as well. Does anybody know how the GTX 570 works with Avid and FCP? And could you possibly explain why (as well about the reason it works good with Adobe)? I'm A NOOB! Hell yeah

Here is a list wih the components I have chosen. Attached, you will find a list with European prices. All together this will be arround 1580 US dollars. Advice about the other parts is always welcome.

CPU: Intel core i5 3570K
GPU: Gainward GeForce GTX 570 1280 MB Phantom
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H
PSU: Nexus RX-6300
SSD: Samsung 830 series 256 GB
Hard Drive: Toshiba 3TB
Cooler: Thermalright Venomous X Retail + Fan
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16 GB
Case: Antec Eleven Hundred
DVD-Burner: Lite-On iHAS524

Thank you very much!!!

Bye,

Morgan
from Amsterdam

 

[Mate94]

Optical drive: Sony Optiarc 72xx, the one which you want is can cause sleep/wake issues.

 

[TheM0rk]

Thanks for the advise!

 

[skyflyer999]

Hmmm.....For a budget hackintosh, There could be better. Let me help you with parts.

256gb ssd: You could use a 64gb ssd (or even 32) for a boot drive, only storing necessary files and apps. That would save a bunch!

Graphics card: With the money saved on the ssd, you could jump up to the GTX 660ti ($299)

CPU: Ummm, well, at Microcenter, they have an i7 (3770) for $250. You might have a relative or friend living near one pick it up for you if you don't. (Mine closed )
If not, you could go with Sandybridge!

Case: Hey! Every little bit counts! $49 Case !http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233&Tpk=haf%20912

These are just some tips, hackintoshes are very flexible! Good Luck!

Oh, and your graphics card might not be compatible. http://www.tonymacx86.com/graphics/61367-opencl-problem-my-gtx-560-ti-mountain-lion.html

 

[kev7in]

It really depends. The gtx 570 or 580 are the best with double precision math, meaning they are good with 3d (adobe AE and maya). The gtx 6xx is faster at single precision, but bench mark well below the 5xx for 3-d work. If your gaming a lot I'd suspect the gtx6xx series would be much faster (single precision math), but I have never read a negative review about the 570 or 580 other than they might run a warmer and lest efficient.

I am in the process of getting a card myself, and the bench marks for AE 3-d ray trace the 570 blows over most cards believe it or not. The price point is really good too, as they are marked down for quick sales now that the 6xx are out.

There are a ton of builds with the 570 in them fully working so I personally would not be hesitant buying one. Maybe recently there have been problems, but a few weeks ago when I was searching, the user builds section had quite a few machines running them.

I'd research the program you use the most and then look and see if you can find someone here getting it to work.

 

[TheM0rk]

Thanks for the advice skyflyer! The case looks really nice and I'm thinking about buying it. I've decided to go with half of the SSD, so that is now 128 GB. This saves me a lot of money indeed. Going down to 64 GB is not worth it, the price is almost the same as for a 128 GB SSD.

With the money I save I could get an i7 3770. Still not sure about that.

Concerning the grahics card: the nVidia 660 Ti, a comparably-priced card, is known to have problems with Final Cut Pro, and the 5XX cards seem to be more compatible than are the 6XX cards. This is what I read on http://nofilmschool.com/build-a-hackintosh/where-to-buy/

@ Kev7in: thank you for the usefull information. The Gainward GTX 570 Phantom that I chose gets great reviews, especially concerning the heat department >> http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/38...1280mb_phantom_video_card_review/index20.html

But I just found this conversation on creative cow that keeps me hesitating. They're saying that Avid should run on Quadro cards:
http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/45/887088

I just find all the possibilities with the GPU's quite confusing. Even after reading the system requirements on Avid's website:
http://www.avid.com/US/products/media-composer#specifications

 

[skyflyer999]

Well, concerning the Gtx 660ti, we have almost worked out the problems. A few others and I have been waiting for full compatibly as well.

http://www.tonymacx86.com/general-h...ead-questions-answers-here-34.html#post463630

 

[kev7in]

Thanks for the advice skyflyer! The case looks really nice and I'm thinking about buying it. I've decided to go with half of the SSD, so that is now 128 GB. This saves me a lot of money indeed. Going down to 64 GB is not worth it, the price is almost the same as for a 128 GB SSD.

With the money I save I could get an i7 3770. Still not sure about that.

Concerning the grahics card: the nVidia 660 Ti, a comparably-priced card, is known to have problems with Final Cut Pro, and the 5XX cards seem to be more compatible than are the 6XX cards. This is what I read on http://nofilmschool.com/build-a-hackintosh/where-to-buy/

@ Kev7in: thank you for the usefull information. The Gainward GTX 570 Phantom that I chose gets great reviews, especially concerning the heat department >> http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/38...1280mb_phantom_video_card_review/index20.html

But I just found this conversation on creative cow that keeps me hesitating. They're saying that Avid should run on Quadro cards:
http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/45/887088

I just find all the possibilities with the GPU's quite confusing. Even after reading the system requirements on Avid's website:
http://www.avid.com/US/products/media-composer#specifications

Yes you are correct in saying the quadro cards are better professional cards. But you have to decide whether the money is worth it. I can run maya on my laptop, but the obvious results of rendering on it are painful. That said, I am not that familiar with MC so I cant really speak for it. I do know the benchtest on a low end quadro actually got beat by the 570 in AE 3d ray test (google search), so again, in real world test yes it's faster, but is the money vs. time equation worth it. If a quadro card is $1000 and is only 1% faster, will it pay for it in the long run vs. a $250-300 GTX 570, or little more for a 580?

 

[TheM0rk]

Okay, so I will definetely not buy a quadro card!

I can get a Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 for just 60 bucks more. Same with the Gainward GTX 670 Phantom. Any advice on that?

Edit: I think I'm going for the Asus GeForce GTX 670 DC2-2GD5
It goes for just 50 bucks more than the gtx 570 phantom and it get's great reviews:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-670-test-review,3217-16.html

And @ Kev7in: is the 570 still better for video editing than this one?

Can anyone tell me if this card works good with Final Cut and Avid? Still, it seems that the 570 would work good, but for the few extra bucks I might just get a much better video card. I just find it quite hard to find the right information, it's all scattered around the web and everyone has a different opinion!

You can check out my new list attached.

Thanks again!

 

[kev7in]

Okay, so I will definetely not buy a quadro card!

I can get a Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 for just 60 bucks more. Same with the Gainward GTX 670 Phantom. Any advice on that?

Edit: I think I'm going for the Asus GeForce GTX 670 DC2-2GD5
It goes for just 50 bucks more than the gtx 570 phantom and it get's great reviews:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-670-test-review,3217-16.html

And @ Kev7in: is the 570 still better for video editing than this one?

Can anyone tell me if this card works good with Final Cut and Avid? Still, it seems that the 570 would work good, but for the few extra bucks I might just get a much better video card. I just find it quite hard to find the right information, it's all scattered around the web and everyone has a different opinion!

You can check out my new list attached.

Thanks again!

I really cant tell you about the programs you have listed. I really only use Adobe (AE) and sometimes maya so that is where all my knowledge (recent research) comes from. This thread may lead you in the right direction in terms of some hardware/driver differences on the 2 cards: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1030903 but it is in terms of adobe programs, and I cant be certain that they cross over to what you are looking to do.

This benchmark list is for AE, but it shows and explains why the 570 is better: http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/2/1019643
I agree it's tough to figure out. The programs I use, it's a no brainer. I did a search for final cut and it really didn't show much other than get the newer version for future proof, which may or may not be correct.

I'd also search in the forums here for final cut and avid to see what people like the best, and by commenting on the 2 cards desired. I do know for the 3-d aspect (double precision math) the 5xx series works leaps and bounds better.