Video Editors! Help me with my build for Resolve and After Effects.

[CinemaPDX]

Get a dedicated Graphics Card ASAP. Go AMD as it's got built in support from Apple as of 10.13.4, perhaps a SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX Vega56. Don't be fooled by the Nvdidia fan boys. Yes they are faster in Windows10 and on paper, but if you're looking to run FCPX or Adobe Premiere on a Hack AMD is the path of less resistance...

Well, I have considered that and I have no allegiance to nvidia, but it's my understanding that CUDA is better supported in Davinci Resolve and Adobe.

 

[arvids]

I'm considering building a new hack very similar to yours, also for video post-production. I would probably vote for 1080 Ti as the video card, since it has 11Gb of memory and Resolve eats memory for breakfast, especially when things get interesting with a lot of nodes and effects. I see it as a way of future proofing the build. I've had run out of video memory previously in Resolve and with 11Gb there's much less chance of that happening.

AMD is great for FCPX, but that's it. For us - Adobe and Resolve folks - it's still CUDA for now. OpenCL implementation is just not there yet. Hopefully that will change, since if NVIDIA stops producing web drivers for OSX, we're all screwed!

After reading lots about the 8700K it seems that it's fairy simple to overclock to 5Ghz and Premiere would love that since it relies heavily on CPU speed for most tasks. So invest in a good cooling solution.

What I really would want to build for video production is a X299 build with i9-7900x (a.k.a. a proper iMac Pro alternative), but it seems that this would be a much more complicated build, not mentioning more expensive. There's one good guide here on the forums, but the tech talk there had me lost somewhere in the middle.

 

[Lensjocky]

Well, I have considered that and I have no allegiance to nvidia, but it's my understanding that CUDA is better supported in Davinci Resolve and Adobe.

Not True. Apple has recently insisted that all future Adobe updates use "Metal" for better or worse. Nvidia on a Hack is headed for some dark days indeed..

 

[CinemaPDX]

I'm considering building a new hack very similar to yours, also for video post-production. I would probably vote for 1080 Ti as the video card, since it has 11Gb of memory and Resolve eats memory for breakfast, especially when things get interesting with a lot of nodes and effects. I see it as a way of future proofing the build. I've had run out of video memory previously in Resolve and with 11Gb there's much less chance of that happening.

I would go up to 11 (oh, did they do that on purpose?), but I'm trying really hard to keep my budget around $3k. I've talked with people who have the 8, and have good results. I imagine I might hit that wall eventually, but I think at that price it's diminishing returns. I'm also a "get it in camera" guy, but I do like the idea of using Fusion right in Resolve. A dual Xeon build is the dream, but until I win that Academy Award...

 

[CinemaPDX]

Not True. Apple has recently insisted that all future Adobe updates use "Metal" for better or worse. Nvidia on a Hack is headed for some dark days indeed..

Yeah, I know about that, but they are also supporting external cards and both Davinci and Adobe are just deeply invested in CUDA. That may change (even in the next year), but I have work right now. I'm not opposed to altering the build later, but also I've had friends run the tests in million dollar post houses, and as badly as we want AMD to be an option, it's just not there for professional work. As soon as this build is done I have to edit a "big shoe company" commercial. Can't risk it.

It's like why most movies and TV are still cut in Avid. Avid is a dinosaur, and frustrating to an FCP or Adobe user, but it does things organizationally that are important. It's supported by a whole industry and workflow. Also, it just doesn't crash as much. There are innumerable little details that it does right for industry standards. Still, it's a cow to use. I wish everything could be new, but in "the business" the dinosaurs stick around for a rea$on. I do like it when a company takes a leap and moves forward into a new platform, and I think we need more of that, but today I gotta get that shoe money so I don't end up living in a tent. Nothing against tents...

 

[irishmark]

Would be interested to hear how/if this built turned out?

My 2015 MBP is getting very tired with all the heavy lifting that 4k After Effects and Premier work is being thrown at it.

Especially interested in what you went with regarding graphics cards...