Video Killer Build

[reeltime]

Hi, I do HD and 4K video work and I'm getting frustrated with my 6-core trashcan and I want to spec out a build to replace it. Seeking advice.

The real issue is the Thunderbolt ports and being limited by Thunderbolt 2. It's not fast enough for the new drives.

This build would need to run:

Avid Symphony
Avid EUControl
DaVinci Resolve
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Lightroom
Apple Logic Pro

The video subsystem is a Blackmagic UltraStudio 4K.

Support for Thunderbolt 3

The build would be a higher-end system, with a budget around $1500-$2000, not including the RAID server.

I started checking out the graphics cards and motherboards, but the options are so diverse, I wouldn't know a good one from a bad one to serve my purpose. I DO NOT use 3D graphics extensively, other than a few Avid plug-ins for title modeling. But I need maximum 2D speed for visual effect plug-ins like Sapphire and Boris Fx.

Thanks for looking, and your help.

 

[kb8wfh]

I'm looking for something very similar and really overwhelmed by the motherboard and graphics card options. In your research, have you found any graphics cards for a hackintosh that will run Adobe's Media Encoder with OpenCL/Cuda? Software rendering is just not an option and I want to move into using resolve more as well. Interested to see what kind of system you come up with and what you think of it.

 

[reeltime]

The two cards that keep popping up for Resolve and After Effects acceleration is the Nvidia Quadro M4000 and the ATI Radeon RX480. The Quadro can still be found, though the P4000 (Pascal version) is now the current version, and I don't see any reference to the P4000 helping in Resolve or AE, and I haven't found a thread that shows it as Hackintosh compatible. The RX480 is tougher to find, it's discontinued since the RX580 is out. I don't know how good the video acceleration is on the 580, whereas the 480 has high marks for video acceleration.

A 1080 card is another way to go, it's a screaming card, for certain, but it's designed for performance in games, not 4k video acceleration, so I expect that card is slower than the other two when it comes to accelerating video.

The 1080 cards seem to be easier to get working.

I found this message (2nd on the page) to get the RX480 running:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/enabling-amd-rx-4xx-cards-in-sierra.201364/page-14

One other option is the Titan X. It claims excellent 4K acceleration, but it's not referenced on Resolve or After Effects boards. So it's a bit of a gamble.

 

[ooblickofdoom]

Same issue. Trying to find a motherboard and graphics card for 4k Final Cut Pro, also need several Thunderbolt 3 ports. Of course, any other buying advice would be greatly appreciated.