Members One Man Banned Posted May 24, 2012 Members Share Posted May 24, 2012 OK...I'm building out my studio and, for a number of reasons, I've decided to use a high horse power production machine running Adobe Master Collection CS 5.5 (Audition for recording/Premier, After Effects, Photoshop for video work) with a pair of MOTU HD-192 interfaces. What I'm wondering is... Am I better off going with a base 12-core Mac Pro system or would I be better off with an 8 core system and use the extra cash to add an SSD boot drive, a lot of RAM (16-24gb) and a couple of decent monitors? I suppose I'm not opposed to the idea of going with a 16 core PC with similar specs (and more RAM) if reliability isn't an issue but it would have to be significantly cheaper and perform better because I have an opportunity where I can get an Adobe Master Collection license for $400 for the Mac version...if I have to go with the PC version it's $2300. What are your thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted May 26, 2012 Members Share Posted May 26, 2012 If you are talking about having a need for high quality audio monitors, that should be the first priority, not something purchased if you have leftover money from your computer purchase. If you are talking about monitors for viewing your video work, then I would think the answer would be similar if you are editing video and need quality monitors for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TimOBrien Posted May 27, 2012 Members Share Posted May 27, 2012 Even my quad-core iMac is more than you need.I'd go with the 8-core system and spend the extra money for Ram, extra hard drives and decent monitors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members One Man Banned Posted June 11, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 11, 2012 Even my quad-core iMac is more than you need. I'd go with the 8-core system and spend the extra money for Ram, extra hard drives and decent monitors. That's what I suspected. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Today is Apple's WWDC, and I believe they may be updating the Pro - for the first time in a couple of years... so I'd want to see what the news was on that first. As far as what you want to do, I'd probably get a 8 core. A 16 core PC would be okay too, but my thoughts on that are that because of the deal you have lined up, you'd end up spending way more on the software, so any price savings on the computer are going to be more than offset by that $ 1,900 difference in software costs. Also, if I recall correctly, you're currently a Mac user, and I always recommend people stick with whatever they're already familiar with in terms of platform unless there's a clear and compelling reason to switch... and I don't really think there is in this case. I'd get the 8 cores (i7's, correct?), and a gripload of RAM. Make sure your software is compatible with the SSD - I'd really like to go to those for both system and audio recording drives, but I've heard a few reports of issues with compatibility in those areas that I'd need to research first... but the promise of that technology is very cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zooey Posted June 11, 2012 Members Share Posted June 11, 2012 I would look at SSD for the system drive if it would speed booting up and launching programs. I don't see any reason to use it for an audio drive. No DAW manufacturer requires them for full track count, they're expensive, and they may not even be compatible. If you already get full track count from SATA, why even bother with SSD? Especially with a tower computer, where you can easily buy raw drives for dirt cheap and install 4 or 5 of them at a time, and you shouldn't have to move it around all that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Well, with video files, you're talking about the potential for a HUGE amount of data. Making backups and copying it to and from your "work drives" can be a time-waster. In fact, for that very reason, I'd suggest the OP consider getting a Thunderbolt drive setup for doing backups, etc. As long as the programs can handle booting from a SSD, I would suspect that would be a great way to go - it should increase the "speed feel" of the machine quite a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CME Posted June 12, 2012 Members Share Posted June 12, 2012 I agree with the 8-core idea. I was bummed with apple's "update" of the Mac pro. I was at least expecting a thunderbolt port. Should help lower the prices for used models though And Phil what are you running that isn't SSD compatible? I've been running an intel x-25m in my MacBook pro and love it. It boots soooo much faster and apps load super fast too. Made a world of difference in how fast pro tools loads. And mine's slow by today's SSDs standards. Lol. Been looking to upgrade my hack to a sata 3 SSD. I used an old spinning drive to build it with. I used as many spare parts as I could until I knew it worked. And while I've had no interest in using an SSD to record to, there are several people doing just that with portable rigs on the metric halo mailing list. In a way it makes sense as spinning discs are susceptible to errors when shaken. Something that can easily happen live for various reasons. So I've been considering trying that to. Just want to find out exactly what models they're using first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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