How much ram, really?

Yeah, I know, get as much as you can afford.....


I just got a new Mac Pro 6-core, which only has 4 ram slots. (why 4 is a mystery, since triple-memory works best with three sticks, but I digress...)

The point is, I want to upgrade from the current 6 GB, but I can't just get 12 GB and then add more later if needed. (Thanks, Apple.)

I am VERY new to video editing, so I'm hoping for a "common sense" recommendation from you folks on how much to get. Basically, 12 Gb, 24 Gb, or 48GB. Money is very tight right now, or I would just get the 48. I know that more ram means better utilization of open CL, but I have no real-world benchmarks.

Mac 6-core 3.33 Ghz.
Radeon HD 5770 card.
Only 4 (3, really) ram slots to work with.
Main editing drive will probably be a PCIe SSD, but for now a WD 10K velociraptor.

Using FCP-X.

I will mainly be editing HD video from Consumer Canon camcorders. AVCHD, unless I pre-convert. (I am new to this, so don't know all the terms yet.) - but then the pre-conversion would also be heavy rendering, yes? so...
I hope to be doing what I assume is heavy rendering: "zooming in" for multiple short sections, creating a continuous fake "vignetting" look, etc.

I'd also be starting with 4 hr long raw files, though I suppose I could break them up before rendering into roughly 4 minute sections.
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So, how much ram would you recommend? Spending a lot for a small tme savings is not worth it, but a huge time savings would be.


- THANKS.

Bump.

Anyone? I need to place an order asap. I REALLY need some advice here.

(This forum doesn't seem to have much traffic.)

Cableaddict said:

Basically, 12 Gb, 24 Gb, or 48GB. Money is very tight right now, or I would just get the 48.

Click to expand...

12gig is going to cost you around $100 bucks, 24gig $250, and 48gig is going to cost $667.99. If money is "very tight"…then (to me)…the 12gig upgrade is the only one that would seem appropriate for a "very tight" budget.

But then again…"very tight" is relative.

- Nick

I would say that if you are considering the 48GB, then opt for 24GB with a "tight" budget. My MBP can run FCP and I am using 8GB, but of course it is not the best, but I am also working on an internal drive...

So with your external SSD/10K HDD, 6 cores, 24GB ram, and a back up solution you should have a really fast workflow.

Thanks, Micro.

I just read a DigiLloyd article where he considers 24 GB the minimum for both FCP and (surprisingly) Photoshop. - though I imagine the latter is only when doing bulk conversion of a lot of files at once.

Well, time to bite the bullet, I guess. 24 GB it is.