24" Alu iMac & FC Pro 6... enough power?

glosswhite · Sep 20, 2007

Hi all.

I am saving for a 24" aluminium iMac, and 4Gb 667 DDR2 (crucial). Would someone better versed with FC pro 6, tell me:

1/ Is this machine up to the job - especially with the 4Gb installed?. Currently I am using a Mac Mini 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo with 1Gb DDR2 667 and *NO* external drive

. Runs okayish, but a tad slow.

2/ Will I need an external FW drive to render to, and if so, am I better off with FW800, or is FW400 sufficient?

3/ Are there any tips and tricks I can use, in order that the system speeds up to allow uninterrupted rendering etc? (I wouldn't use ANY software whilst rendering).

4/ ANY other helpful advice would be appreciated - I'm a complete video n00b

Thanks. Can't afford Mac Pro (yet).

glosswhite · Sep 21, 2007

glosswhite said:
Hi all.

I am saving for a 24" aluminium iMac, and 4Gb 667 DDR2 (crucial). Would someone better versed with FC pro 6, tell me:

1/ Is this machine up to the job - especially with the 4Gb installed?. Currently I am using a Mac Mini 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo with 1Gb DDR2 667 and *NO* external drive . Runs okayish, but a tad slow.

2/ Will I need an external FW drive to render to, and if so, am I better off with FW800, or is FW400 sufficient?

3/ Are there any tips and tricks I can use, in order that the system speeds up to allow uninterrupted rendering etc? (I wouldn't use ANY software whilst rendering).

4/ ANY other helpful advice would be appreciated - I'm a complete video n00b

Thanks. Can't afford Mac Pro (yet).

{{ EDIT }}

Anyone??

Ooops - sorry for the double-post here; I did *edit* the original one, but for some reason it's crated a new post.

ste6168 · Sep 21, 2007

that system would probably be more than sufficient. I run the final cut studio on my powerbook G4 with 2gigs of RAM and no external and it runs fine.

CAMERA MAN · Sep 26, 2007

Wow 6 runs fine, thats good to know, but you have the faster model then mine, color wont run on it right?

xstep · Sep 26, 2007

Two things. Read the requirements for the FCP 6 Suite. Differently applications have some different needs.

Sounds to me like you are going to buy the low end 24" if you say you can't afford a Mac Pro. When you are ready to buy you may want to consider a refurb Mac Pro. Of course you may need to add a monitor price to that. Also, a model in your budget may not be online at that time.

goobimama · Sep 26, 2007

It should run just fine. And no need for an external drive. The internal one is a fast SATA drive. Unless you are looking at some RAID things. Only don't expect it to render like a zippo..for that you need an 8 core.

Also, HD video might be a tad bit slow, but definitely workable.

glosswhite · Sep 26, 2007

goobimama said:
It should run just fine. And no need for an external drive. The internal one is a fast SATA drive. Unless you are looking at some RAID things. Only don't expect it to render like a zippo..for that you need an 8 core.

Also, HD video might be a tad bit slow, but definitely workable.

I shall be using external drive, nevertheless; it is NEVER a good idea to render to your system drive - sloppy shortcuts from the outset, turn into bad and often hard-to-break habits, in the long run.

HD?. I shall not be using this for much HD. My target audience only have DVD players atm, and I see no real need for HD, apart from the odd item or so, which *needs* HD.

Thankyou for your responses!.