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Apple Computing Products:
macOS - Desktop Hardware
SSD vs Fusion Drive
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<blockquote data-quote="joema" data-source="post: 1618319" data-attributes="member: 312925"><p>I'm the assistant editor for our documentary film group and use a 2013 iMac 27 with 3TB Fusion Drive, 3.5Ghz i7, 32GB, GTX-780m, and it works fine. We often shoot 2,000 raw stills per day split between D800/D810 and 5D3. I have no problem processing those on the iMac.</p><p></p><p>Much of my storage is on an 8TB Thunderbolt Pegasus R4, but I've put the files on the FD and it does OK. </p><p></p><p>On my machine the processing of these is not heavily disk-bound but CPU-bound. You can confirm that yourself by monitoring your workflow with iStat Menus. Lightroom import/export and preview generation is generally CPU-bound. It is not further accelerated by i7 hyperthreading, as I've tested that with HT on and off.</p><p></p><p>However FCP X export/rendering is accelerated by 30% with HT on, so it does help in certain areas. I don't know about Premiere.</p><p></p><p>Lightroom doesn't use GPU acceleration for anything, whereas Photoshop uses it for several functions. GPU-accelerated effects in Photoshop CS6 and earlier:</p><p></p><p><a href="http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-cs6-gpu-faq.html" target="_blank">Photoshop CS6 GPU FAQ</a></p><p></p><p>Further GPU-enhanced features added in Photoshop CC:</p><p></p><p><a href="http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-cs6-gpu-faq1.html" target="_blank">Photoshop CC and CC 2014 GPU FAQ</a></p><p></p><p>Premiere Pro and FCP X make heavy use of GPU acceleration.</p><p></p><p>That said if most of your files are on an external array then SSD is likely a better choice. However if the price/capacity of SSD forces you to frequently move files back and forth to a slow external drive, then you probably didn't gain any overall performance over FD.</p><p></p><p>Further complicating this is the database-oriented nature of cataloging programs like Lightroom. Once your stills are imported, tagged and cataloged, it's a little more complex to move them around because the catalog knows their current location. It's easier to have them on an external RAID array so they can stay in the same place.</p><p></p><p>An issue with FD (or any HDD) is you need plenty of free space to maintain optimal performance. The amount varies but recommendations range from 20% to 50% (!!) free space. By contrast SSD retains full performance with only about 3% free space. So that reduces somewhat the price/space advantage of FD.</p><p></p><p>I would recommend a 4Ghz retina iMac 27, probably 256GB or 512GB SSD and a Thunderbolt drive array. If you keep it backed up you could probably get by with a two-drive RAID0 array like the G-Tech G-Raid. If you can afford it and need the space, a Pegasus R4 is good in RAID5. There are external SSD solutions but they are more expensive and I'm not convinced that after you reach 400-500MB/sec of an R4 or similar, whether further increases translate into real-world performance differences at the app level.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="joema, post: 1618319, member: 312925"] I'm the assistant editor for our documentary film group and use a 2013 iMac 27 with 3TB Fusion Drive, 3.5Ghz i7, 32GB, GTX-780m, and it works fine. We often shoot 2,000 raw stills per day split between D800/D810 and 5D3. I have no problem processing those on the iMac. Much of my storage is on an 8TB Thunderbolt Pegasus R4, but I've put the files on the FD and it does OK. On my machine the processing of these is not heavily disk-bound but CPU-bound. You can confirm that yourself by monitoring your workflow with iStat Menus. Lightroom import/export and preview generation is generally CPU-bound. It is not further accelerated by i7 hyperthreading, as I've tested that with HT on and off. However FCP X export/rendering is accelerated by 30% with HT on, so it does help in certain areas. I don't know about Premiere. Lightroom doesn't use GPU acceleration for anything, whereas Photoshop uses it for several functions. GPU-accelerated effects in Photoshop CS6 and earlier: [url=http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-cs6-gpu-faq.html]Photoshop CS6 GPU FAQ[/url] Further GPU-enhanced features added in Photoshop CC: [url=http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-cs6-gpu-faq1.html]Photoshop CC and CC 2014 GPU FAQ[/url] Premiere Pro and FCP X make heavy use of GPU acceleration. That said if most of your files are on an external array then SSD is likely a better choice. However if the price/capacity of SSD forces you to frequently move files back and forth to a slow external drive, then you probably didn't gain any overall performance over FD. Further complicating this is the database-oriented nature of cataloging programs like Lightroom. Once your stills are imported, tagged and cataloged, it's a little more complex to move them around because the catalog knows their current location. It's easier to have them on an external RAID array so they can stay in the same place. An issue with FD (or any HDD) is you need plenty of free space to maintain optimal performance. The amount varies but recommendations range from 20% to 50% (!!) free space. By contrast SSD retains full performance with only about 3% free space. So that reduces somewhat the price/space advantage of FD. I would recommend a 4Ghz retina iMac 27, probably 256GB or 512GB SSD and a Thunderbolt drive array. If you keep it backed up you could probably get by with a two-drive RAID0 array like the G-Tech G-Raid. If you can afford it and need the space, a Pegasus R4 is good in RAID5. There are external SSD solutions but they are more expensive and I'm not convinced that after you reach 400-500MB/sec of an R4 or similar, whether further increases translate into real-world performance differences at the app level. [/QUOTE]
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Apple Computing Products:
macOS - Desktop Hardware
SSD vs Fusion Drive
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