Mac Pro for video/photo editing

TriedandTested · 23 Jun 2008 at 20:29

For a video/photo editing machine what would you do: either have one 2.8GHZ Quad-Core Intel Xeon and 4gb RAM or two processors and 2gb RAM?

Or, is the RAM best bought outside of Apple and therefore going for 2 CPUs plus an additional 2gb RAM from another retailer the best route?

Neoni · 23 Jun 2008 at 20:31

Get the best cpu you can mate, then buy your ram from an external retailer.

Rameses · 23 Jun 2008 at 20:40

Neoni said:
Get the best cpu you can mate, then buy your ram from an external retailer.

Neoni says it all right there.

I ordered another 4GB ($220 / £112?) from the States today, and another 2GB EVH kindly gave me.

2GB is most defiantly not enough for the Mac Pro at all, I can just tell its dying for more ram, but even Apple realise their prices are too much to force upon customers to have to choose. This is why every man and his dog recommend buying from an external source.

Darryn · 23 Jun 2008 at 21:03

As above, best CPUs you can afford as you cannot upgrade that, whereas the ram can be cheaply and easily upgraded at a later stage.

Slogan · 23 Jun 2008 at 21:14

Buy the RAM far, far away from Apple.

Do a lot of research into whether 2.8Ghz -> 3.2Ghz would really benefit you also. It comes with a huge cost.

revolutionrock · 23 Jun 2008 at 21:38

Huh? I thought the cpu could be upgraded!? ?

Darryn · 23 Jun 2008 at 21:56

Okey kokey, it seems you are technically correct, but, its not anywhere near as simple as upgrading the CPU/CPUs in a normal desktop.

TriedandTested · 8 Jul 2008 at 14:57

Is there a specific part number for an additional 2Gb of RAM? 2x1 is coming as the main order, is it best to add another two 1Gb sticks or a 2Gb stick?

Doug · 8 Jul 2008 at 16:26

You can't fit a single stick, they have to be in pairs.

Nexus · 8 Jul 2008 at 20:15

Just for a bit of a benchmark, I've got a 2x 2.8Ghz model with 2Gig of Ram and I can edit 2K footage in FCP with no issues. More RAM the better though, right.