Proper Mac Workstation for 4K video editing?

[SmittyNY]

I've decided to make plans to invest in a 4K DLSR. Specifically the Panasonic GH4. However, I'm not sure how well either of my two work stations can handle 4K video editing production.

My MacPro desktop is running Yosemite with 16Gib of Ram, 256 gig SSD. I upgraded the processor to an Intel X5365, 3 Gig Hz, 8 core processor. My prefered app is Final Cut Pro X.

My MacPro laptop is running Intel Core Duo with 2 GHz, 2 GiB of ram, and a 120 gib SSD. I'm currently running Final Cut Pro version 7.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Smitty

[smrpix]

Videoguys is a great place to get some real numbers:
http://www.videoguys.com/blog/computer-hardware/videoguys-april-2015-update-system-rec...video-editing/

[glenpinn]

Videoguys is a great place to get some real numbers:
http://www.videoguys.com/blog/computer-hardware/videoguys-april-2015-update-system-rec...video-editing/

That site should have a section listing the various formats that editors might be using, then create a set of specs for that specific type of work, or at least offer the recommended type of CPU to do that job.

I have a Dell 2330 AIO desktop (like an iMac) which has a an intel ivy bridge 3770s CPU inside it, and it is fin for editing 10-80/50p avchd/mp4 etc, but if i use it to edit 150Mbps XAVC-S video, it gets very laggy on the timeline, so i will definately be upgrading soon by building my own custom editing pc.

I got a call from my son today to say his 2011 i7 MBP has spat the dummy (graphics problem) so it may be covered under a special repair service, if not i will need to get him a new editing machine for his uni film and television degree, and will grab him an iMac, but not sure which one to get, as they only run an i5 CPU standard, and specking one to an i7 is very costly.

[newpball]

I upgraded the processor to an Intel X5365, 3 Gig Hz, 8 core processor.

Are you sure it is 8 cores?

If this is the one:

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+X5365+%40+3.00GHz

then even if you have a dual CPU configuration it is too slow for 4k processing.

You really need to update your platform it is basically too old for 4k.

I would say for 4k your minimum is

CPU - 6 core i7 Haswell or above
Memory - 32GB

For comparison a dual Intel X5365 configuration gives a CPU mark of about 7000, that is the equivalent of a modern core i5! A 6-core i7 Haswell gives you, conservatively overclocked, about double 15000.

[glenpinn]

My Ivy Bridge 3770s cpu gets around 8500 to 9000 cpu benchmark points, and when i edit 4k XAVC-S (100 to 150Mbps) it struggles on the timeline, very laggy, and its annoying, however encoding those files is no problem, my VRD Pro software smart renders the 4k video back to 4k mp4 without re-encoding it.

Down converting the 4k to 1080p the cpu runs around 90% usage, and the conversion time to do a 4k to 1080p is around 125% of real time, so a 5 minute clip takes around 6 minutes to encode, but a 1080p to 720p encode takes around 50 to 75% of real time.

I dont worry that much about encoding time, i need to upgrade more for the actual editing side of things, cos it is really annoying.