$10,000 to build a video edit system...

[Trevelyan]

I have a $10,000 budget to build an edit system (not including monitors or software).

I plan on using:
- Mac OS X Mountain Lion
- Final Cut Pro
- Adobe CS6

So, I'm facing this decision on whether to get a Mac Tower (not sure if the new Mac Pro desktop will be able to upgrade to what I want) or building a Hackintosh.

I'm thinking I'd like to have some RAID arrays of SSD drives for crazy speed. I need 32gb of ram most likely. I'm not sure what GPU I need for this kind of setup, though.

Any advice on where to start?

 

[frozentundra123456]

Build 2 5000.00 systems and ship one to me!!

 

[Trevelyan]

Well the thing is, ordering a fully upgraded Mac Tower I could easily go over the $10,000 budget... I'm wondering if I can, for the same price, get a better performing machine by building a Hackintosh.

 

[Ken g6]

Thing is, a Hackintosh...isn't...strictly...allowed according to the Apple license. You don't want a Hackintosh for anything business-related. And I have a hard time imagining you're seeking a $10k computer for personal use.

I don't know how Apple prices their upgrades, but if they're anything like Dell you could probably save a bundle by getting low-end RAM, single HDD, and no GPU and putting better ones in yourself. The only problem with that is you probably void any warranty you would have had.

 

[mfenn]

I'm going to assume that a $10K computer is going to be used professionally. In that case, I certainly wouldn't run a pirated OS on it. If you're married to OS X and Final Cut, then that means you need a Mac Pro.

Given the imminent and much needed refresh, I'd wait until the new Mac Pro comes out. Grab a big Cinema display and some nice Thunderbolt storage like the Promise Pegasus and you're good to go.

 

[Trevelyan]

Any word on when the new Mac Pros will be coming out?

 

[T_Yamamoto]

No word yet but most likely when the Haswell Macs come out which is around the same time as the new iPhone sooooooo before Christmas.

 

[electronicmaji2]

Hackintoshes are extremely unstable. You don't want to have to depend on them for time crucial work.

Instead you should be either looking at mac pro or a windows based PC. There's no real reason to use MAC with the program environment yo are using.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well the thing is, ordering a fully upgraded Mac Tower I could easily go over the $10,000 budget.

Macs are really THAT expensive? Eep.

 

[mfenn]

Hackintoshes are extremely unstable. You don't want to have to depend on them for time crucial work.

Instead you should be either looking at mac pro or a windows based PC. There's no real reason to use MAC with the program environment yo are using.

Show me Final Cut Pro for Windows.

 

[mfenn]

Any word on when the new Mac Pros will be coming out?

Probably the same time they announce the iPhone 5S, iPad 5, and release iOS 7. That's rumored to be September.

 

[Sleepingforest]

I'm going to chime in briefly on how you can save money on a Mac Pro.

1. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, wait for the new Mac Pro to release. The old one is 3 years outdated.
2. More than 6 cores has greatly diminished returns for CS6 (and probably FCP). Don't bother with the 12 core option.
3. Don't buy Apple's RAM. It looks like the RAM will be easily replaceable, and it's far cheaper to buy and install your own 4x8GB set of RAM than to get it from Apple.
4. You only need one video card for CS6 and FCP. Don't bother with a second one (even a very basic, last generation video card like the GTX 650 is enough to fulfill CS6's needs, for example).
5. Don't go too crazy with PCIe SSDs (the only option available on the new Mac Pro)--you don't need 1TB+. Only store what pertains to the project you are immediately working on in the SSD Get a USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt external enclosure for bulk photo storage (that will also make it easier to upgrade to a new computer when the time comes in a couple of years).
6. Bargain a little. You'd be surprised at what deals company representatives are willing to make.