“Hackintosh” experience...? - Page 3

KevWind · #31 03-20-2018, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larry Pattis

Well, yeah.

I see my options:

1) Try a fully outfitted Mini-mac ($2K...which I consider very affordable). I don't think there is enough processing power there, but I've been wrong before.

2) Spend a bunch of money on an upper-end 27" iMac, which would give me what I need, but I would be spending dough on a monitor that I don't absolutely require. I would be able to use one of my two monitors, I *think*...unless the graphics card requires a monitor of the same resolution specs as the built-in monitor. Then I would be screwed.

3) Spend a bunch more money on an iMac Pro that would be *way* overkill for my needs...and the same monitor issues. Stupid. I'm trying not to think about this option, even though it would solve my problems for at least 5 years or more. Hmmm, now that I put it that way, it seems less stupid. So does #2, above.

4) Buy a 2013 era Mac Pro (refurbish, directly from Apple...which is what I have done on my last 2-3 purchases), also a bunch of money. I would get the processing power I need, even though it's way-old technology...and I would be happy to continue to use my two 27" Tbolt monitors. Just the additional cost for the max 1TB SSD on this unit makes this possibility feel pretty stupid...and that is the only possible upgrade I would need...to go from the entry-level 256GB to the 1TB SSD. Oh, probably a bump to 32GB of RAM, as well...but the SSD upgrade is what would hurt...and 1TB is my absolute minimum. I would prefer 2TB, and that's not available with this tech.

5) Wait 6-12 months (or more) for the new Mac Pro, and buy in at the lowest-end. Patience could be a virtue, here.

6) Try the Hackintosh route, with all the caveats and possible drawbacks. I'm most worried about future instability, since the build I am looking at there has proven successful in real-time. It's not clear to me if the folks on the TonyMac site end up with huge/difficult coding problems with OS upgrades (and perhaps specific pieces of software having difficulties), or if the OS-coding problems that crop up are fairly manageable. All of this coding info is shared right away on the site, once it's discovered and solved...and with easy access to the public.

7) Do nothing. Arrrggghhh.

So that's where I'm at.

I do have two University software (and hardware-tinkerer) contacts, and I am hoping that both can weigh-in over the next coupla' weeks.

We'll see...

Larry if it were me (and actually it is sorta me) except I have a mid 2010 cheese grater Mac pro that I have upgraded to a PCIe SSD boot drive . That is doing great for audio and is acceptable (if admittedly a bit slow) for FCP X
Now since I really do not do much video editing I am thinking my current machine may work fine for another 5 years +. The only thing I might possibly consider is to make my FCP X. Project storage an SSD drive (currently a 1TB 7200 HDD ). But I am not certain that would really add much more speed to FCP X processing

Any way unless your current machine performance is completely unacceptable I would #5 wait and see what kind Mac Pro options Apple comes up with

Because despite the persistent claim , that PC is much cheaper (granted you have way more options for configuration and if you are very computer tech savvy you probably can get just the optimum components that best suit your exact needs and perhaps save some money )

BUT
Whenever I go to someplace like Dell or HP (and granted I am by no means a computer geek so I am limited to options that appear to be of similar spec) but when I price up one of their top grade PC workstation towers , it really is not all that, if any less expensive, and sometimes more . For example I just did both Dell and HP and to get similar spec numbers as the base Imac Pro @ $4999 ( 3-4 Ghz , 8 core , 32 GB RAM , similar Graphics card, 1 TB PCIe SSD ) the machines were $5k to $6k before buying a 5K display

Anyway just my 2 1/2 cents

FrankHudson · #32 03-21-2018, 02:20 PM

No recent hackintosh experience. I've read the site Larry points to from time to time and it always looks like an interesting project. And I've always liked assembling computers anyway.

As the user of three older Mac Minis I wish Apple had kept that form factor going. They're great little machines, but the last generation was underwhelming and is now getting old and there are no expectations that Apple will ever continue with a good new Mac Mini line.

Still, let me try to be helpful. Over several posts Larry has (I think) laid out the specifics of his issues: he edits video with Final Cut Pro and his MacBook isn't cutting it, and he has two expensive and capable Apple Thunderbolt displays that he'd like to continue to use.

Options?

Hackintosh. Might well work. I'd probably freeze the machine as far as software updates once I get a good working system and do a full image backup before moving on to a new MacOS or other substantial update. Use anything else for generally Internet use etc. and "keeping current" isn't required and can even be a detriment to productivity anyway. Negatives would be personal assembly of the system from parts, which isn't hard once you've done a few, but isn't a gimmie if you haven't done it.

Larry may not have mentioned if he's considered if he could use his two Thunderbolt displays with a more modern iMac (giving him three displays). This may well be possible (quick search says it is). He ends up with an "extra display"--but more display space always comes in handy. I think I've read him saying that he thinks he could only use one external TB display, and this may be incorrect from a quick search.

Abandoning Final Cut X. This hasn't been discussed much, and it may not work for Larry. New software has a new learning curve, but Adobe Premiere is very full featured (arguably a superset of Final Cut X) and it runs on Windows OS too. And there are other video editing software packages out there as well. I'm not sure you can use those two Apple TB displays under Windows even if you have TB adapter in your Windows running hardware though.

Abandoning one or two Apple TB monitors. I'm not sure what the market value they have, but I suspect they have decent resale value. High resolution monitors have come down in price considerably in the past year or so, but as good as those Apple displays may be, if they're keeping your options constrained it may be time to move on.

Getting someone to analyze his current system and Final Cut X issues. This has been mentioned, and there's much wisdom in this. Have the projects gotten bigger or is this a decrease in performance from past experience? I don't know what level of video projects he's doing, and my limited experience with video editing says that video projects can show any weakness in a computer system or software environment. Is his MacBook at least using an Solid State Drive (SSD)? If not, it should. External TB or FW800 SSD drive for video projects/cuts? Could be worth doing too. I'd consider a burn it down, format the hard drive, reinstall the software and applications process too. That's cheap in dollars and not always as time consuming as one fears.

That burn it down, do a fresh install process can't do miracles, but it often makes a noticeable improvement and even fixes bugs. and it's less time consuming than building your own Hackintosh, as neat as the idea sounds.

From his posts I know Larry's a smart guy and has probably considered most of these things. My hope is that maybe I've pointed out something he hasn't considered or considered enough.

Larry Pattis · #33 03-21-2018, 10:51 PM

Thanks again to all who contributed here.

I'm still thinking...and I guess that means time is not of the essence. Waiting may be prudent. I admit that the novelty of a non-Mac Mac has worn off a bit, and I likely wouldn't want the hassle...not enough years (or personal energy) left on the planet, for me to maintain what I can buy for 2.5 to 3 times the dough, I guess.

FYI, there *will* be new Mac-mini and MacPro systems coming out sometime of the next 6-12 months, from what I can gather.

A properly outfitted new iMacPro would take of my needs in the video area pretty much forever, and I could buy that immediately...so spending a load of cash on that seems like a not-stupid option. As I said, waiting for a new MacPro would also be not-stupid.

A retailer called Micro Center has the basic 1 TB SSD/32GB RAM iMacPro for a cool $1K off the retail price...but none are within driving distance...it's an in-store only purchase, and really, I would likely want to order more RAM and the 2TB SSD, so that notion also feels like a dead-end...even if either of my brothers could ship to me...both live within 30 minutes of a Micro Center store. Now I'm just free-associating/rambling...!

Frank...my MacBookPro does have an internal 1TB SSD...and I admit that I had *not* considered your "burn it down, format the hard drive, reinstall the software and applications" (btw, thanks for considering me a "smart guy"...not always apparent when I look in the mirror). That might improve performance...thank you.

I do also have a 2TB external (USB-2) hard drive that I use for my Time Machine back-ups. I will look around to see if I can find instructions to wipe and re-install everything. I seem to remember that's called a clean re-install. Thanks for that notion.

Yeah, Kev...I don't see any advantage to leaving Apple, and the various price-points for a more powerful machine are more equivalent these days. I wish I could get the same $1K discount that Micro Center is offering, but on an upgraded (rather than basic) iMacPro.

Okay...still processing...processing...processing.