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**Final Cut Pro Suddenly running slow on Mac Pro 2.6

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thedirtyduo

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 17, 2007
76
0
I've had my Mac Pro 2.6 1gig for 6 months now. Final Cut, Soundtrack Pro, Motion, etc ran smoothly. I added Windows XP, everything still worked fine. My gig space has about 5 gigs left due to a lot of video that I have captured and projects I've saved.

For the last few days it's been extremely slow. So slow, that when I click on FILE the pinwheel pops up. Any move I make the pinwheel shows it face. I turned the the playback resolution and turned FCP to "Safe" Mode.

Final Cut runs slow even on new projects I open that don't have anything in the timeline.

I know that 1 Gig is weak and I will upgrade to a 4 gig Ram card soon. But what I want to figure out is why all of the sudden the Mac has slowed down. All other applications and browsers work fine.

I don't speak Mac language very well, so please make it as simple as possible :) Sorry!

I also am going to get my RAM from Memory2go.com! Does anyone know a better place??????
 
Laslo Panaflex

Laslo Panaflex

macrumors 65816
May 1, 2003
1,291
0
Tokyo
Do you only have one hard drive in that Mac Pro, and it only has 5 gigs left? That is not good, OS X creates a virtual memory file on the hard disk, you machine is probably running slow because of the small VM file. My Mac Pro can have a VM file size anywhere from 9-20 GBs depending on what I am doing.
 
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thedirtyduo

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 17, 2007
76
0
Hard drive was the answer

Your right hard drive was the answer.

I'm getting an external hard drive and some RAM

What is better?

4 x 1Gig

or

2 x 2Gig
 
Eraserhead

Eraserhead

macrumors G4
Nov 3, 2005
10,434
12,250
UK
The problem is lack of hard drive space 5GB isn't nearly enough, also you should have your Final Cut Pro projects on a second hard drive as it will become really fragmented (which will cause a slowdown).

You should try running the maintenance scripts with Onyx, and see if that sorts it...

The new HD and RAM should help, but if they don't solve it the best is probably to Erase and Install the OS again.
 
D

diamond3

macrumors 6502a
Oct 6, 2005
883
375
I'm just curious as to why you want an external hd when you can put internals that are faster in the mac pro for less money? Are you sharing it between another computer?
 
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thedirtyduo

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 17, 2007
76
0
Possibly!

I don't nec need a external. It's just nice to move around. But if i did get an internal what would i have to spend to get 500 or so more gigs?

-------------

I did everything in my power with Onyx, cleaning up hardrive, but still Final Cut Pro is very slow. I can scan along the timeline with my mouse and nothing happens, but if i simply hit the letter A key on the keyboard the pinwheel comes up.

Any FCP users out there know how to speed up FCP. I did turn on the SAFE feature already.
 
Eraserhead

Eraserhead

macrumors G4
Nov 3, 2005
10,434
12,250
UK
$130 for a 500GB drive from new egg, the Mac Pro uses SATA so a drive like this one is probably suitable.

If a new HD doesn't help then an erase and install might be in order to get the HD organised better. (Obviously backup your data onto the new HD.)
 
Multimedia

Multimedia

macrumors 603
Jul 27, 2001
5,212
0
Santa Cruz CA, Silicon Beach
Fry's Sells 500 GB Seagate & Maxtor SATAs For $120 Each On Sale Weekends

Eraserhead said:
$130 for a 500GB drive from new egg, the Mac Pro uses SATA so a drive like this one is probably suitable.
Click to expand...
Fry's started selling 500GB Seagate & Maxtor 7200 rpm with 16MB buffer SATA HDs for $120 each since March 30.

So $130 from Egghead is an excellent anytime price. Wow with $10 rebate and FREE 3 day shipping that is really such a deal. Better than I got at Fry's. Net $120 & no sales tax in CA right? No they charge CA sales tax. So just a few pennies more than the Fry's deal.

It's not a good idea to be writing anything to your startup disc other than small text files and such. You're stressing your HD making it try to be in two or three places at once. Think about how tired and worn out it must feel at the end of every day. :eek: :) Computers have feelings too you know. :)Why do you think they put 4 HD drawers inside that beast? So you wouldn't use them? :confused: Sorry. Don't mean to harsh your buzz. Can you come up with the $600 you need to get this MP straight and happy? ;)

Monitor the San Jose Mercury News ONLINE Fry's Ads every Friday Morning if you want to keep on top of their deals. Palo Alto is your closest store. Use FireFox for this link since the Fry's ads have mouseover magnified popups that work in Firefox but not Safari. I read those ads EVERY DAY to keep on top of all the Fry's deals all the time.
 
Multimedia

Multimedia

macrumors 603
Jul 27, 2001
5,212
0
Santa Cruz CA, Silicon Beach
$120 for the 500GB HD and $423.96 for the 4GB of RAM

laidbackliam said:
2x2 will allow for future expandibility
Click to expand...
Exactly. Two 2GB sticks is the correct path. Plus they cost the same. The rule of thumb is 1GB MINIMUM per core. Running that MP with only 1GB is not the best way to maximuze performance. I'm trying hard to be empathic.

Here's your Ramseeker.com link to an inexpensive but excellent pair of 2GB sticks at Omni only $423.96

Phone Omni to tell them you have the Ramseeker.com price but want the big honking (that's a technical term) heat sinks they let you order with them for a little more.

So for less than $600 it'll be like a new computer DirtyDuo.

Thanks for the tunes offer but I can't figure out how to download anything. When I try it says the file doesn't exist.

You sure are a happenin' lookin' couple. I share your enthusiasm for Electronica as well. IBIZA for the honeymoon. Wow! That must have been so dreamy. ;)
 
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thedirtyduo

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 17, 2007
76
0
Thankyou everyone!

Thanks everyone for help. Its greatly appreciated. I got my Seagate 500Gig at Frys for $169. They were out of the western digital brand :(. I also ordered 4Gig DIMM card today from OMNI TECH for $428 and next day shipping $18.

So we'll see here in the next few days what happens.

Also, I'm using Opera and don't care for it. Does anyone have the ultimate browser?
 
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thedirtyduo

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 17, 2007
76
0
Laslo Panaflex said:
Did you order a single 4GB dimm or 2x 2GB dimm? Ram needs to be installed in pairs on the Mac Pro.
Click to expand...

No, I got the 2 x 2Gig Sticks! Can't fricken wait.

I'll try Camino and I thought you couldn't defrag but I will look at the link you gave me.

Cheers!
 
synth3tik

synth3tik

macrumors 68040
Oct 11, 2006
3,951
2
Minneapolis, MN
I always fell like I should have at least 10Gigs free on my system drive for a scratch disc when ever I am working on anyting audio or video related.
 
T

thedirtyduo

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 17, 2007
76
0
synth3tik said:
I always fell like I should have at least 10Gigs free on my system drive for a scratch disc when ever I am working on anyting audio or video related.
Click to expand...

Did you notice an huge improvment when you upgraded to 4 Gig ram?
 
Multimedia

Multimedia

macrumors 603
Jul 27, 2001
5,212
0
Santa Cruz CA, Silicon Beach
$169 Was Too Much For Seagate 500GB Drive

thedirtyduo said:
Thanks everyone for help. Its greatly appreciated. I got my Seagate 500Gig at Frys for $169. They were out of the western digital brand :(. I also ordered 4Gig DIMM card today from OMNI TECH for $428 and next day shipping $18.

So we'll see here in the next few days what happens.

Also, I'm using Opera and don't care for it. Does anyone have the ultimate browser?
Click to expand...
Watch the Fry's weekend ads and get a refund for the $49 you paid too much for up to 30 days.
 
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