iMac or a mac pro

[iceman42]

can a iMac handle 3d graphics and video editing pretty good or should i buy a 2013 mac pro.ill be using carrara 3d graphics and lightwave 3d and ill be using final cut pro x.im thinking about getting the 6 or 8 core mac pro and the d700 gpu.

 

[joema2]

can a iMac handle 3d graphics and video editing pretty good or should i buy a 2013 mac pro.ill be using carrara 3d graphics and ill be using final cut pro x.im thinking about getting the 6 or 8 core mac pro and the d700 gpu.

You are in a difficult situation. A top-spec 2015 iMac 27 running FCPX can edit video very well, including multicam H264 4K. For much video editing, it's about as fast as a 6-8 core iMac with D700s. For specific editing tasks like rendering and exporting H264 video, it is faster than any Mac Pro since it uses Intel's Quick Sync.

However hard-core 3D graphics is another area. An 8-core D700 Mac Pro will have some advantages for certain workflows. The dilemma is the "new" Mac Pro will be updated fairly soon, but nobody knows when. It and the iMac will probably get GPUs based on the new 14/16 nanometer technology that AMD and nVidia are releasing this year. That will the biggest jump in GPU performance in several generations.

You should evaluate what % of your work will be Carrara 3D vs video editing. Then talk to other Carrara 3D users to find what their actual experience is on various Mac platforms. If your work is mostly video editing with a small % of light 3D, a top-spec iMac 27 can handle that fine using FCPX. If your projected workflow tilts more toward heavy-duty 3D, then a Mac Pro might be a better fit -- except it is due to be updated fairly soon.

If you cannot wait until around 4Q this year, you could also consider a pre-2013 Mac Pro with upgraded components. That is a lot less money yet will still deliver good performance. Here are some examples: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Appl...u9F9H3q6FkXcB6VNrPpsBveAvIAeg5Ze0IxoCelXw_wcB