I have a mid-2011 mac mini (core i5 2.5Ghz) with the radeon 6630M, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD which I use for FCPX and aperture use. It is getting a bit slow for my current FCPX use, but I would like to stay with the mini form factor and don't want to step up the Mac Pro which seems like overkill for my needs. Would I see an improvement stepping up to the quad i7 2.6Ghz with similar other specs or would the HD4000 graphics negate any processor advantage over my current set-up? Thanks.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Mac Mini FCPX
- Thread starter macdoc33
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
The quad mini is much faster in processor power - approximately double what you have now. However the HD4000 is very similar, if a tad slower, than the radeon you have now. If you can deal with your current machine for now and wait until the fall hardware release that would probably be your best move, because integrated graphics have been getting much better with each generation. I'm not familiar with FCPX benefits from a strong CPU or GPU so I can't say how much improvement you'd see between the two machines.
Is the SSD in the current machine fairly new? One final thing that is possible to upgrade is to put a second SSD in the machine and configure them in RAID0, essentially doubling the speed of the read/write process. This would push the mini into Mac Pro territory in terms of disk performance, at the expense of reduced reliability (having a backup would be especially important)
Is the SSD in the current machine fairly new? One final thing that is possible to upgrade is to put a second SSD in the machine and configure them in RAID0, essentially doubling the speed of the read/write process. This would push the mini into Mac Pro territory in terms of disk performance, at the expense of reduced reliability (having a backup would be especially important)
Thanks, my ssd is quite new but I could look at adding a second. My concern with waiting is it seems likely to be mid 2015 for a mini refresh based on broadwells release date and assuming that MacBooks and iMac get updated before the mini. I also suspect the user upgradability of the mini will likely go, with soldered on ram, PCIe ssd etc which will add to the end cost and possibly less expansion ports with the smaller form factor which will may necessitate adding a thunderbolt expansion dock to connect all my external drives etc. However if I won't see much of a bump in performance it makes sense to wait.
FCPX is CPU intensive when transcoding video so an i7 will definitely help.
Before looking at a new Mac, I would suggest looking at your workflow and the video you are working with.
From what I understand, use proxy files when editing if you don't mind having FCPX take longer to render the finished product; optimize the project for your final render (ie don't insert a 4k video file from a GoPro as your first clip in a project that you only intend to distribute on DVD since FCPX will assume the properties of the first clip added to the timeline unless you change it), use different HDD for scratch disk (not applicable if you are only using your SSD), etc.
Also, look at activity monitor to see if CPU, RAM, etc are pegged.
Note that my son is the FCPX expert in my household but I try to keep up speed on the Digital Video forum since I am tech support
Best of luck.
Cheers
Before looking at a new Mac, I would suggest looking at your workflow and the video you are working with.
From what I understand, use proxy files when editing if you don't mind having FCPX take longer to render the finished product; optimize the project for your final render (ie don't insert a 4k video file from a GoPro as your first clip in a project that you only intend to distribute on DVD since FCPX will assume the properties of the first clip added to the timeline unless you change it), use different HDD for scratch disk (not applicable if you are only using your SSD), etc.
Also, look at activity monitor to see if CPU, RAM, etc are pegged.
Note that my son is the FCPX expert in my household but I try to keep up speed on the Digital Video forum since I am tech support
Best of luck.
Cheers
Hi, a while back i made a few videos regarding the performance of the 2012 mini on Video editing and Motion Graphics and compared with the Mac Book Pro 15" Late 2013 and my Main PC I74770K.
The videos cover, FCPX, Motion 5, AE, Premiere.
Original thread is at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1732065/
Hope it helps to compare with yours and to make a wise decision.