MP 1,1-5,1 Replacing MacPro with either Mac mini or iMac

[bigbadneil]

I want to upgrade my 2012 MacPro 5.1 so that I can use Final Cut Pro to edit Drone Video footage. I have a 2018 Mac mini that I bought back in 2019 but that only has 8 GB of ram (My MacPro has 64GB Ram)

So Im thinking rather than spending more money on the 2012 MacPro I should just bite the bullet and either get a New Mac mini with 16GB of Ram and 1TB of storage (+/- $1600) or get a new iMac with 32GB Ram and 1TB storage for +/- $3000
What do you guys think is the best way to go?
Thanks

Neil

 

[krakman]

Have you upgraded your mac pro?

You can unofficially install catalina which will allow you to run the latest version of FCPX and another hack can enable hardware acceleration.

What GPU fo you have?

 

[lin2log]

You can unofficially install catalina which will allow you to run the latest version of FCPX and another hack can enable hardware acceleration.

Why in the world would he want to do any of THAT nonsense??! Is that somehow supposed to be "clever"? ?

Just get rid of that prehistoric crap machine already. ?

1TB of storage

Why waste so much money on INTERNAL storage? I hope you don't intend on editing from there, since editing from your boot volume is pretty much the worst idea. That means zero redundancy amoungst other things. Save you money and buy decent external.

Either way, you must already have all the peripheral equipment you need in abundance because of both the MP as well as MM, no? So why not simply go with the new MM? Hardware-wise they are all completely identical (aside from maybe ports). You know that, right? So unless you need a new/better monitor, keyboard, and mouse, I don't see why you would want/need to go with an iMac. If you didn't have anything yet I'd recommend an iMac over an MM any day.

You could of course just SELL what you have and pay for a new iMac with it.

The iMac which btw does not come with 32GB RAM, as with every other M1 Mac? Because M1? And I also have no idea how you're getting up to $3000. ? Even maxed out it only costs $2600. You also do not need (or can get) more than 16GB on those machines. Especially for what you want to do even that's almost too much.

Of course you could also just wait until WWDC and see if they already release the new 30" iMacs and/or other machines that may be an option.

 

[Ethosik]

Don't keep upgrading your old system, it is really not worth it. Without getting into hacks and things, you are missing out on PCIe, Thunderbolt 3, NVMe drives, newer processor/SoC technologies like HEVC encoding/decoding, and many other small things. Sure by pure numbers in benchmarks, that old processor might hold up. But it is lacking some crucial technologies like I mentioned. I used to operate like you are, I had a 2010 Mac Pro that I kept until 2019. I used it as a secondary gaming system that I swapped in a GTX 1080 when I wanted to bootcamp. I eventually built a custom gaming PC dedicated to just Windows stuff in 2020 and MAN oh MAN what a difference all those technologies I mentioned have. The processor itself is about the same in pure numbers compared to the Mac Pro really. It has a little advantage with the turbo boost.

What type of video work do you do with your system? Its usually recommended to get 8 GB if you do 1080p, or 16GB if you do 4K. You can always wait until the fall when the new chips that support more than 16GB come out.

I have the Mac Mini with 16GB, even though most of the time I do 1080p video editing I might get some 4K stuff so that is why I went 16GB.

Since you are replacing a Mac Pro, I would assume you have a monitor, keyboard and mouse already. If those are good, I would just get the Mac Mini and save some money - that is what I did. I am not Hollywood or anything, so I do video editing on a $600 gaming monitor and the colors are not THAT bad. I don't feel like I need the high quality Apple monitor. Besides, just like how SSDs make the general computing feel, I definitely notice the 144hz on my monitor just moving my mouse around. 60hz looks SOOOOO BAD now.

To keep things in perspective, Max Tech replaced their $15,000 2019 Mac Pro with the M1 Mac Mini.

 

[MarkC426]

As mentioned by others....
New Mac Mini or iMac is good option, especially for FCPX, which is optimised for M1.

If you where using non-Apple software then it may not be as cut n dry.

But definitely wait 2 weeks for any new announcements.

 

[th0masp]

I want to upgrade my 2012 MacPro 5.1 so that I can use Final Cut Pro to edit Drone Video footage. I have a 2018 Mac mini that I bought back in 2019 but that only has 8 GB of ram (My MacPro has 64GB Ram)

So Im thinking rather than spending more money on the 2012 MacPro I should just bite the bullet and either get a New Mac mini with 16GB of Ram and 1TB of storage (+/- $1600) or get a new iMac with 32GB Ram and 1TB storage for +/- $3000
What do you guys think is the best way to go?
Thanks

Neil

I would look into bumping the 2018 mini up to 64 GB if RAM is the limit. CPU should be up to the job at least? Storage would have to be external obviously.

 

[MarkC426]

Depending what gpu you have in the cMP, you could also put that in an eGPU with the intel mini.

 

[bigbadneil]

Have you upgraded your mac pro?

You can unofficially install catalina which will allow you to run the latest version of FCPX and another hack can enable hardware acceleration.

What GPU fo you have?

Yes I have

last night I updated to Catalina using OpenCore.......... so far so good.
I have 6TB of the latest NVME internal storage that has been split into one 4TB and one 2TB drives. I’ve just put my Mac mini for sale on FB and will continue with the cMP for as long as it still performs well.
Neil

 

[bigbadneil]

I would look into bumping the 2018 mini up to 64 GB if RAM is the limit.

I was told in Thailand that is not possible

 

[DFP1989]

As others have said, put that 5,1 out to pasture. Too much hacking to keep it modern at this stage IMO.

I was told in Thailand that is not possible

Requires a bit more disassembly than previous models, but quite easily done. As noted you can go up to 64GB (2x 32GB). 32GB (2x16GB) would likely be sufficient, but depending on prices it's probably work going all the way and getting 2x 64GB.

Mac mini Late 2018 Memory (RAM) Replacement

Learn how to upgrade or replace the memory in your 2018 Mac mini with this RAM replacement guide. The mini can support up to 64 GB of RAM, using...

www.ifixit.com

As for the M1 Mac Mini, it's brilliant and would handle your drone footage in FCP easily. The internal storage upgrade prices are truly insane though, so worth considering getting the base 256GB for OS and apps, then a USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 drive for additional storage, you'll get far more for far less.

 

[bigbadneil]

As others have said, put that 5,1 out to pasture. Too much hacking to keep it modern at this stage IMO.
The internal storage upgrade prices are truly insane though, so worth considering getting the base 256GB for OS and apps, then a USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 drive for additional storage, you'll get far more for far less.

I’ve never thought about storage like that but as you mentioned it it makes perfect sense.......... that will be my next machine once my cMP stops performing.

 

[vel0city]

Similar kind of situation here OP - went from a completely maxed out 5, 1 to an M1 Mini, 16GB 2TB.

The difference is unbelievable. 4k footage that used to playback at 3FPS on my 5, 1 is buttery and and completely responsive on the M1 Mini. I'm using FCPX and After Effects (also heavy Photoshop and C4D user) and apart from GPU rendering which I still use my 5,1 for, the Mini destroys the 5, 1 for absolutely everything.

I only keep my 5, 1 running because it has a GTX 1080ti for GPU rendering, every time I have to hop back on that machine it feels so treacly, unresponsive and laggy compared to the M1.

For your use case I wouldn't even hesitate to recommend the M1 Mini. It will absolutely fly with your workflow. Enjoy.

 

[MarkC426]

What your saying is so true.... ?

You get used to your own machines speed, when you know nothing else.
It's only when you try something newer you realise how slow it was.

This is what happened when I upgraded from my G5 to cMP.

 

[bigbadneil]

Similar kind of situation here OP - went from a completely maxed out 5, 1 to an M1 Mini, 16GB 2TB.

The difference is unbelievable. 4k footage that used to playback at 3FPS on my 5, 1 is buttery and and completely responsive on the M1 Mini. I'm using FCPX and After Effects (also heavy Photoshop and C4D user) and apart from GPU rendering which I still use my 5,1 for, the Mini destroys the 5, 1 for absolutely everything.

I only keep my 5, 1 running because it has a GTX 1080ti for GPU rendering, every time I have to hop back on that machine it feels so treacly, unresponsive and laggy compared to the M1.

For your use case I wouldn't even hesitate to recommend the M1 Mini. It will absolutely fly with your workflow. Enjoy.

What monitor do you use with your Mac Mini. I have a 10 year old Eizo monitor that probably needs replacing as well.

 

[shadow_999]

I've done the move from macpro 5,1 to macmini 16 GB and in my point of view, we are just too soon. Macmini is a wonderful machine but it lacks a few things:
- only 2 external monitors
- only 16 GB (meaning I'm swapping even if it's fast, it's still swapping)
- storage has to be external

So if you can still use your macpro, do it till Apple release a new mini or macpro using MX chips (with more core and more important with more RAM)

 

[vel0city]

What monitor do you use with your Mac Mini. I have a 10 year old Eizo monitor that probably needs replacing as well.

Pro Display XDR.