Is anyone still using the 2019 IMac 5K I9 with Resolve 18?

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Ellory Yu

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Is anyone still using the 2019 IMac 5K I9 with Resolve 18?

PostSat Apr 27, 2024 11:04 pm

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Is this still a viable computer to use with Resolve 18? It was once touted to be one for pro creative work. Anyone using it still and why?
Last edited by Ellory Yu on Tue May 21, 2024 4:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2, Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, Panasonic GH5
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Steve Fishwick

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Re: Is anyone still using the Mac Pro Trashcan with Resolve

PostSun Apr 28, 2024 10:14 am

If it's anything like the one, Ellory, I setup for a good Hollywood pal of mine, when he was cutting in Spain, a few years ago; and to paraphrase the words of a terrible UK TV show - I would not Marry; I would not Snog but I very much would Avoid :lol:
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Benjamin McGuire

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Re: Is anyone still using the Mac Pro Trashcan with Resolve

PostSun Apr 28, 2024 4:32 pm

My dad was running one, and he was pulling hs hair out at how slow it was. Even using proxy's, it was not good.. Getting a eGPU from Black magic helped some. but getting a refurbished m1 studio was a night and day improvement. Now he enjoys editing in Resolve.
Resolve Studio 17.4.6 build 4
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Ellory Yu

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Re: Is anyone still using the Mac Pro Trashcan with Resolve

PostSun Apr 28, 2024 5:13 pm

Steve, thanks for that feedback. Glad to know it’s not worth marrying and much to avoid. :lol:

Benjamin, it’s $200 and I was going to hook up a BM egpu that’s selling for $150. But if it is as horrible as you dad experienced, that’s all I need to know.

Trashcan is a suitable nickname for it then.
URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2, Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, Panasonic GH5
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Uli Plank

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Re: Is anyone still using the Mac Pro Trashcan with Resolve

PostMon Apr 29, 2024 1:16 am

You can breathe some more life even into a "cheesegrater" Mac Pro or an Intel iMac with SSDs and an eGPU, if your primary format is ProRes or BRAW. As long as your energy bill doesn't matter.
But I wouldn't waste a single dollar on the "Urne", as we respectlessly call it in German (the urn).
Now that the cat #19 is out of the bag, test it as much as you can and use the subforum.

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Ellory Yu

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Re: Is anyone still using the Mac Pro Trashcan with Resolve

PostMon Apr 29, 2024 3:58 am

Uli Plank wrote:You can breathe some more life even into a "cheesegrater" Mac Pro or an Intel iMac with SSDs and an eGPU, if your primary format is ProRes or BRAW. As long as your energy bill doesn't matter.
But I wouldn't waste a single dollar on the "Urne", as we respectlessly call it in German (the urn).

Got it, Uli. Trash, Urn…. Not something I want to put a few dollars into. :lol:
URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2, Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, Panasonic GH5
PC Workstation Core I7 64Gb, 2 x AMD R9 390X 8Gb, Blackmagic Design DeckLink 4K Mini Monitor, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, Resolve Studio 18, BM Micro Panel & Speed Editor
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Ellory Yu

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Re: Is anyone still using the 2019 IMac 5K I9 with Resolve 1

PostTue May 21, 2024 4:16 am

Is anyone still using the 2019 IMac Intel I9 5K with Resolve 18? My friend has one and is handing it over to me so if this is still a usable machine, I was thinking of it as a third wheel in my shop. Here’s the supposed model:
2019 IMac 27” 5K Retina with Intel I9 processor, Radeon 580X 8gb gpu, 64Gb RAM, 512Tb Fusion Drive.
My other quests I noticed that it has the 580X 8gb gpu, which somewhere in my boxes is a BMD EGPU with I think is a 580 on it. If so, can I still use that BMD EGPU can configure Resolve Studio to have 2 GPUs, one that is on the IMac and another that’s on the EGPU?
URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2, Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, Panasonic GH5
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Uli Plank

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Re: Is anyone still using the 2019 IMac 5K I9 with Resolve 1

PostTue May 21, 2024 4:24 am

I use that combination with a 2017 iMac and it runs well even with the 19beta. I love that screen so much, I even exchanged the drives for SSDs.
How useful it is depends on your source formats. Which are they?
Now that the cat #19 is out of the bag, test it as much as you can and use the subforum.

Studio 18.6.6, MacOS 13.6.6, 2017 iMac, 32 GB, Radeon Pro 580
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Ellory Yu

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Re: Is anyone still using the 2019 IMac 5K I9 with Resolve 1

PostTue May 21, 2024 7:08 am

Uli Plank wrote:I use that combination with a 2017 iMac and it runs well even with the 19beta. I love that screen so much, I even exchanged the drives for SSDs.
How useful it is depends on your source formats. Which are they?

For this, I’d like use it for BRAW and Prores. I get some H.264/5 once in a while so that’s a bit of a problem because I don’t think the I9 series on this IMac have quicksync. But I can always transcode them to Prores. I get ARRI and RED raw too but that should be fine. I actually just wanting it for the screen too. Thanks Uli.
URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2, Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, Panasonic GH5
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roger.magnusson

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Re: Is anyone still using the 2019 IMac 5K I9 with Resolve 1

PostTue May 21, 2024 8:20 am

That iMac has the Apple T2 security chip which does have some hardware acceleration for video codecs but it's a bit unclear to me whether decoding is supported and at what bit depth.
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Uli Plank

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Re: Is anyone still using the 2019 IMac 5K I9 with Resolve 1

PostTue May 21, 2024 12:55 pm

Well, my 2017 model can play all flavors of H.265 and H.264 UHD smoothly in a HD timeline.
If the timeline is set to UHD, it's still playing 25 fps smoothly, but struggles with higher ones.
Now that the cat #19 is out of the bag, test it as much as you can and use the subforum.

Studio 18.6.6, MacOS 13.6.6, 2017 iMac, 32 GB, Radeon Pro 580
MacBook M1 Pro, 16 GPU cores, 32 GB RAM and iPhone 15 Pro
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Ellory Yu

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Re: Is anyone still using the 2019 IMac 5K I9 with Resolve 1

PostTue May 21, 2024 2:05 pm

Just talking to someone who has upgraded the iMac with a newer silicon version. She says that the Mac Mini M2 even at just 8gb of RAM (its based model) has better performance than this i9 IMac. Since I’ve always been a PC user, is there some truth to it and particularly with DVR?
URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2, Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, Panasonic GH5
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Uli Plank

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Re: Is anyone still using the 2019 IMac 5K I9 with Resolve 1

PostTue May 21, 2024 11:02 pm

There is some truth in this. The first MB Air M1 of my wife was about twice as fast for some tasks as the 2017 Intel iMac with an eGPU. Not that I would seriously suggest such a configuration: the poor thing will silently swap to the internal SSD and over time ruin it. My rule of thumb: give it a minimum of 1.5 GB per GPU core. The 'Pro' model of the Mini is a serious machine for DR.
Now that the cat #19 is out of the bag, test it as much as you can and use the subforum.

Studio 18.6.6, MacOS 13.6.6, 2017 iMac, 32 GB, Radeon Pro 580
MacBook M1 Pro, 16 GPU cores, 32 GB RAM and iPhone 15 Pro
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