iMac 27" display Retina 5K (2019)

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PauloVideo

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iMac 27" display Retina 5K (2019)

PostSat Apr 04, 2020 7:35 pm

Hi guyz,

I'm a newbie and I have recently started to edit videos with DaVinci Resolve.
I shoot 4k videos with the Gopro and I have a MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, 2,3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5, 8 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 1536 MB).
I really tried to optimize DaVinci Resolve with many tricks but any playback action is still struggling, especially when it comes to effects and color correction/grading.

I'm now thinking to invest in an iMac 27" display Retina 5K, here the specs for my configuration:
Processore Intel Core i9 8‑core 3,6GHz (Turbo Boost fino a 5,0GHz)
8GB memoria DDR4 a 2666MHz
Radeon Pro 580X con 8GB di memoria GDDR5
SSD 512GB
The idea is to immediately and manually upgrade the memory, maybe 32? Any suggestion?

Also, is there any chance in the future to use an eGPU in order to improve the internal Radeon Pro 580X?
I wouldn't like to do it immediately, is the Radeon Pro 580X still fine at the moment?

In the end, I have read that the DaVinci Resolve Studio version performs well than the free version and therefore it needs less powerful GPU, any idea?

Thanks in advance
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Uli Plank

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Re: iMac 27" display Retina 5K (2019)

PostSun Apr 05, 2020 4:46 am

Even if it's only the older model, I'm quite happy with my iMac (see sig).
Yes, the later addition of an eGPU will speed up some processes.
No, the Studio version is not faster on a Mac (but on PCs), but it can use two GPUs.
No, an iGPU is not enough, and you can't use HEVC 10 bit 4:2:2 in the free version.

Studio 18.6.5, MacOS 13.6.5
MacBook M1 Pro, 16 GPU cores, 32 GB RAM and iPhone 15 Pro
Speed Editor, UltraStudio Monitor 3G, iMac 2017, eGPU
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rick.lang

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iMac 27" display Retina 5K (2019)

PostSun Apr 05, 2020 5:30 am

Yes, but go with the 32GB memory. I just donated my iMac 27”’late 2015 which tended to overheat with 4K, but the 2019 is likely an improvement. Perhaps just my personal preference but go with the largest internal SSD option your budget will allow.

I’m sure you’ll like having the 5K 5120x2880 screen to work with in Resolve.
Rick Lang
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Uli Plank

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Re: iMac 27" display Retina 5K (2019)

PostSun Apr 05, 2020 7:08 am

Don't buy the RAM from Apple, though, save the money for a bigger SSD.
You'll love that screen!
No, an iGPU is not enough, and you can't use HEVC 10 bit 4:2:2 in the free version.

Studio 18.6.5, MacOS 13.6.5
MacBook M1 Pro, 16 GPU cores, 32 GB RAM and iPhone 15 Pro
Speed Editor, UltraStudio Monitor 3G, iMac 2017, eGPU
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PauloVideo

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Re: iMac 27" display Retina 5K (2019)

PostSun Apr 05, 2020 7:46 am

Hi All,

Thanks for the answers :)

To take the final decision, please help me with the below considerations:

PROCESSOR
BASE: 3.7GHz 6-core 9th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.6GHz
UPGRADE: 3.6GHz 8-core 9th-generation Intel Core i9 processor, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz
It's a plus of €469, is it worth it?
Yes for me but I'd like to hear your opinion :)

MEMORY
BASE: 8GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
UPGRADE: 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
It's a plus of €705, we all agree it's not worth it
Any recommendation for any model I can buy on Amazon or similar and manually upgrade?

GRAPHICS
BASE: Radeon Pro 580X with 8GB of GDDR5 memory
UPGRADE: Radeon Pro Vega 48 with 8GB of HBM2 memory
It's a plus of €550, is it worth it?
My idea would be to keep the Radeon Pro 580X for now and then upgrade with an eGPU which would speed up some processes, as Uli Plank said. Which processes wont' be improved?
Also, bear in mind that I don't have any external case so I have seen the prices and it's around €700 to get both case and eGPU. Does the case give more flexibility and chance to upgrade other components?
Besides, I read that just in case would be better to use the Vega 64.

STORAGE
BASE: Fusion Drive 2TB
UPGRADE 1st option: 512GB SSD storage, it's a plus of €117
UPGRADE 2nd option: 1TB SSD storage, it's a plus of €352
Is the 1TB worth it?
My idea would be to keep the 512GB SSD for now and then upgrade with an external SSD. Would it work?
Any obstacle? If yes any SSD recommendation?

Thanks again for sharing your expertise
Have a nice day and stay safe :)
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Labuhardilla

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Re: iMac 27" display Retina 5K (2019)

PostSun Apr 05, 2020 12:21 pm

Hi Paulo
I have got a 2019 iMac computer with specs as like as you are asking. Have a look to my signature.
My personal recommendation:
Graphic card: invest as much as you can afford. As you know DR (and also FCPx) needs a lot of graphic card resources. I have installed two Vega/8 GB RAM graphic cards (internal Pro 48 and eGPU Sapphire 54) with acceptable performance for 1080/2160 material
Processor and RAM: for only edition 32 GB RAM and i7 processor must be sufficient. If you do intensive composition and visual fx in Fusion you'll need high speed processor (multithread is less important) and quite RAM available. At this moment i9-9900K @ 3.6 GHz (8 cores) has the best benchmark in single core on Mac. I'de recommend this processor together 64 GB RAM for use in Fusion.
Fortunately upgrade RAM in the iMac 2019 is very ease so you can grow from minus to more according to your needs. Don't waste money with original Apple RAM: you can get it for less in Amazon, computer stores etc.
I'd recommend you configure your iMac with internal SSD because the performance is amazing. A SSD 500GB for applications and OS can be sufficient. Keep in mind that NVMe SSD PCie is upgradeable in iMac2019 (difficult but not impossible) so if you need more in future you'll be able to install it . Of course, you will need external storage. A four bay external enclosure Thb3 RAID with 2TB*4 HDD will do a good job for 4K. I've got an external OWC enclosure and I'm very happy with reliability, performance and cost
Good lucky with your choice!
Jose
Resolve Studio 18.5.1 || FCP || Nuendo 12 || Mac Studio M1 Ultra 64 Gb || monitors BenQ PD2725U and SW271 || Decklink Mini monitor 4K || SE || RME AiOpro || MacOS 13.5.1
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rick.lang

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Re: iMac 27" display Retina 5K (2019)

PostSun Apr 05, 2020 12:56 pm

PROCESSOR
UPGRADE: 3.6GHz 8-core 9th-generation Intel Core i9 processor, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz

MEMORY
UPGRADE: 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory from Nemix

GRAPHICS
go with a 16GB HBM2 if possible even if that means an external box:
better to use the Vega 64.

STORAGE
UPGRADE 2nd option: 1TB SSD storage,
you will have this computer for a minimum 5 years and perhaps 8-10 years; you’ll feel very cramped on 512GB before 5 years;
to me it is more convenient having it internal than external. You can always add external later and dedicate that to video work while everything else is internal and running at very fast transfer speeds.
Rick Lang
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PauloVideo

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Re: iMac 27" display Retina 5K (2019)

PostSun Apr 05, 2020 5:46 pm

Quoted
Last edited by PauloVideo on Mon Apr 06, 2020 12:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Uli Plank

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Re: iMac 27" display Retina 5K (2019)

PostMon Apr 06, 2020 6:20 am

Yes, Apple is charging a LOT for periphery and add-ons.

Regarding memory: just make sure that it's certified for use with a Mac, they can be picky. Quite a few vendors are offering that.

Yes, you can keep the system SSD reasonably small and work with an external one.

Regarding the GPU, my main questions to advise you are: what are your source format, your timeline resolution and fps and your final delivery for the foreseeable future? Will you get a lot of footage that may need noise reduction or will you normally have good lighting?
No, an iGPU is not enough, and you can't use HEVC 10 bit 4:2:2 in the free version.

Studio 18.6.5, MacOS 13.6.5
MacBook M1 Pro, 16 GPU cores, 32 GB RAM and iPhone 15 Pro
Speed Editor, UltraStudio Monitor 3G, iMac 2017, eGPU
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PauloVideo

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Re: iMac 27" display Retina 5K (2019)

PostMon Apr 06, 2020 7:18 am

Uli Plank wrote:Yes, Apple is charging a LOT for periphery and add-ons.

Regarding memory: just make sure that it's certified for use with a Mac, they can be picky. Quite a few vendors are offering that.

Yes, you can keep the system SSD reasonably small and work with an external one.

Regarding the GPU, my main questions to advise you are: what are your source format, your timeline resolution and fps and your final delivery for the foreseeable future? Will you get a lot of footage that may need noise reduction or will you normally have good lighting?


Hi Uli,
Thanks for your thoughts.

About the external SSD, any recommendation?
I have seen the one Apple is selling: LaCie 1TB Mobile SSD High‑Performance External SSD USB-C USB 3.0
It's €250, at least cheaper than put internally 1TB which costs €350

Regarding the GPU, source format H.264 and h.265, timeline resolution 1080, about fps I still need to better understand how to shoot but currently working in DaVinci with 24fps, final delivery is Youtube content at the moment, noise reduction is something already needed because I'm still learning and in some shoots I have the brightness suddenly changing, also because shot during cycling.

Thanks again! :)
Last edited by PauloVideo on Mon Apr 06, 2020 2:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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PauloVideo

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Re: iMac 27" display Retina 5K (2019)

PostMon Apr 06, 2020 7:27 am

Labuhardilla wrote:Hi Paulo
I have got a 2019 iMac computer with specs as like as you are asking. Have a look to my signature.
My personal recommendation:
Graphic card: invest as much as you can afford. As you know DR (and also FCPx) needs a lot of graphic card resources. I have installed two Vega/8 GB RAM graphic cards (internal Pro 48 and eGPU Sapphire 54) with acceptable performance for 1080/2160 material
Processor and RAM: for only edition 32 GB RAM and i7 processor must be sufficient. If you do intensive composition and visual fx in Fusion you'll need high speed processor (multithread is less important) and quite RAM available. At this moment i9-9900K @ 3.6 GHz (8 cores) has the best benchmark in single core on Mac. I'de recommend this processor together 64 GB RAM for use in Fusion.
Fortunately upgrade RAM in the iMac 2019 is very ease so you can grow from minus to more according to your needs. Don't waste money with original Apple RAM: you can get it for less in Amazon, computer stores etc.
I'd recommend you configure your iMac with internal SSD because the performance is amazing. A SSD 500GB for applications and OS can be sufficient. Keep in mind that NVMe SSD PCie is upgradeable in iMac2019 (difficult but not impossible) so if you need more in future you'll be able to install it . Of course, you will need external storage. A four bay external enclosure Thb3 RAID with 2TB*4 HDD will do a good job for 4K. I've got an external OWC enclosure and I'm very happy with reliability, performance and cost
Good lucky with your choice!
Jose



Hi Jose,
Thanks for your answer :)

Are you telling me that you got Vega/8 GB RAM graphic cards (internal Pro 48 and eGPU Sapphire 54)and you only have acceptable performance for 1080/2160 material ??? OMG :(
Have you run a test to see if both work properly?
So what performance can I have with the Radeon Pro 580X 8GB GDDR5?? I'm a bit worried

About the external storage, any recommendation for any SSD solution a bit cheaper? ;)

Thanks!
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Uli Plank

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Re: iMac 27" display Retina 5K (2019)

PostMon Apr 06, 2020 7:31 am

The 580 should be fine then. It will not handle 4K at more than 30 fps, but HD will be fine even at higher speeds. Complex effects might run out of VRAM in 4K.
Denoising will work, but it'll be much faster with an additional GPU.
No, an iGPU is not enough, and you can't use HEVC 10 bit 4:2:2 in the free version.

Studio 18.6.5, MacOS 13.6.5
MacBook M1 Pro, 16 GPU cores, 32 GB RAM and iPhone 15 Pro
Speed Editor, UltraStudio Monitor 3G, iMac 2017, eGPU
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PauloVideo

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Re: iMac 27" display Retina 5K (2019)

PostMon Apr 06, 2020 9:06 am

Uli Plank wrote:The 580 should be fine then. It will not handle 4K at more than 30 fps, but HD will be fine even at higher speeds. Complex effects might run out of VRAM in 4K.
Denoising will work, but it'll be much faster with an additional GPU.


Cool, thanks!
Very last thing: as far as I understood I can shoot in 4K and then work with a timeline resolution 1080, but clearly my outcome would be in 1080, right?
Any possible workaround to get the final outcome in 4K apart of editing in 4K which requires extreme specs?
Thanks
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Uli Plank

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Re: iMac 27" display Retina 5K (2019)

PostMon Apr 06, 2020 10:02 am

It's easier than you think: you can edit and grade in an HD timeline and before final rendering change the timeline to UHD (4K is not exactly the same).
Your rendering will be slow and you may need to reduce the render speed in case you experience any problems, but you'll get the full quality of your sources.
No, an iGPU is not enough, and you can't use HEVC 10 bit 4:2:2 in the free version.

Studio 18.6.5, MacOS 13.6.5
MacBook M1 Pro, 16 GPU cores, 32 GB RAM and iPhone 15 Pro
Speed Editor, UltraStudio Monitor 3G, iMac 2017, eGPU
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PauloVideo

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Re: iMac 27" display Retina 5K (2019)

PostMon Apr 06, 2020 11:19 am

Uli Plank wrote:It's easier than you think: you can edit and grade in an HD timeline and before final rendering change the timeline to UHD (4K is not exactly the same).
Your rendering will be slow and you may need to reduce the render speed in case you experience any problems, but you'll get the full quality of your sources.


AMAZING! Thanks Uli 8-)
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PauloVideo

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Re: iMac 27

PostMon Apr 06, 2020 11:55 am

rick.lang wrote:PROCESSOR
UPGRADE: 3.6GHz 8-core 9th-generation Intel Core i9 processor, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz

MEMORY
UPGRADE: 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory from Nemix

GRAPHICS
go with a 16GB HBM2 if possible even if that means an external box:
better to use the Vega 64.

STORAGE
UPGRADE 2nd option: 1TB SSD storage,
you will have this computer for a minimum 5 years and perhaps 8-10 years; you’ll feel very cramped on 512GB before 5 years;
to me it is more convenient having it internal than external. You can always add external later and dedicate that to video work while everything else is internal and running at very fast transfer speeds.


Hi Rick,

Thanks for the suggestions.

MEMORY
The 32GB Nemix memory DDR4 2400 (PC4 19200) 260-Pin DDR4 SO-DIMM is very expensive: €420
I have found this which is cheaper (€150) and it has good feedback:
Crucial CT2K16G4S266M 32GB (16 GB x 2), DDR4, 2666 MT/s, PC4-21300, CL19, Dual Rank x8, SODIMM, 260-Pin
What do you reckon?

GRAPHICS
Unfortunately Apple doesn't give any other choice, only 8GB
- 8GB of GDDR5 memory for Radeon Pro 580X
- 8GB of HBM2 memory for Radeon Pro Vega 48
I think I'm gonna go for the Pro Vega 48 in the end :mrgreen: I'll be poor!

STORAGE
Do you mean that anyway it would be easier to work on editing using the external SSD?
And what I don't like about the 1TB SSD (€352) storage is that the price is more than double compared to the 512GB (€117), a bit unfair, don't you think?
I have seen the external SSD that Apple is selling: LaCie 1TB Mobile SSD High‑Performance External SSD USB-C USB 3.0
It's €250, at least cheaper than put internally 1TB which costs €350
So spending €100 less I'd have 1.5 TB

Thanks again!

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