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good mac computer for rendering

jstiltonjstilton Posts: 134
in Technical Help (nuts n bolts)

hi there,

i'm asking this for someone else. what is a good mac computer for reasonable render speeds, also with uberenvironment and iray.

to compare: i myself have a windows pc with an i7 5820k processor. what does more or less compare with that on the mac side?

thank you!

 

 

Comments

  • nicsttnicstt Posts: 11,715
    edited November 2015

    Many Mac users are frustrated with using them for rendering, particularly IRAY.

    If your friend insists it has to be Mac, then you would be better chosing a different render engine. Chose the tool to do the job, not fit the job to the tool. :)

    There is a thread here that long-term Mac users have made some comments about various issues; some have a windows machine they transfer scenes to for render.

    https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201805

    The article was last amended earlier this year, so choices are not good.

    https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT202239

    September, 2015.

    Post edited by nicstt on
  • StratDragonStratDragon Posts: 3,168

    none of the new mac's slated for end 2015 - 2016 have 4GB Nvidia card options, not even custom builds.

    while you can add a GPU chassis that connects via the Thunderbolt port the cost for one of these device is that of a mid-line GPU and there is no guarantee the next iterations of Mac OS will support these things. OS 10.11 is very picky about legacy software and devices (you can't downgrade a mac to any OS that came out before the computer was built) Apple has been turning it's already deaf ear away from the concerns of the graphic arts community and my advice to you (as 17+ years corporate mac tech and graphic artist) unless you want a phone, tablet or watch that tells you how fat you are you may want to consider a PC.

     

  • nicsttnicstt Posts: 11,715
    StratDragon said:

    none of the new mac's slated for end 2015 - 2016 have 4GB Nvidia card options, not even custom builds.

    while you can add a GPU chassis that connects via the Thunderbolt port the cost for one of these device is that of a mid-line GPU and there is no guarantee the next iterations of Mac OS will support these things. OS 10.11 is very picky about legacy software and devices (you can't downgrade a mac to any OS that came out before the computer was built) Apple has been turning it's already deaf ear away from the concerns of the graphic arts community and my advice to you (as 17+ years corporate mac tech and graphic artist) unless you want a phone, tablet or watch that tells you how fat you are you may want to consider a PC.

     

    That is so sad to hear; I've always admired them, just never been interested in paying apple tax.

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,979

    The best Mac to render on is a MacPro 2009-2012 (Aluminum casing) with an nVidida 4 or 6 GB card. I render in a MacPro2012 (gonna free my 2009 soon too), and I use a GTX 780 6GB,

    What you need to think abiut is ther maximum power (the 980 does sink a little too much), but the 960 4GB is a perfect one.

     

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,979
    StratDragon said:

    none of the new mac's slated for end 2015 - 2016 have 4GB Nvidia card options, not even custom builds.

    while you can add a GPU chassis that connects via the Thunderbolt port the cost for one of these device is that of a mid-line GPU and there is no guarantee the next iterations of Mac OS will support these things. OS 10.11 is very picky about legacy software and devices (you can't downgrade a mac to any OS that came out before the computer was built) Apple has been turning it's already deaf ear away from the concerns of the graphic arts community and my advice to you (as 17+ years corporate mac tech and graphic artist) unless you want a phone, tablet or watch that tells you how fat you are you may want to consider a PC.

     

    Not entirely true, but I agree Apple has spent too much R&D on iToys lately. The old or refurbished or CPU upgraded MacPro 2009-2012 with 6 - 16 Xeon cores are really well suited for rendering, much better than  any i7 equipped machine.

     

  • StratDragonStratDragon Posts: 3,168
    edited November 2015
    Totte said:
    StratDragon said:

    none of the new mac's slated for end 2015 - 2016 have 4GB Nvidia card options, not even custom builds.

    while you can add a GPU chassis that connects via the Thunderbolt port the cost for one of these device is that of a mid-line GPU and there is no guarantee the next iterations of Mac OS will support these things. OS 10.11 is very picky about legacy software and devices (you can't downgrade a mac to any OS that came out before the computer was built) Apple has been turning it's already deaf ear away from the concerns of the graphic arts community and my advice to you (as 17+ years corporate mac tech and graphic artist) unless you want a phone, tablet or watch that tells you how fat you are you may want to consider a PC.

     

    Not entirely true, but I agree Apple has spent too much R&D on iToys lately. The old or refurbished or CPU upgraded MacPro 2009-2012 with 6 - 16 Xeon cores are really well suited for rendering, much better than  any i7 equipped machine.

     

     

    Agreed on the rendering part. This thing eats lux for breakfast and it's 6 years old.

     

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    Post edited by StratDragon on
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