I opted to use Final Cut Pro X in these tests for the simple reason that it is Apple’s flagship NLE, and many of the people purchasing these machines are creative professionals who work in video.

Hi, I'm looking to upgrade my iMac to a new machine. Let's say the money is not a concern here. I'm aware of the minimum system requirements for final cut. I want to know if I would be better off with a faster processor with less cores or slightly slower processor with more cores? Easiest gopro editing software for mac free.

What's a better option? Also how much RAM is 'too much' or unnecessary for Final Cut. How about a graphic card? I just don't want to end up with specs that the Final Cut can't use. Any help is greatly appreciates. I'm aware that I'm asking pretty basic questions but I have no clue.

Click to expand.I'm a professional video editor and have many Macs but also still use Premiere CC on Windows. FCPX is very efficient and can edit H264 1080p material just fine on an older machine. That said the more CPU and GPU power, the better. While editing is usually fast, some effects are very CPU or GPU intensive. E.g, Neat Video noise reduction, stabilization, flicker removal, etc. Is very slow. In general the trend in software development is leverage the GPU more, so a current snapshot in time may not be revealing.

E.g, the next version of FCPX will probably use the Metal API which in turn uses the GPU. That is nearly certain because Adobe just announced at NAB Premiere CC will be using Metal to improve performance. If money is no object and you just want to avoid wasting it on non-helpful areas, here are my suggestions: - If you don't immediately need a machine consider waiting until around 4Q this year. AMD and nVidia are rolling out new GPU technology which will probably be in the next update.

However don't hesitate to get a machine now if you need one. - If you already have a top-spec 2013 or newer iMac, the 2015 is only modestly faster. If your iMac is 2011 or older, a top-spec 2015 iMac will feel much faster. - Definitely get the 4Ghz i7 CPU and the M395X GPU. You can't upgrade those after the fact and they will be useful.

- Memory: I use 32GB and you probably could get buy with 16GB provided you don't run virtualization like Parallels. You can save some money by getting a minimally-equipped 8GB machine and adding your own ram from OWC which does not invalidate your Apple warranty. - Disk: I have had both 3TB Fusion Drive and 1TB SSD iMacs and since most of my video content is on a Thunderbolt array I don't see much performance difference from the system drive. A 1TB SSD is $600 more than a 3TB FD.

If your content is external or you want to save $600 and apply it to a better external drive, FD will work. I personally like SSD because it may be slightly more reliable and it is a little faster (real world) for some things. Do not get a little 256GB SSD then use a slow USB 3 bus-powered external drive. This can be a lot slower than just putting everything on a 3TB Fusion Drive.

- External drives: ideally use a Thunderbolt array, plus you'll need another one to back that up plus the system drive. Docker for mac update. Just using RAID doesn't eliminate the need for a backup. There are various good storage providers such as G-Tech, OWC, Promise, Caldigit and LaCie. If I remember correctly. I'm a professional video editor and have many Macs but also still use Premiere CC on Windows.

FCPX is very efficient and can edit H264 1080p material just fine on an older machine. That said the more CPU and GPU power, the better. While editing is usually fast, some effects are very CPU or GPU intensive. E.g, Neat Video noise reduction, stabilization, flicker removal, etc.

Is very slow. In general the trend in software development is leverage the GPU more, so a current snapshot in time may not be revealing. E.g, the next version of FCPX will probably use the Metal API which in turn uses the GPU. That is nearly certain because Adobe just announced at NAB Premiere CC will be using Metal to improve performance. If money is no object and you just want to avoid wasting it on non-helpful areas, here are my suggestions: - If you don't immediately need a machine consider waiting until around 4Q this year. AMD and nVidia are rolling out new GPU technology which will probably be in the next update. However don't hesitate to get a machine now if you need one.