@RRRR The Thunderbolt board (ga-z77x-up5-th) Tonymac was recommending was for Z77 processors: http://www.tonymacx86.com/golden-builds/73112-updated-storks-thunderbolt-build-i5-3570k-ga-z77x-up5-th-gtx-650-ti-mountain-lion.html I'd guess it's EOL now.

I don't see one listed for the new Z87 processors. Watch at TonyMac for developments.

My build was on a GA-Z77-UD5H board, it was pretty easy after the initial hurdles were overcome and the USB 3.0 is so fast, I think only an SSD in RAID 0 can take advantage of the Thunderbolt speeds. At $40 a cable Thunderbolt sounds too painful for my wallet.

@B3Guy I'm hearing that the 79xx card on Mavericks is great, better than CUDA. Also heard that there should be lots of love for OpenCL in Resolve once the Mac Pro comes out.

@B3Guy i think the amd will be a better card for fcpx but @alcomposer has hands on experience with that card and how it works with fcpx if i'm not mistaken. There is also a golden build on tonymacx86, the rampage extreme iv that has an amd variation build http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-builds/94200-asus-x79-rampage-iv-extreme-core-i7-3930k-radeon-hd-7970-ghz-3gb.html

I did read that with the new 10.8.5 it is having problems but i'm sure it'll be figured out. At the moment i'm awaiting the release of mavericks and what that will do to the x79 builds. Hopefully they'll become as easy as the others.

Hi, all! I'm in the research stages of putting together a hackytosh, and I have a few questions related to CUDA and OpenCL with Resolve/FCX/Logic X. First, is it correct that Apple's programs don't take advantage of CUDA? Second, if that is true, would an AMD 7970 be a better option with these programs over the Nvidia 6xx cards? Or is CUDA with Resilve just too good to pass up?

I'm hoping I can put together something that would be able to tackle 4K content down the road, or at least something that will be upgradable to that level when the time comes.

Can this be used as a Hackintosh?

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/nuc-kit-d54250wyk.html

+1 on 7toX. I also recommend Xto7. Those two apps should be in everyone's arsenal if you ever want a flawless transition between apps of all kinds.

@ vicharris... obviously the dangers of using FCP on OSX after 10.6.8 are documented, even on real Macs. Recently I was forced to use FCP on my 10.8.4 Hackintosh and I ran into some stuttering problems immediately.

Somewhere on a Mac Editing Forum someone suggested something odd, but it worked: change/delete the Waveform cache. In my case I switched the settings/cache to a different disk and there was an dramatic (!) improvement, albeit still with some hiccups. But in the long rung: FCP is done and gone... R.I.P.

Hey @vicharris the software I am talking about (now that I am on my machine with Dev tools installed) is Quartz Debug.

Currently Apple have changed how the distribute the Developer tools. Once upon a time (before Xcode went App Store) it was all bundled together. Now you will have to get it from the developer tools download directly from Apple - its in the downloadable bundle named Graphics Developer Tools.

You don't need to pay $100 a year to be able to download this. Simply register as a developer at: https://developer.apple.com/devcenter/mac/index.action

Don't ask me how to get to the download page. Its one of the links - but it always takes me about 4 mins to find the correct path to get to it. Just click away at the links until you get to a download place that has .dmg files. Search for Graphics.

YMMV

@vicharris in case you don't know this: open Activity Monitior Window>Floating CPU window and select one of the options. This will show you all of your system's processors. My hack is an i7 quad core (multi threaded) so 8 "processors" show up.

When you render in FCP7 besides being 32 bit it can also only utilize 1 processor. So under "process name" you should see no more than 100% being used (which SUX!). The rest of the core are idle. This is what makes Premiere so attractive, on top of cuda acceleration and 64-bit, is it can use all 8 processors or 800%.

In any event, what always worked for me was to use FCP rescue (discontinued) and save a set of the FCP prefs (I think there are 4) when the system was set up and running well. If it bogged down (well known prefs would get corrupted easily, you could quit FCP and use FCP rescue (or do it manually) and trash the current prefs and replace with your archived "fresh" prefs. Restart FCP and it would run well again.

Also what OS are you running? 10.8.4? The last OS supporting FCP7 was 10.6.8. Anything beyond that and you are in unsupported waters.

I am running 10.8.4 and have FCP7 installed, just haven't had a reason to use it yet. LMK how this comes out...? Thanks

What slows my PP rendering drastically is using non-cuda fx that is also not CPU multi-core aware.

@alcomposer Do you mean the OpenGL Viewer app in the Mac App Store, or are you referring to a different app? I don't have the same issues with slow rendering but am curious about the benchmark tools you're using to verify proper GPU behavior. I assume my HD 5870 Just Works because it's officially supported in Mac Pros and everything does get lots better when it's pushing pixels vs. HD4000, but it's always good to confirm these things if possible with test utilities.

Are you using fx that is not cuda accelerated (in case of premiere)?

@Shaveblog, thats what fixed it for me. But I don't have the machine now to play with :-(

I can say that the noise stopped inside the case after it was left on overnight. So maybe it was burning in? I won't know until I test out that build again, (maybe in 2 months) :( :( :( I do know that the PSU I was using is most probably the best money can buy currently- Im not into Hackintoshes to save cash- Im into them to do my work- and I love OS X. (And OS X seriously loves them)

But you are right- my rig was powered from a recording studio I use all the time, no ground loops normally. But I am almost happy to go ADAT from now on, the traveler is a NOISY POS. Apart from its great price (wait- I paid 1k for mine) and its great features (its is nice to look at)...

Eh who am I kidding, will probably go with some new gen thing soon, but ADAT is all I need right now.

@dtr, I haven't played with multi monitor yet - but both Mini-Displayport ports worked OOTB.

Im not kidding- that 7970 is a beast of burden - love it.

Now I have to plan yet another build during the interim... thinking of going z77x-up5th. (sorry - taking a risk with a 7970 was all I could swallow- Im sticking with what works, and quite frankly Haswell does nothing for me.