switching from mac to pc yes/no? (laptop), what to get?
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    donuan
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    switching from mac to pc yes/no? (laptop), what to get?

    by donuan » Fri Jan 26, 2018 3:52 am

    hey guys,

    so my laptop is getting old and Im buying a new one, but Im completely confused about what to buy...
    
    Im a visual artist and I work in video of different forms.
    So I make things like videos but also projection mappings and video installations and live cinema with multiple outputs etc.
    Most of my material is made using cinema 4d and after effects, and my output is often processed in software like modul8 and madmapper or Maxmsp, touch designer etc.

    Im currently a mac user and have been for quite a time,
    (I now have a macbook pro 2015, 15' 2,5 ghz, 16gb ram,  nvidia gforce 750 2gb)
    so Im used to the mac system, and I do like it, so the natural thing for me would be to get a mac,
    but to get a new mac that is better than what I have I would have to pay at least 4000 euros, and still not having something that great, which also -as it is mac- is kindof hard to upgrade, but I could get a pc with a lot better specs for 2-3000 euros, so Im thinking about making the switch to pc.
    But, its a whole new world, so what I am basically asking is what to get?

    I do a lot of rendering and work at home, but also a lot of things on location an "on the way", so desktop is not an option.

    Im currently thinking in the lines of getting a razerblade,
    and then they have this razor core, which seams like a neat option but Im not really sure what good it would do me as all the examples and reviews I find are all based on gaming, and since I do not do any gaming, this seems irrelevant somehow.

    so if anyone has a good idea I would be very grateful to hear it.

    Also I would be very interested in hearing ppls experience of switching from mac to pc.

    thanks!
  • mad-matt
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    Re: switching from mac to pc yes/no? (laptop), what to get?

    by mad-matt » Thu Feb 01, 2018 9:33 am

    I bought a gygabyte aero with a 1060 for less than 2000€ and it's nice and powerful. However when using it I miss the mac touchpad quality (and macOS).
  • Teunkneus
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    Re: switching from mac to pc yes/no? (laptop), what to get?

    by Teunkneus » Thu Feb 01, 2018 5:31 pm

    To be honest this question is currently really hard.

    Osx handdown if you asked this a couple years back.

    I own multiple mac's and pretty happy with them, but the newer ones are somehow crappy in durability.
    Last year I blew up a brand new macpro within 48 hours, after much research it was due to the bad soldering on the gpu's and after a lot of problems they took it back. (on the web you can find a lot of these issues)
    The macbooks are stripped of al the necessary connections and are ridiculous overpriced in my opinion. And all the items needed for multi projection etc. will cost you!!

    So that would make the answer easy you would think.... no because I also work a lot with windows, intel nucs and really heavy rendering pc's.
    My biggest problems is windows itself, it is difficult for them to support all the different hardware and software because it's always the little things that can f.... up your projects. Drivers that somehow don't work or windows that suddenly auto updates (after doing everything you can to prevent that) and the stability of osx is missing.

    If I had to choose an device to do an live show I will choose my good old mac pro 5.1, if I had to pay for a system just to cock around I probably would build a pc. Best bet for a bit of both would be a older macbookpro i7 17" with HDMI
  • franz
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    Re: switching from mac to pc yes/no? (laptop), what to get?

    by franz » Thu Feb 01, 2018 8:46 pm

    gigabyte aero 15. runs materials twice as fast as a MBP.
    but the trackpad is crap.
  • sputnik
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    Re: switching from mac to pc yes/no? (laptop), what to get?

    by sputnik » Fri Apr 27, 2018 12:32 pm

    Hi,
    I'm testing Madmapper V 3.3 Demo on Aero 15 (7700HQ) with GTX 1060 6GB with 4 outputs and experiencing huge drop in fps
    My configuration spans between 2,3,4 screens/projectors
    2 projectors/screens - 2screens - Triplehead2Go - fps is ok . steady 30fps
    3 projectors/screens - 2 screens Triplehead2Go + 1No HDMI - fps lagging at 15-20 fps
    4 projectors/screens - 2 screens Triplehead2Go + 1No HDMI+1HDMI (thru Thunderbolt adapter) - fps lagging at 15-20 fps
    Was just wondering if it is Aero 15 which is the problem - I mean somehow 'crippled' gtx 1060 ?
    Have tested different formats x264,HAP,PhotoJPEG - all the same fps drop when connecting more than 2 projectors ,different movie sizes. Does not matter if it is 4x1280 or 5120px wide. Still the same drop in performance
    I will have to test it on PC with Triplehead2Go -basically the same setup and see if it gets any better on regular gtx1060

    Mad-matt what is your experience with Aero 15 performance & multiple projectors?
  • sputnik
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    Re: switching from mac to pc yes/no? (laptop), what to get?

    by sputnik » Sat Apr 28, 2018 5:36 pm

    So basically I have answered myself . I did a test with the same setup (as outlined earlier) on my PC with Gtx 1060 6GB. Steady 30fps with 4 projectors. So it must be my Aero 15 which can not handle 2+ projectors at 30fps. Still hoping it can handle the same setup with 30fps. If you guys have any experience re: performance of Gigabyte Aero 15 with multiple projectors ,pls share. Also there is another problem. In OBS I can not see all the screens for recording. Aero 15's gtx 1060 is limiting number of output screens to 3 (that includes laptop screen). So attaching triplehead2go(which goes to MiniDP)+HDMI+HDMI(thru Thunderbolt adapter) only gives visible output on screens ,but OBS cannot record it back . I can only see in OBS triplehead2go+HDMI.
  • sputnik
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    Re: switching from mac to pc yes/no? (laptop), what to get?

    by sputnik » Sun Apr 29, 2018 12:13 am

    And again. V-sync off--> fps goes up to 30fps on 4 projectors. Still Problem recording all 4. Due to Nvidia Optimus (split ports on laptop)
    -Mini DP & HDMI run on Gtx 1060
    -Thunderbolt & laptop screen run on Intel HD graphics
    OBS can only run on one graphics ,not both simultaneously -to my knowledge ,thus recording only from one source (can be changed in NVIDIA settings for Integrated or dedicated GPU) but It will not run both the same time.
    Conclusion is I can not record 4 screens/projectors at the same time with OBS. Does anybody know software capable of utilizing both graphics in Nvidia Optimus laptop & recording simultaneously from all sources ?

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