Will FCP X work on this old Mac Pro?

I'm running OS 10.6.8 on this computer:
Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro4,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 8 MB
Memory: 16 GB

I want to upgrade my OS. So I know I'll have to upgrade FCP from 6 to X. Will it work okay on my old Mac Pro?
Thanks.

I don't believe that system is upgradeable beyond Mavericks and FCPX 10.2 requires Yosemite. You can double check on Apple support to see what latest OS will run on it to be sure.

Thanks. I'll check that out.

I also heard I might need 1G of VRAM to make it work. Is that so? Is it possible to upgrade the VRAM on this machine?

I have a MacPro3,1 that runs Yosemite and FCPX 10.2 just fine, so I would expect that you could make your MacPro4,1 work. I also have 16GB of RAM. I've upgraded the system with an SSD boot drive and dual ATI Radeon 5770 GPUs.

If you are going to work with FCPX 10.2, I strongly recommend upgrading to dual GPUs.

I understood that FCP only supported dual graphics cards in the trash can MP.

The only official support may be for the trash can MP but in practice my experience and those of others is that FCPX makes use of dual GPUs in older MacPros. Take a look at Dual GPUs in old (Classic!) Mac Pros and BruceX: Try this new Final Cut Pro X benchmark

The recent update to Color Finale that added dual GPU support provided a significant performance boost on my system as well.

Good to know. Thanks.

Just for the sake of economics, is this dual GPU an issue for Pro video guys with clients hanging around?
I'm using video for strange and artful music videos of my own. So a little slower is not a problem.

Or is this a case of - it ain't gonna work so don't even think about it?

Excuse the inexperience here, but I do have 2 graphics cards even though I'm using one monitor.
Is this what you mean by 2 GPUs?

I'm my own client as well. You will need to decide your own tradeoffs but if I were in your shoes i would do the software update/upgrade first to Yosemite and FCPX 10.2 and then see how it feels. I did my upgrade to dual GPUs before the performance boost in 10.2 and back then I found the beachballs really cut into my editing flow and enjoyment. I'm happy to let things export (render) overnight if need be, so I don't need faster CPU speed, but i want the process of editing to be a pleasure. Right now with both dual GPUs and 10.2, I'm happy.

Looks like you have two although my understanding is that they need to be the same type in order to get FCPX to recognize them. Others on this board will have more knowledge about this than I do.

Take a look at Dual GPUs in old (Classic!) Mac Pros for a more extended discussion of this.

Dual GPUs are supported on older Mac Pros that
1- Have two GPUs installed
2- Both GPUs must be identical
3- Motion requires 2 GB VRAM for full resolution 3D text

Ah! Looks like I've got more thinking to do. Trying not to buy a new computer yet. I'll have to check out the prices on upgrading VRAM and getting a matching GPU.

Thanks, all.

I have a cMP 4,1... it had that old GT120 gpu.
It was a dog with FCPX and any other app that uses OpenCL and demands a ton of vram.
(FCPX & PS and others use the gpu more then the cpu for graphics processing.)

So I upgraded my 4,1 with a Radeon 7950 which has 3 gigs vram (more then enough unless you're doing 4k or production all day every day)... and now it FLYs!!! I Love the dramatic difference..

I did some old Alex4d speed test and before with the GT120 it was so slow I gave up after 3 min... with the 7950 it was under 30 secs. (if I remember right).

I also have 20 gigs ram. 16 is the min. these days.
And recently I added a AngelBird SSD for the system (the best one that doesn't need any memory fix (forgot the name) for mac). The SSD with the GPU made it so I work just fine and won't update to a new Mac until there's a big jump in a year or 2.

Just out of curiousity are you running YOSEMITE or MAVERICK using the 7950 card ?

support.apple.com/en-ca/HT202239

Yea.. and 10.2.. and many other media apps. No problem at all.

I just installed a Sapphire 7950 on Wednesday replacing the Radeon HD 5870 in my mid 2010 12 core MP in the hopes it would provide better 3D performance in FCP and Motion. So far I am very pleased with the boost and it provides HDMI out also. Nice improvement to buy some more time with the machine. All drivers are in Yosemite. Installs in a snap. Thanks, freeform for your input in the other thread on this.

Neal
Vram is video ram and is soldered onto the vid card GPU. So when you replace you GPU you are installing new vram with whatever is on the card you buy.
Ram is just the system ram, says you have 16GB installed now. You can upgrade that yourself.
Seemed that you were confusing the 2 types of ram.

Your system will run latest versions fine.
You should upgrade your GPU, but this is just a simple swap. You could go all out and install something like a 980 or dual GPUs. You will see some big speed boosts for some processes. A number of sites like BareFeats have great comparisons between cards. You can pretty much use any card, PC or Mac, but with a non flashed PC card you will not see a boot screen until the login window.

There are some features of Yosemite that will not work on your computer, unless you also swap out other components like the bluetooth, wifi cards for things like Handoff/Continuity.

One of the wonderful things about the older towers is the user upgradability. They can still hold their own. Here is a BareFeats comparison to get you started… barefeats.com/mpt5k1.html
Hope this helps, Greg

I have a 4,1 and EVERYTHING works just fine.

+ I use Yosemite, FCPX 10.2 with stock bluetooth & wifi,
+ 7950 gpu (roughly $400) (can be much cheaper for PC ver.. but has a few small issues noted elsewhere),
+ an Acorn pci card ($89) holding a 512 AngelBird SSD (aprox $300, only SSD that's seen as a Apple SSD so no need for Trim mods).. This combo according to BlackMagicSpeedTest delivers write Write=400+ and Read 500+ MB/s!!!!!
+ an Inatek 4 port USB 3 card ($35)...
+ And NO special drivers for any of this!! So basically for under $850 bucks I was able to wait years just fine for the next gen CPU and MacPro.

I'm not doing Handoff so don't know if that's an issue because of bluetooth chips ver. used.

www.angelbird.com/en/prod/ssd-wrk-for-mac-pro-937/
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0090IA3GY/ref...05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I027GPC/ref...08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Yes. Thanks for clarifying. I did have confusion on the Vram point.
Very helpful.