New workstation hardware question

[KPSWD]

I can't see a dedicated hardware forum for sketchup/vray so hope this is ok to post here...

We are relatively new to rendering, and are about to buy a new machine to handle the job. Our office is Mac at the moment, but we are prepared to buy either Mac or Windows for the job.

On the table is

Mac Pro with 3.7Ghz Quad core / 32GB RAM / Dual Fire Pro

Or

Core i7 3.6GHz, 32Gb RAM, Quadro M4000 (single)

The Windows machine is £900 cheaper, but more importantly can anyone tell me which is going to perform better at rendering?

thanks

[jiminy-billy-bob]

I'd go with a Windows machine at the price of the Mac.

[peerman]

Hi, we're on Macs here as well. The iMac I have right now does the job, but it's not the best at the moment. I'm with jiminy-billy-bob here. I'd rather go for a (upgradable) Windows machine with good nvidia cards. GPU rendering is getting better and better, but the support from Apple is lacking (no mac can support good GPUs and external videocards are not really tested I think). We are anxiously waiting for Apple to come with some real PRO machine. Else we might consider swithing to Windows (at least for the rendermachines).
The Dual Fire Pro in the Mac Pro is not supported by V-Ray as far as I know so it would be a waste to invest in those. Most GPU based renders use CUDA (nVidia).
Anyway, hope that helps a bit? Ask away if you have more questions!

Best,