I’m very old PC user, but for soem time I’m thinking about switching to dark side .
Right now I have quad core pc with 8800GTX card 8 GB ram, but I need more power for 3dsmax, vray, Photoshop, AE, and would love to use Final Cut. Do you think that 8 Core MAC PRO mighe be a good idea. I’ll be honest I also want to buy in future Apple laptop and I love their design.
I read a lot and it seems they are worth the price.
Design is great.. But buck for buck, you get more from a PC.. if you are willing to pay that extra 1000$ for Mac ( for about same specs) you may consider putting that money on better processors, more ram, kick-**s videocard, something usefull. I’m not Pro-Mac or Anti-Mac, but on a logic sens, they make less logic. Then again, their design is nice, so can not argue with that…
Agree with thablanch, I’d spend my money on a faster PC. I don’t really care if my actual desktop isn’t a thing of beauty, it’s what you do with it in the end.
With Macs I believe it is best to buy right after an update… if you can wait for it.
QUESTION - Do good looking computers render faster???
Answer - NO!
Like the guys said…spend the extra money on a better CPU, more RAM, etc
There is also the issue of working under the MAC operating system…NOT fun if you are used to windows.
Here’s a CAR/computer analogy
My mate used to love pulling up next to flashy new sports cars at lights in his beat-up hotrod.
They would gennerally look down their noses at him…especially when he started to rev up his rust bucket, looking for a drag race.
Needless to say when they started to race, he always blew them away simply because his engine was usually twice as big & powerfull.
The new car owners may have looked cool …but usually come last.
There is more to life than LOOKS.
Cheers
I am trying to figure out where you can buy a PC that has Dual Xeon procs that is 1,000s less than a mac. Everyone keeps saying it but going to Dell or Boxx or HP workstations its the same price or more. Not trying to make a point I just really would like to know as I buy a bunch of PCs as well.
As Far as the mac pro question you could easily go with that machine, however what I would recommend is that you get an iMac for FCP and use it for rendering in addition to your new machine. I find personally it is better to have two machines and it will give you the most flexibility and extra horsepower.
[quote=“dcullipher, username:dcullipher”]
I am trying to figure out where you can buy a PC that has Dual Xeon procs that is 1,000s less than a mac. Everyone keeps saying it but going to Dell or Boxx or HP workstations its the same price or more. Not trying to make a point I just really would like to know as I buy a bunch of PCs as well.
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Xeon’s are way over priced compared to the new 8 core i7.
I just bought two i7 computers for only slightly more than one Dual Xeon.
The best thing about the i7 chips is that they can be overclocked much better than the xeon
I have two bios settings where I can run it at it’s normal 2.8 Ghz with 8 cores or I can switch it to 4 cores [hyper-threading off & safely run it overclocked at 3.6 Ghz]
The beauty of this is that I can work in max at 3.6ghz which makes everything super quick [when building/working up a scene & when it’s final render time I will reboot with 8 Cores.
I would also avoid buying from the larger companies like dell, boxx and go for a medium size company as I have found they usually give the best prices.
Hope this helps:)
So the 8 core i7 is with hyperthreading on? With my Xeons I get 16 HT cores. In that case for me its about rack density. But the value in the i7 is undeniable, we are upgrading alot of old machines to those. We are also testing the i5 vs the i7 to see how much difference there is between the two.
We mainly go with the big guys due to warranty and next day replacement from all of them. This is something that should be pointed out with the Mac Pro as well. Apple Care is good but Dell, Boxx and I think HP fix their problems within 24 hours in case of a hardware failure. I would be interested in any other companies you have dealt with.
[quote=“dcullipher, username:dcullipher”]
We mainly go with the big guys due to warranty and next day replacement from all of them. This is something that should be pointed out with the Mac Pro as well. Apple Care is good but Dell, Boxx and I think HP fix their problems within 24 hours in case of a hardware failure. I would be interested in any other companies you have dealt with.
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I am in Australia and have purchased my computers through ‘ENSPIRE’ and found their service & warranty both great. They are a company providing specialist computers for 3D, rendering, video, etc.
Most good computer companies will offer an extended warranty offer & I think that’s very important. I usually take extended warranty of 2-3 years.
I have also got a few render nodes built by UMART [They offer an extended warranty as well] but the problem there is making sure you research & know what parts you need
Cheers
I recently went through the same dilemma when deciding what to buy for my new laptop. (I cannot speak for the MAC Pros as I have never used one.). I have a lot of friends who are designers and they all chanted, “Buy the Mac! Buy the Mac!” I was seriously considering buying the latest MacBook Pro; even to the point where I had it spec’ed out and was almost ready to push the purchase button. I too have been a PC user for 10 years now and wanted to try something different.
In the end I could not justify paying double for a Mac when I could get the same thing in PC, (actually faster), for less that half the price. I love the Mac OS and they are solid machines but in my opinion you are paying for more form than function.
I think in laptops this is mostly true. You can get a screaming PC laptop for 3k. In desktops its a bit blurrier if you are talking Xeons.
I would avoid the mac, they are a “mobile” company now 
The lack of i7 is the main issue I would think…
Hard to beat the bang for your buck. a year ago I might have gone mac pro..but not now …
Get and Imac 21 or 27 if you need the OS…but get another PC fr the price of a Mac Pro work station..best of both worlds
The 27" imac is a real bargain now :
One of the best screens with a 2560x1440 resolution together with a 4core processor …for 1800€! ..this is really cheap, because there is no 27" screen with this resolution and this quality. There is also a i7 processor available, which is faster and have HT, but costs 180€ more.
If i would need a new workstation - not a renderworkhorse, i would buy a new imac.
And if I need dual monitor setup ?
I think you can have dual monitors using the video out in the iMac with a mini dvi to dvi cable for the second monitor.
I just did a quick side by side price comparison for the Dual Mac Pro and a Dell with the same (slightly better) specs and the Dell was a $150 US cheaper. Then I did a side by side with the highest end Dual Mac Pro I could configure and Dell with the same (still a little better) specs and it was more than $!000 US less with 8gig less ram or $1200 more with 16gig more ram (couldn’t set it to the apples max 32gig dell only had 24 or 48 ).
Dell had way more options and you could setup a better system for the same price or spend some more and get a better system.
I thought about getting a Mac Pro year or so ago because everyone said it ran windows better and faster than a PC made for windows and that it would cost less. I did a bunch of research and found that PCs are still usually cheaper even from the likes of Dell and that if you are willing to get your hands dirty you can get the same system for almost half the price of a Mac Pro. Of course this is all for new systems. If you are willing to bargain hunt you can get refurbed or open box Mac Pros, Dells and HPs all for even less but you get what ever someone else configured but didn’t want.
I also thought about it long and hard. Since I have been using windows for years, all my software is Windows based (especially 3d Max and Vray!) and was just looking for a new system the Mac Pro made very little sense. I would be getting the system to work 95%+ of the time in Windows but spending more money and running on a system that wasn’t really made for windows and compromising on things like the video card and ram.
I came to the conclusion the only reason to buy a Mac Pro is if you use or Macs and Mac apps most of the time. If you want to try out a Mac go get a custom PC made from a good vendor and spend the money you saved to buy a cheap Mac to play with.
But that’s just me -:]
the apple tech spec says:
Mini DisplayPort output port with support for DVI, VGA, and dual-link DVI (adapters sold separately). 27-inch models also support input from external DisplayPort sources
This means that you can use the imac also as a monitor for another mac or a gfx card with a displayport!
can you upgrade the video card on the 27" Imac?