Mac vs. PC

[Rhizo]

TWallace is on to something good here. I was debating about going Mac too. The main drawback was my PC screen is terrible compared to that on an Imac. It was a no brainer for me. However, you mentioned you have a nice screen.

To edit the build suggested here are some viable options.

Mobo:This one is a bit cheaper if you dont plan to crossfire. It has on board video which can be useful if your card ever gives out and are waiting for the replacement to arrive. Downtime is not fun at all.

Graphic Card:I like this card a bit more since it has 1GB of memory. Not sure if you want to run two monitors? You have that option with it.

Ram:Right now it is a bit expensive. I have seen it as low as $69.99. Shop around for it. Its good quality ram, and yes I do use it myself.

PSU:I would go with a more reliable unit like the Earthwatts. Then again I have a strong Antec Bias. It does make a little noise, but nothing I consider to be a problem. For the price its a quality PSU.

How good are you with clocking? Paired with a better CPU cooler. You can push the CPU suggested at least to 3.8GHz. I've read stories of 4.0GHz+, but I have never pushed it beyond 3.8 as the computer was not mine. Casing from personal use I like my Antec 900. (1200 is a bit better, but it wont fit where my desktop goes) There is much debate on the best case, but I dont want to start that debate. Ohh and one more note I'll add. Consider doing a RAID to improve your timings.

Cheers :beer:

 

[Beaun]

Here is my recent build, the price has gone down since I got it. It's like $900 now. You still need a keyboard, mouse and screen/s.

CPU: AMD Phenom II 3.0 $151 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103471

RAM: Patriot 4 gig ram dual channel, this is no longer available... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220314

GPU: GTX 260 896MB $205 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434

Case: Antec 1200 $160, this thing will keep your PC running very cool, never have heat issues even with overclocking. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043

Motherboard Asus M4N72-E $115 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131367

HDD: 250gig $65, get more if you need more but I dont need much storage http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136291

DVD Burner: Lite-On $29 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

PSU: Thermaltake 750w $115 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153036

CPU Fan: $43 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118223

I also got the Noctua NF-P12-1300 120mm Case Fan $23 (very quiet) and of course you need Arctic Silver $7

 

[BlueCorn]

It's interesting that everyone advocating that he build his own is supporting their case by comparing against a Mac Pro, while no on advocating Apple has recommended one. If you compare the price of those systems that you're spec'ing and add a large, very high quality monitor you'll find that the iMac is cheaper.

(and takes up less space and uses less power)

 

[Rhizo]

The main drawback was my PC screen is terrible compared to that on an Imac. It was a no brainer for me.

:thumbsup:

 

[TWallace]

It's interesting that everyone advocating that he build his own is supporting their case by comparing against a Mac Pro, while no on advocating Apple has recommended. If you compare the price of those systems that you're spec'ing and add a large, very high quality monitor you'll find that the iMac is cheaper.

(and takes up less space and uses less power)

Original post says he doesn't want an iMac because he already has a 26" monitor. He asked if he'd need a Mac mini or Mac Pro, and was told that the Mini would be insufficient for his needs. Therefore, the Mac Pro was his only option.

 

[BlueCorn]

I suppose i could just get the 27" iMac and give the 22" screen to the kids. i just found out that i get 100 bucks off an iMac through my work discount so it helps a little.

 

[t0p_sh0tta]

http://gizmodo.com/5425362/apple-delays-shipping-27+inch-imac-amidst-reported-display-issues

Stay away from the iMac for the time being. I almost purchased an i5 model last week too. =(

 

[BlueCorn]

They'll fix it. I wouldn't be too worried.

 

[t0p_sh0tta]

They will, but I'm impatient when it comes to my technology!

edit: lol, I've already priced 3 PC builds on NewEgg. Somebody mentioned before that the iMac is a decent deal because of it's monitor, and it SURE is.

 

[terahz]

I'll put my vote for custom PC running Snow Leopard, just because I think the operating system has much more potential than windows with technologies like grand central dispatch and opencl (yes, windows 7 has that too), but that is just my opinion.
This is my system without the monitors:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=15364987
It does cost $2000 the way it is, but you can bring it to about $1400 if you skip the webcam, monitor stand and get a regular drive (no idea why the drive is so expensive now, I got mine for $100 less...).
And this is how to install Snow Leopard on it (do buy the OS, don't steal it!!!):
http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=185097

 

[InfernoST]

I like the Imac for the screen and the OS, it's much more stable then any windows product.

 

[TWallace]

If you compare the price of those systems that you're spec'ing and add a large, very high quality monitor you'll find that the iMac is cheaper.

(and takes up less space and uses less power)

I've taken you up on this challenge.

iMac with 8GB RAM and ATI 4670: $1699

At first I only tried to make a build cheaper. After realizing how easy that was, I also made the PC significantly better than the iMac and still got it cheaper.

Asus 23" LED back-lit HDMI monitor $199.95
Lian Li Case $89.99
Asus motherboard $114.99
ATI 4890 video card $194.99
Rosewill 550w power supply $49.99
AMD Phenom II X4 965 processor $185.00
Patriot 8 x 2GB DDR3 1800 RAM $371.98
2 x Seagate 1TB hard drives $169.98
Saitek Keyboard $49.99
Logitech 6 button mouse $49.99
Sony DVD burner $26.99
Windows 7 Pro $139.99
Wireless adapter $19.99
Total: $1663.82

The PC has double the hard drive space, faster RAM, a quad core CPU instead of iMac's dual core (each core is higher speed than iMac's as well) and a beast of a video card compared to the iMac's ATI 4670. Here's a page comparing the slightly slower ATI 4870 to the iMac's 4670. I couldn't find a chart on that site for the 4970 card, but it's essentially an overclocked version of the 4870, which is itself around twice as powerful as the iMac card. The PC display is LED back-lit, just like the iMacs, but it's an inch and a half bigger than iMac's. To make it fair, I even included a nice keyboard and mouse since the iMac comes with them. There's many opportunities to make the PC far cheaper than the iMac and still just as powerful.

The PC isn't even using "bottom of the barrel" parts either. Feel free to check out the user reviews/ratings for each. Most of them have dozens, hundreds or thousands of ratings by users and none of the items have less than a 4 out of 5 overall rating. Newegg has never steered me wrong when I buy based on user ratings.

Of course, the one thing not mentioned is that there's assembly required for the PC and not for the iMac. I know not everyone has the knowledge required to build a PC, or maybe they don't want to deal with the hassle or they don't have the time. There's also something to be said for the small amount of space required for an iMac over a PC. Those are definitely advantages for the iMac.

I enjoy building computers and since that's not an option with the Mac OS (other than hackintoshes), I'm a PC guy. I like being able to upgrade parts in my computer as it ages rather than buying an entirely new computer containing many parts I already have in my old one and don't need to replace (mouse, keyboard, power supply, case, dvd drive, wireless adapter, OS). Typically when I upgrade to a new machine, I only buy a motherboard, cpu, ram and possibly video card if necessary. I get even more for my money that way.

 

[InfernoST]

You wont be disappointed.:thumbsup:

 

[terahz]

I've taken you up on this challenge.
<snip>
Asus 23" LED back-lit HDMI monitor $199.95
<snip>

TWallace, the 21" is not as good value and you might be able to make a similar PC for the same price, however you are not using the same class monitors in the build. Even if ASUS put CREE LEDs in that monitor it will still be a crappy TN+Film Matrix display (thus the 170/160 viewing angles). A comparable LCD (any IPS matrix really) would cost at least twice as much. You can also save 100 bucks on the memory if you buy it from newegg vs apple. So now it is a bit harder to build the same PC but still doable. On the 27" iMac, however, it is a totally different story. The only comparable screen that newegg has costs $1250 (#N82E16824176071). Now you have about $500 left to put together the rest of the hardware and only video+MB+CPU cost that much so the 27" iMac is really unbeatable in terms of price.

THz

 

[TWallace]

Yeah, I agree the 27" is a different story and is a better value. All in all, the iMac line is a big step forward for Apple in terms of what you get for the money. The Mac Pros lag far behind in that category. I'll admit I'm not all that familiar with the specifications that make a "high quality" monitor. We have a few iMacs at my office and dozens of cheaper LCDs. All the web developers run dual monitors, one 23" wide screen and one 19" (non-wide). I'm perfectly happy with a standard quality LCDs myself. I love the picture on my Asus 23" at home. I run dual monitors on this box, the second monitor is my flat screen TV for watching Netflix or playing PC games as well as watching TV.

 

[MrSandman]

Yeah, I agree the 27" is a different story and is a better value.

Yep, and that's actually the one i've been eyeing.

I don't follow your logic. Your current 3 year old PC is underpowered... therefore you need a Mac? I'd think the logical solution is you need a new computer


Here you go:
Lian-Li Case $89
AMD 3.4GHz Quad Core CPU $185
Enermax 500W Power Supply $70 (before $10 mail-in rebate)
640GB HD $70
8GB DDR3 1600 RAM $270
USB Wireless Adapter $20
Asus Motherboard $115
Windows 7 Pro $140
Sony DVD Burner $27
ATI 4670 video card $65

Total price of this build: $1051. Mac Pro with similar specs: $2800. Each build should have pretty similar performance. The only differences are that the PC uses faster RAM, the Mac uses Intel Xeon processors instead of AMD Phenom. I found it difficult to find info on which processor is better.

Neither build has a great video card, though the PC's is better. If you want to upgrade the video card, PCs are leaps and bounds better in terms of options and cost efficiency. Video card won't make much difference in photo editing. I've read that future versions of Photoshop may incorporate the video card to accelerate performance, but for now it doesn't. We recently upgraded the video cards in 8 of our Mac Pros at my office (for Call of Duty!). It cost us $350 per card for ATI 4870s. The same card for PCs sell for around $160.

You could likely save $97 by reusing your existing power supply and DVD drive from your current machine, dropping the PC price to $954. A further $89 could be saved by reusing your existing case. However, I love the Lian-Li cases. Very easy to work with, lots of room, solid build quality.

Valid point and thanks for creating this comparison. The reason why i am heavily leaning towards the iMac is because of everything i've been reading about editing HD video on a PC vs a Mac. I've been editing HD video on my current PC for the last year and i've upgraded RAM and video and still no performance change. Many people on other forums complain about the same issues. However, i hardly ever see the Mac users making the same complaints. My friend who also has the same camera uses a macbook pro (about the same age as my PC) to edit his videos and i was just amazed at how smooth and seamless the editing/previewing was. It was just amazed. Sure i might be paying a little bit more for the logo but that's because they have a good reputation of working. Plus, with the option of running Win7 Pro (which i got for 30 bucks) on it as well i figured i could have the best of both worlds.

 

[boodlefish]

i always love this question its like saying should i get a nikon or a canon? you will get tons of differing opinions and all with some validity.

personally i recently purchased a macpro i am a film/anthro student working on a documentary on the side so i need to run FCP7 i could have done it via a imac but would have out grown it too fast imo.

any way if you are looking for the best you can afford buy refurbished directly from apple; they offer the same warranty/ guarantees and at a substantial price break. i have a family friend that is an underwriter for apple for the last 10 years apple corporate... not just some goon at the apple store. and she has always helped us to get the best quality for the best price. (she doesn't want us complaining if it breaks...) and she was the one who turned us on to their refurbished stuff.

i went with a macpro for upgrade ability, has 2 optic bays and 4 hd bays and up to 32gb ram slots all prewired and ready to go. i ordered bare minimum hd and ram. then bought them for way less form Other world computing. i actually saved close to 3 grand this way.

the new imac's are really nice too if you only are doing a little video not hours and hours ect and mainly need it for photog then thats the way to go.

good luck and remember on a mac its control click not right click (you can set it to be right click in your preferences) i think we all do

 

[Beaun]

The iMac screen is nice, but you will be paying for a top of the line monitor which has never interested me. Macs are slightly better at editing video, especially HD, high memory, video. I would recommend a Mac for video editing if that is your major usage of a computer.

 

[Hookup]

Macs are slightly better at editing video, especially HD, high memory, video. I would recommend a Mac for video editing if that is your major usage of a computer.

Not trying to sound sarcastic, I have an honest question. I do not do video editing. I'm curious what makes Mac better?

 

[InfernoST]

The equipment used is top notch and the bigger part is that the OS is specifically designed for the machines they manufacture (Having this kind of control enables the product to be inherently more stable and perform better) where as Microsoft tries to make an OS that tries to accommodate all the different manufacturers equipment and all the crazy permeations of pc's put together which is an impossible task. IMO if Microsoft did as apple does their product would probably be as good if not better than Apple.