A Mini will do what you want to use it for, I think. I don't game... but I don't thing Medal of Honour pushes a system that hard.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Base Mac Pro or HP Desktop?
- Thread starter frocco
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
A Mini will do what you want to use it for, I think. I don't game... but I don't thing Medal of Honour pushes a system that hard.
I've been using Mac's since day one so yes I'm old. Currently, I have a 2009 MacPro with the NEC PA271 display, which blows the Apple display out of the water. However, Apple doesn't appear to be all that interested in Desktop's anymore. They are working on a new design that should be out in the Spring so I'm holding off until then before buying anything new.
If I were buying today it would be an Origin Professional with 16gb of memory, SSD's with most any GPU on the market. Even their lowest configured model is better than the current Mac Pro. No, I'm not crazy about Windows but there is a point where the available hardware exceeds the value of the Mac OS.
If I were buying today it would be an Origin Professional with 16gb of memory, SSD's with most any GPU on the market. Even their lowest configured model is better than the current Mac Pro. No, I'm not crazy about Windows but there is a point where the available hardware exceeds the value of the Mac OS.
.
If I were buying today it would be an Origin Professional with 16gb of memory, SSD's with most any GPU on the market. Even their lowest configured model is better than the current Mac Pro. No, I'm not crazy about Windows but there is a point where the available hardware exceeds the value of the Mac OS.
With respect, this may be true for you....but it is not true for everyone - and certainly not true for me.
The vast majority of people, imho, rarely make the computers push past 50% of its processing capacity more than once or twice a day. Even for a professional system, it is waiting for the user to do something, to finish reading something, to make a decision. The exceptions would be gamers and people who render, of course.
I just took delivery of a 'new' 2010 refurbished Mac Pro. Not the most cutting edge hardware, but it had several compelling features.
1) It has a 3 year, one stop warranty. I won't be required to spend any extra money on this system for a minimum of 3 years. Other Windows PC have this too, but this feature eliminates home-built systems.
2) It runs all of my SW, without any licensing hassles (other than I had to 'deauthorize' two old installations before I could renew the license on the new machine.) I didn't have to go through any hassle of transferring any licenses from OS X to Windows.
3) I am heavily invested in SW that is only available for Macs. I recognize that there will be Windows equivalents, but I want to spend my time working and building up the garden, not climbing the learning curves of multiple SW packages. I have a good workflow setup, and I can be very efficient pushing my work out the door.
4) In regards to the SW referenced in #3, I would need to invest in the Windows equivalents, which eats into any savings from the HW purchase.
5) My 4+ year old Mac Pro that I've just retired is still worth enough on the secondary market to subsidize the new Mac Pro by about 25% to 33% (on top of an already healthy refurb price discount.) In 3+ years I expect this new 'new' Mac Pro to also subsidize whatever replaces it.
6) Even if this 'new' Mac Pro is not cutting edge, it is still way way faster than old Mac Pro... but I only notice the speed difference 3 or 4 times a day. Usually I'm waiting for the internet, or I'm reading, or I'm waiting for a file to write to HDD. Or I'm thinking about what to do next.
For me, there was no question about sticking with OS X, hardware costs or not.
I agree that the Macs are the best choice in some situations. On your first point though. All components have a warranty from the manufacturer and most places sell extended warranties on components as well. For the cost of Apple Care you can get 3 to 5 years warranties on all the components in a homemade PC.
Which is only valid in a very few situations.
1. If you are a business and need a pc it is never ever better to build it yourself. The best option is buying one from an OEM like HP with a support contract. Your business depends on it, you don't have the luxury of not doing stuff for a week or 2. It will costs heaps more if you go homebrew.
2. If you are going to build it yourself you need to have the knowledge, the skill and the time. You need to research if parts will work together, you need to buy all of them, you need to assemble them and only then you can install the machine. If you buy one from an OEM you start with installing the software as soon as you get the machine. No need to research if stuff works, no need to look for all the parts in various shops, no need to wait till everything is in, etc. And even in this case you can buy an additional support contract to have the OEM fix the machine on site in a few business days.
Remember: the costs are not in buying the stuff, the costs are in things like planning, researching, buying, building, setting it up, etc. Those take up a lot of time too. If you don't have to skill, knowledge or time then homebrew is definitely not an option, it will most likely end in a disaster.
But it's the "one stop" warranty coverage I want. The just retired Mac Pro had an issue a couple of years ago. I dropped it off at the shop, with a detailed diagnosis conclusion - "It's broken" - and went home. I rebooted my old MBP using the bootable cloned external HDD backup of my MP, and kept on working. Luckily, I didn't need to do any serious image editing.
Later, the shop called and told me pick up the Mac Pro. It appears the video card borked and took out the logic board. Or perhaps it was the other way round. Who knows? And I don't care. I picked up the fixed Mac Pro, copied the external HDD back onto the Mac Pro - and kept on working.
Cost me two Vietnamese lunches, two round trips, and the time it took to copy the external HDD back onto the Mac Pro.
In a home built system, unless the video card and the logic board came from the same vendor you run the risk of getting in between two vendors who blame the other one for causing the failure. At a minimum you are dealing with two returns and two new parts.
I used to build my own systems, and so I know how hard it can sometimes be to deal with multiple vendors. More importantly, I know how difficult it can be diagnose a multi-point-of-failure issue.
I'm not trying to convince you to change your mind. You are absolutely correct in your statements - for your situation. I just took exception to the rather broad brush-strokes and wanted to add a dissenting opinion for anyone else who may end up reading this thread. Each of us have found solutions that work for our situations. Bravo for us! eh?!
Yeah, well.... I know how to build my own camera too. But I'd rather buy one. They're' more reliable.
How much did you pay for your HPs?
You can't compare a low end PC to a Mac Pro, HP makes plenty of high quailty machines, you just have to pay more than 700 dollars to get one
----------
Man, you must have a tiny IT department.
Yeah, well.... I know how to build my own camera too. But I'd rather buy one. They're' more reliable.
Haha I would consider that a little different considering a camera is something you are constantly moving around versus a stationary desktop. Not to mentioned parts for building computers are more readily available and super easy to build.
But thats just my opinion.
How much did you pay for your HPs?
You can't compare a low end PC to a Mac Pro, HP makes plenty of high quailty machines, you just have to pay more than 700 dollars to get one
In some cases, a similarly spec'd Mac Pro is actually cheaper than an HP Workstation. But that picture was made before Apple's horrendously minor Mac Pro "update."
Well, technically - all you need is a shoebox, a pinhole, tape, and piece of film or photo paper ....
I've built several of those already.It's interesting that you equate a computer as a "stationary desktop". Ironically, my laptop computer often travels way more than my serious camera.
We need to keep in mind, I suppose, that when we are talking about building a DIY computer -- we are only talking about those that fit in large boxes.
So then why do you say:
When a laptop is obviously extremely different than a desktop and was meant to be portable? Whereas a desktop is the exact opposite. It was not designed with portability in mind. Are you really trying to compare a desktop and a laptop? I sure hope not.
Not to mention this:
is very different from a "serious camera" as you have stated. However, custom built desktops are often some of the most serious desktops as they offer more flexibility and are made by people who know what they are doing, and thus do a lot with them.
I was having some fun...
And besides, you were the one who said
In my case that is not necessarily true, and it's not necessarily true as a blanket statement.
No, actually I said it was different from my serious camera. There are some photographers who use a beer can as their 'serious' camera. Or a they may use a glorified shoebox as their serious camera, or they may use a scanner as their serious camera... I'm just pointing out that blanket statements aren't necessarily applicable.
I wouldn't ever use a DIY computer as my "serious" computer however, unless I was paying someone else to do the tech support. It's not that I can't do the tech support myself... but I don't want to take the time. I'd rather be working in my own professional field than doing someone else's job.
However, I also recognize that my needs don't demand a custom system. Apple's Mac Pros are plenty powerful enough for my needs. For someone else, they may not be able to buy the system that they need off any shelf, so they make their own. I just hope they are passing on the cost of doing their own tech support to their clients, or they are falling behind from a competitive point of view.
I would love to meet those people.
Or maybe their work requires professional GPU support.
The best known fellow is Justin Quinnell. He calls it "Slow Light".
It's also known as "Solargraphy"
It's pretty amazing stuff, actually....
Though not very common.....
And we have a woman called Annie Leibovitz who uses a very very old way of photographing (uses glass, pours some light sensitive liquid over it and then immediately uses it (she has to because if she doesn't the light sensitive stuff is useless)).
If you are a very good photographer it is because you create very good compositions, not because you have the best gear Photography is skill although gear can aid in that (it just makes things easier).
If you are a very good photographer it is because you create very good compositions, not because you have the best gear
Photography is skill although gear can aid in that (it just makes things easier).