Is a Mac Pro overpriced? Real world comparison with Dell

[lemonade-maker]

What exactly does Windows offer for businesses that OSX does not?


Kind Regards

IT dept job security and a larger market to sell software products to.

 

[J the Ninja]

That's a nice 9500GT.

=

....

GT120.

O SHI-


Why do people want a "real workstation card"? What the hell is the point of those low-end Quadro's anyway? If you need a Quadro, don't you probably need something with WAYY more power than that?

Oh, and I think this thread needs to be reminded that SP Xeons are not more expensive than their desktop counterparts, or at least not by a significant amount (as in, ~$20).

 

[Umbongo]

Why do people want a "real workstation card"? What the hell is the point of those low-end Quadro's anyway? If you need a Quadro, don't you probably need something with WAYY more power than that?

Quadros aren't just about the performance, though you do get optimised drivers that can have a Quadro card with weaker hardware perform better than a GeForce in some applications. What most are buying them for is the support and certification you get directly from Nvidia. Talking to an graphical driver engineer type support (if warranted) and knowing it will work for your applications.

3D software isn't looking to push cards to their limits, this is the job of the user. A lower powered Quadro will work with all the applications an ultra-highend one will, you just need more power for more complex work. Lower powered hardware is often regarded as "cheap crap" because for $150 you can get cards like the 4870, but technlogy is such where the lower end cards are still very powerful.

 

[nanofrog]

IT dept job security and a larger market to sell software products to.

LMAO!

That's just a side-effect though. Companies want compatibility (identical hardware and software), as I'm sure you're well aware of. I've never yet met an IT staffer that didn't absolutely prefer network installations (identical for each system). "Love" might be too strong.

Why do people want a "real workstation card"? What the hell is the point of those low-end Quadro's anyway? If you need a Quadro, don't you probably need something with WAYY more power than that?

The only thing that makes sense to me, is the software used can utilize the additional features available in the Quadro drivers not found in the consumer counterpart.

Oh, and I think this thread needs to be reminded that SP Xeons are not more expensive than their desktop counterparts, or at least not by a significant amount (as in, ~$20).

Especially to system vendors. In that situation, the price is the same as the same clocked i7-9xx counterpart.