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Mac Pro much cheaper than Dell Workstation similar config

K

Kuraudo

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 19, 2007
61
0
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...1334003/wo/C46HqXNNj79H3ldfiC02xrEwo8w/2.?p=0
vs.
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=555&l=en&oc=MLB163&s=biz

The configuration goes for about $4515
And add to the fact you get a lame nvs quadro, and do not have the luxury of having OSX, and windows as well if you choose.

How does Apple get such a better deal on Intel chipsets?
The Mac pro is going to always be 2x as fast or more than the fastest commercial desktops.

I love my Mac Pro and hope to get the new mac pro v.2 soon :)

Share your thoughts on this!
 
apple's workstations have always been competitively priced, they just don't refresh as often as some would like them too.
 
Quadro isn't lame, but the NVS is. Either you get a good fast 8800GT, or you get the best Quadro card, the middle ground won't do crap for your career field.
The 8800GT, although a commercial gaming card could trump opengl and direct3d performance for the price
And how is it that the same configuration is more powerful than the mac pro configuration for that price? Is it 2x as fast?
If i'm paying 2x the cost.

Yes, the mac is more aesthetically pleasing.

To Dells defense, However, the commercial non workstation PC's like XPS 420, are the opposite, they offer tremendously great deals for them!
1300 bucks for q6600, +20" monitor, and 8800GT, vista, and 3 GB ram
Can't beat that, with their excellent warranty.

I also have a 24" 2407WFP HC, so by far I'm not against Dell.
Just comparing this above.
 
Kuraudo said:
How does Apple get such a better deal on Intel chipsets?
The Mac pro is going to always be 2x as fast or more than the fastest commercial desktops.

I love my Mac Pro and hope to get the new mac pro v.2 soon :)

Share your thoughts on this!
Click to expand...

They probably don't get a better deal on chipsets, unless they get larger savings due to using mainly 2.8GHz processors in MPs and Xserves and knowing how many they will probably need for the lifetime of the systems.

They are also targeting different markets, and aren't really going head to head. Dell and HP are going head to head, which is why their pricing is very similar.
 
The price points for Apple's high end desktops have not really changed much in the last eight years. This is an incredible value given that performance has increased so much and pricing has been almost unaffected by inflation.
 
Kuraudo said:
Quadro isn't lame, but the NVS is. Either you get a good fast 8800GT, or you get the best Quadro card, the middle ground won't do crap for your career field.
The 8800GT, although a commercial gaming card could trump opengl and direct3d performance for the price
And how is it that the same configuration is more powerful than the mac pro configuration for that price? Is it 2x as fast?
If i'm paying 2x the cost.

Yes, the mac is more aesthetically pleasing.

To Dells defense, However, the commercial non workstation PC's like XPS 420, are the opposite, they offer tremendously great deals for them!
1300 bucks for q6600, +20" monitor, and 8800GT, vista, and 3 GB ram
Can't beat that, with their excellent warranty.

I also have a 24" 2407WFP HC, so by far I'm not against Dell.
Just comparing this above.
Click to expand...

I never said it was faster on that configuration but the dell can have 64GB's of Ram and it will be able to have 128GB's when the 8GB sticks come out and it also has a larger power supply meaning it can have two FX5600 Quadro's in SLI mode. Your really paying for the amazing capabilities it CAN have.
 
that dell has the 1333mhz FSB... the MAc Pro has 1600mhz FSB.
how much does a PC with that fast FSB cost?
 
The option for SAS drive support on the Dell is $149. Add $800 to the Mac's price if you want SAS support.

So that means if you want to build a baseline machine, the Mac will definitly be much cheaper, but if you build a fairly advanced box with the SAS drives, the price will probably be much closer.

Also blue-ray is a nice option to have which is not available right now on the Mac Pro.
 
Ok Tech guy, I see what you mean, but i remember when Mac Pro just came out it only advertised 16 GB of ram supported, then a mac update came out via software and said it supported 32 GB.
So the Mac Pro might support 64GB later on. Still I don't think the Dell can compete price wise. I could easily do a lot more with that 2000 bucks saved and put more performance into the Mac.

But your argument is good on the SLI part. This is missed obviously, but maybe the hacked 9800gx2 will work if the 8800GT can be hacked to run on the Mac pro.
The other point is that PC's were generally suppose to be always cheaper, but not the case here.

Umbongo: Oh you explained it well. I see , since both HP and Dell aer similar in price they only compete with each other.
That makes us Apple owners just look at them from afar with the pocket change we saved.

Thanks for all of your opinions, its good to hear all your points!
 
Kuraudo said:
Ok Tech guy, I see what you mean, but i remember when Mac Pro just came out it only advertised 16 GB of ram supported, then a mac update came out via software and said it supported 32 GB.
So the Mac Pro might support 64GB later on. Still I don't think the Dell can compete price wise. I could easily do a lot more with that 2000 bucks saved and put more performance into the Mac.

But your argument is good on the SLI part. This is missed obviously, but maybe the hacked 9800gx2 will work if the 8800GT can be hacked to run on the Mac pro.
The other point is that PC's were generally suppose to be always cheaper, but not the case here.

Umbongo: Oh you explained it well. I see , since both HP and Dell aer similar in price they only compete with each other.
That makes us Apple owners just look at them from afar with the pocket change we saved.

Thanks for all of your opinions, its good to hear all your points!
Click to expand...

The Mac Pro will get 64GB when the 8GB Ram comes out but then the dell will have 128GB Simply because it has 16 Dimm slots while the Mac Pro has 8 Dimms so that's why it can have more I don't know why anyone would want this much ram but it can take it for the future i guess. Honestly though I would really like to get the pro.
 
Apple also really lacks a mid-range desktop without built-in monitor. Frankly my new Mac Pro is way more bang than I need - but I wanted something more than a Mini, and did not want to give up my nice Dell 24" monitor. I think that the Mac Pro is an excellent value given what is inside it - but it will never be as highly configurable as a WinPC (and that $800 RAID Card is, just -ouch!). Anyway, loving my new Mac, but would not slag on Dell either - they've given me a few good computers over the years.
 
^ Last I read Dell is no.1 PC maker in the world and beat hP last quarter.
I like both Dell and Apple.

I think in video editing with After effects, it easily could use that 64GB of ram. When I used after effects with only a few seconds of previewed film, 3 GB was already full.
 
Hi guys..

This is the first time that I had seen a thread / post where everyone is comparing a Dell with Apple without being bias!! This is very rare!!:)
Anyway, I had also been wondering why the Mac Pro is cheaper than any of Dell's and HP's workstation. Well, after looking through some articles, I managed to find one where they speak of "Apple bought out the entire supply of the 1600MHz FSB Harpertown". Perhaps, Intel is giving them huge discounts for this deal. Also, Intel had long been trying to tie Apple together into their boat and Paul Ottelini (intel CEO) was a big fan of Apple. Perhaps, Steve and Paul had come out with a great deal that none could resist.

Referring back to the issue on why Dell's and HP's workstations are more expensive, we should look at their expandability and power supply. Just like what "Techguy" had said, SLI and a bigger PSU are present in Dell and HP workstation, whereas there is none in Mac Pro. The availability of bigger RAM capacity is also absent from the Mac Pro. Not to mention other hardware controller card like RAID (Which costs almost $999 in Apple online store). So, if you were to add all these into the Mac Pro itself, perhaps the price would be around the same. (However, I still believe that Mac Pro will be cheaper given the deal that they have with Intel).

However, I think that Mac Pro is sufficient enough for medium power users and above. Those who are really looking for much, much, much more power should then consider the Dell and HP workstation for they had SLI and 128GB RAM configuration available.

That is just my opinion guys. Do correct me if I am wrong.:)
 
Ploki said:
that dell has the 1333mhz FSB... the MAc Pro has 1600mhz FSB.
how much does a PC with that fast FSB cost?
Click to expand...

I am surprised it took all the way until post 11 to point out that this isn't an equivalent system. The Mac Pros, much to everyone's surprise, are 1600MHz as Picki points out. That even goes for the single quad system.
 
YahonMaizosz said:
Hi guys..

This is the first time that I had seen a thread / post where everyone is comparing a Dell with Apple without being bias!! This is very rare!!:)
Click to expand...

Well, many of the tr011s typically goes to the MacBook, MBP section because they typically cannot afford to consider anything above a MacBook. =)

Cool comparison.
 
netdog said:
I am surprised it took all the way until post 11 to point out that this isn't an equivalent system. The Mac Pros, much to everyone's surprise, are 1600MHz as Picki points out. That even goes for the single quad system.
Click to expand...

I'm happy to be wrong! Even better! More power for even less money.
 
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