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Mac Pro or Custom Built Core i7 PC?

gazfocus

gazfocus

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 3, 2008
1,650
0
Liverpool, UK
I have had my heart set on getting a Mac Pro but since I am hearing rumours of price increases when they're updated, I decided to work out how much it would cost me to build my own Core i7 PC.

The 2.8GHz Mac Pro would cost me £1536 for the standard config 8 Core 2.8GHz but with the 8800GT and WiFi card.

However, for £1436, I can get the following:
- Intel Core i7 2.93GHz Processor
- Asus P6T X58 Motherboard
- 4GB DDR3 1333MHz Ram
- nVidia 9800GT 1024MB Graphics Card
- 2 x 1TB Samsung F1 Drives
- 2 x Pioneer 20x SATA DVD ReWriters
- Antec Sonata Silent Case
- OCZ ProXStream 1000W Power Supply
- Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit

Now, I know this is an Apple forum and therefore expecting some virtual slapping, but what would you buy? What would you recommend?

I am a PC user that has had a Macbook Pro for some time and wanting to switch to a fully fledged Mac user. I'm just concerned about the prices increasing.
 
How important is it that you use Mac OS? I think the i7's are awesome. if i could stomach Windows, i'd buy one... but i can't.
 
Get GTX280 if you are building a PC, 9800GT is not much better than 8800GT in MP :)

i dont know what benefits more, interconnect or 8cores of Mac Pro.. someone else will have to write up on this subject.

also id prefer OSX over Vista, id probably run XP X64 if i was building a PC. :)

depends. if you wish to run osx get mac pro. if you dont care you might just as well get a PC.
 
I wish I could answer those questions :)

I have been using Windows a lot longer than OSX and I love things about each OS (although not Vista so much...maybe XP), but I think that's because I've not spent alot of time with OSX and haven't really thought about organsing files, etc too much.

I won't be using the computer for games as such (maybe call of duty) but not really bothered about them.

I am just concerned about the prices increasing
 
gazfocus said:
I wish I could answer those questions :)

I have been using Windows a lot longer than OSX and I love things about each OS (although not Vista so much...maybe XP), but I think that's because I've not spent alot of time with OSX and haven't really thought about organsing files, etc too much.

I won't be using the computer for games as such (maybe call of duty) but not really bothered about them.

I am just concerned about the prices increasing
Click to expand...

My vote is for the custom built i7 rig if you're comfortable building and servicing your own system. I've already seen benchmarks for i7 Hackintosh systems that show better performance with a 4 core i7 than the current 8 core Xeon Mac Pros. Which leads me to my next point. If you're not uncomfortable violating Apple's EULA you should, with the right motherboard, be able to run OSX on an i7 rig with no problems. There's already a whole smattering of people with perfectly functional i7 Hackintosh systems.
 
gazfocus said:
The 2.8GHz Mac Pro would cost me £1536 for the standard config 8 Core 2.8GHz but with the 8800GT and WiFi card.

However, for £1436, I can get the following:
- Intel Core i7 2.93GHz Processor
Click to expand...

Thats a poor value considering you will get HALF the processing power for only £100 less (The i7 only has 4 cores).
 
sneezymarble said:
My vote is for the custom built i7 rig if you're comfortable building and servicing your own system. I've already seen benchmarks for i7 Hackintosh systems that show better performance with a 4 core i7 than the current 8 core Xeon Mac Pros. Which leads me to my next point. If you're not uncomfortable violating Apple's EULA you should, with the right motherboard, be able to run OSX on an i7 rig with no problems. There's already a whole smattering of people with perfectly functional i7 Hackintosh systems.
Click to expand...

I don't think I'd install OSX on a hackintosh as I've had problems with them before. I am comfortable building my own computers (had a company doing so before) so that's not an issue.

If I buy a Mac Pro, it will be when they are updated so I would imagine the performance would be at least equal to the current i7 performances. However, I will be upgrading from a Core 2 Duo so anything will be quicker lol.
 
look, while sneezymarble points out that i7 rigs 4cores are faster than 8core that just might be true, they have quicker interface (Quickpath Interconnect instead of FSB).
but if snow leopard is all thats advertised to be that wind should change with osx 10.6 installed as its suppose to utilize multicore system more efficiently. just a thought.
but if its not... then we all have an old system.

to be honest, both system are ridiculously fast and anything faster at this moment would be for breaking rendering records. :)

to be honest i got so used to OSX id probably try to make a hackintosh if i was to buy a PC. but i bought the MP fairly new so any pc spec'd as high would cost me the same. its the twilight of update, the worst possible time to decide to buy... its old enough that is not new, but not old enough to be updated or to be already outdated. :)
 
Apple isn't really in the practice of hiking the price up on their new systems. Usually the price stays the same. Occasionally it goes down a bit. The new macbooks were the exception; the entry level system was higher than the previous entry level macbook, by $150 or $200 i think. That came with a complete redesign and some upgraded components. So, I guess I'm trying to say that I'd be shocked if there was any more than at 10% price increase on the new mac pro. and even that much of an increase would surprise me.
 
bozz2006 said:
Apple isn't really in the practice of hiking the price up on their new systems. Usually the price stays the same. Occasionally it goes down a bit. The new macbooks were the exception; the entry level system was higher than the previous entry level macbook, by $150 or $200 i think. That came with a complete redesign and some upgraded components. So, I guess I'm trying to say that I'd be shocked if there was any more than at 10% price increase on the new mac pro. and even that much of an increase would surprise me.
Click to expand...
Given the cost of the components needed for the next Mac Pro, it seems reasonable that the cost will be set at say $2999. Not quite 10%, but an increase seems almost certain IMO. :(

Particularly since the likely part would be the X5550 (2.67GHz, and uses 1333MHz ECC DDR3). It will still run faster than the current model. It's listed for $958 in quantities of 1000, vs. $851 at initial release for the E5462 in the current model (cheaper now). Apple would likely get a discount from that figure, but not necessarily enough to keep it at the same cost.
 
In addition, the currency exchange rate has changed dramatically since Early 2008 and therefore I'm also concerned that the prices will increase because of that too (as I'm in the UK)
 
Suggest you wait and see what apple does on prices as no one knows quite yet. If under 3 grand, I'll get a mac pro. You can always run windows on the mac pro. Can't run OS X on a PC unless you build a hackintoch.
 
bearcatrp said:
Suggest you wait and see what apple does on prices as no one knows quite yet. If under 3 grand, I'll get a mac pro. You can always run windows on the mac pro. Can't run OS X on a PC unless you build a hackintoch.
Click to expand...

Yeah, not a bad idea :) Just means I'll have to buy a Macbook to use in the meantime as I've sold my MBP...what a shame lol
 
bearcatrp said:
Can't run OS X on a PC unless you build a hackintoch.
Click to expand...

what about efix?

it's a hardware dongle placed on the zero usb input of
your motherboard and it gives you the ability to run
mac os much and much better then hackintosh...

the only bad thing at the moment is there is no x58 support yet, but
they are working on it so you just have to wait. But you have to wait for
macpro also if you want to use i7...

interesting topic btw. I'm also in the situation I really would like a computer
with an i7. And I want to run windows and mac os.....
difficult choice: a self made pc with i7 with an efix or a macpro with an i7.
pc is much cheaper, but a real mac would still be more reliable I guess.

I'm curious what you guys think about efix!
 
depends on what you're using the computer for. if it's not video editing or graphic design, then the i7 would probably be a better alternative in terms of cost. additionally if you get windows vista in july, you can get a free upgrade to windows 7 when it's released. from what i've seen, windows 7 is far superior to vista.
 
If you go with the EFiX, you'd want to get one of the boards listed on their hardware list.

I've seen some Geekbench scores with a i7's OC'd in excess of 12000. Far better than a current base MP. :eek:
 
dr. shdw said:
Just wait til the new Xeons..they'll be Nehalem based as well.
Click to expand...
Absolutely. :D

My thinking is this:
If a Core i7 (even the 920 OC'd) can beat the '08 MP, extrapolate what the Xeon 5500 Series should be capable of. ;)
The thought causes profuse drooling. :D :p
 
gazfocus said:
In addition, the currency exchange rate has changed dramatically since Early 2008 and therefore I'm also concerned that the prices will increase because of that too (as I'm in the UK)
Click to expand...

I'm in a similar position (in the UK), I was looking at Dell outlet whilst waiting for the new Mac Pros but also considering an i7 self-build. Dell have just increased their prices and I share your fear of Apple doing the same with the new release but you can always go for the i7 option when you know for certain. I don't think i7 prices will increase as I don't think the £ will drop much further (unless the Bank of England does start printing money "quantitive easing"!)
 
If you are a windows user now and are worried about a price increase, like they did on the last mac pro. I would stay with windows. If you go to OS X you need to buy all new software.
 
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