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ThinkStation D10/S10 vs. MacPro

H

hajime

macrumors G3
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
8,174
1,414
I have a Macbook Pro but I need a high-end desktop at least for the next few months. I also want to get the next generation MacPro and use it with Leopard Snow. As the new MacPro is expected to come out next January and I don't want to invest on FBDIM which may not be used in the next generation MacPro, I consider to buy the ThinkStation D10/S10. In terms of hardware, are they better than the MacPro? The D10 can be configured to have two Xeon 5400 up to 3.16GHz. As for the memory, it uses DDR2 (up to 32GB) It even has a larger case for future expansions (such as CPU upgrades). For details, see:
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/workstations/thinkstation/d10-s10
 
Neil321 said:
I'm gonna say wait till Nehalem gets released and get a MacPro, thats what im doing anways and as skil pointed out you won't ever regret it, it's gonna smoke
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Sorry I did not mention that my dad is buying a PC. He asked me to choose one for him. As most of the softwares I use now are for Windows only, I am thinking of sharing the D10/S10 with him. That is, when he does not use it, I connect to his powerful ThinkStation from my MBP to run computationally intensive calculations using something like remote desktop (is there such an application to control a PC from a Mac?) When Nehalem comes out in January, I buy it with over 32GB RAM. I guess if I don't use Mac softwares to run computationally intensive tasks now, I should not waste the money to buy the current MacPro. What do you think of my plan?
 
Indeed there is definately a remote desktop client for the Mac to connect to a windows machine.

I like the look of that ThinkStation, might be faster if you put XP 64bit on it or even a 64bit BSD / Linux hell even Solaris.
 
hajime said:
Sorry I did not mention that my dad is buying a PC. He asked me to choose one for him. As most of the softwares I use now are for Windows only, I am thinking of sharing the D10/S10 with him. That is, when he does not use it, I connect to his powerful ThinkStation from my MBP to run computationally intensive calculations using something like remote desktop (is there such an application to control a PC from a Mac?) When Nehalem comes out in January, I buy it with over 32GB RAM. I guess if I don't use Mac softwares to run computationally intensive tasks now, I should not waste the money to buy the current MacPro. What do you think of my plan?
Click to expand...

I think that now you actually bought up the fact that your not buying the D10 it's a good plan,yes there are remote desktop clients for Mac to connect to windows,if you can wait it out and get by with your MBP then buy a MacPro when Nehalem gets released then go for it, buying a Pro now in your situation would be pointless
 
Tallest Skil said:
Yes, but it's hideous. What good is one handle, and what good is one handle that is a fourth of the height of the tower?

Nehalem Mac Pro all the way. You'll never regret it.
Click to expand...

As we talked about before, if you're going to judge a workstation by the way it looks the Pro is certainly a shoo-in. But you know, I think some people may just buy a workstation for other attributes.

I can't comment on the Lenovo specifically, but I'm sure it's pretty decent given their pedigree. Personally the Dell Precision T7400's have served me pretty well. They're relatively unobtrusive in terms of acoustics while moving more air through the system by default than the Pros, far more reliable with the numbers we have, with better accessibility. While it won't win any beauty contests, it is a better workstation - given the use of the name - than the Pro, which as I've said before is basically an advanced home computer. Prices are reasonable, and backup is good with a standard 3-year onsite warranty here (I believe in the US you get a cheaper carry-in option - don't take it).

I guess the real question for the choice depends on whether you need to run OS X, and how much you intend to use the power these classes of machines pack. The more you use on a sustained basis, the more the Pro will reveal it's shortcomings.
 
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