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What current PC equivalent is comparable to 2012 iMac/ 2013 MP?

R

rawdawg

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Having been a loyal Mac user for 20 years I know nothing about PCs at all. But I need advice so I can finally move on and stop waiting.

Without OSX it would be an Adobe machine (Premier, After Effects, Lightroom, and Photoshop).

Any turn key recommendations? Hackintosh would be a waste of my time (unless you want to build it for me) 🙂
 
Just about anything with similar internals (processor, RAM, etc) would be comparable to any Intel-based mac. However, comparing quality is often a different story. I'd check out online builders, as they tend to produce higher quality builds than most of what you'll find at your big box retailer.
 
If you go the build it yourself route, you can get an 8 core (2x quad Xeon), GTX 680 setup + a refurbished Dell 27 inch IPS monitor for about the same price as a top end iMac. It sounds like you might not be interested in the DIY route though.

I Almost went that route, but decided that I didn't want to use Windows. I dislike the UI down to the white instead of black mouse cursor.
 
Avoid the lower end crap consumer PC's. If you want a good PC, look at a business/enterprise class machine. You'll get excellent build quality and support comparable and even (in my experience) superior to Apple's. That and higher end consumer machines can also be good.

I haven't had very good experiences out of the box with HP's but after some tweaking, they can be alright. They seem to be the absolute worse when it comes it crapware.

Of all the consumer OEM's I've had experiences with, Gateway and Dell seemed to be the best.

For business class desktops and laptops, take a look at Dell and Lenovo. We mostly buy and deploy Dell's.

I would avoid Best Buy like the plague. I would only buy from places like the manufacturers website, newegg or tigerdirect.
 
rawdawg said:
Having been a loyal Mac user for 20 years I know nothing about PCs at all. But I need advice so I can finally move on and stop waiting.

Without OSX it would be an Adobe machine (Premier, After Effects, Lightroom, and Photoshop).

Any turn key recommendations? Hackintosh would be a waste of my time (unless you want to build it for me) 🙂
Click to expand...

2k or 3k?

An intel i7 3770k cpu is top of the line cost 350

a msi hd 7950 video card very good cost 330

mobo asus maximus v gene cost 185

samsung ram 4x 4gb = 16gb cost 100

samsung 256gb ssd cost 250

seasonic x660 power supply cost 125

a 2tb hdd cost 100

a samsung blu ray drive cost 80

a nice case cost 100

a good dell screen 27 inch 2500 by 1400 cst 800-1000 this is about 2600 oh you would need

windows 7 pro 150 more total 2750.

if you shop around and find a builder you can trust you may get it for a lower price. these are top of the line parts but this can be a very good machine.
 
I am no longer a PC person however recently I spoke to several people at a couple of computer retailers.

My inquiries were along the lines of ......

" You guys work here, which brand PC would you buy, and why? "

I heard only two brands mentioned ....

Lenovo, and ASUS and both for the same reason.

" Of all the brands we sell, Lenovo and ASUS seem to go out the door and never come back. We're always getting machines from the others returned for a multitude of reasons. "

My son owns an upper end ASUS, when I tell you he abuses that laptop that would be an understatement .... but it holds up to him. YMMV
 
Another vote for Asus... when building I use as many Asus parts as possible because of the quality and reliability. Also they have a really nice 24" ArtPro monitor with features a photographer will love.. Look at the ArtPro not the gaming monitors.
 
rawdawg said:
Having been a loyal Mac user for 20 years I know nothing about PCs at all. But I need advice so I can finally move on and stop waiting.

Without OSX it would be an Adobe machine (Premier, After Effects, Lightroom, and Photoshop).

Any turn key recommendations? Hackintosh would be a waste of my time (unless you want to build it for me) 🙂
Click to expand...

Yes, the perfect solution would be to buy a brand new Mac now and stop waiting. Problem solved.
 
I was considering Dell's XPS 2710 but the price isn't much different from the top end iMac, so I could easily pass that one.
 
TacticalDesire said:
For business class desktops and laptops, take a look at Dell and Lenovo. We mostly buy and deploy Dell's.

I would avoid Best Buy like the plague. I would only buy from places like the manufacturers website, newegg or tigerdirect.
Click to expand...

I don't suggest low end anything. When we're down to the products sold on razor thin margins, the cost cutting measures can be too severe. I haven't had much luck with tigerdirect. didn't they used to get a lot of unpaid rebate complaints?

harcosparky said:
I heard only two brands mentioned ....

Lenovo, and ASUS and both for the same reason.

" Of all the brands we sell, Lenovo and ASUS seem to go out the door and never come back. We're always getting machines from the others returned for a multitude of reasons. "

My son owns an upper end ASUS, when I tell you he abuses that laptop that would be an understatement .... but it holds up to him. YMMV
Click to expand...

Lenovo is one of the more popular non Apple brands on here. Regarding Asus, the typical consensus is that most of their models are very reliable, but if you do require warranty service, it isn't very good. This aligns with many of the reviews on sites like amazon. The negative ones often relate to issues with tech support or service.
 
I did not fully understood your post.

1) Which Mac do you own at the moment?
2) What are you in need of doing that requires building a PC?
3) And by saying you dont understand PCs, do you mean you dont know how to build one? Usually Mac owners know how to build computers...cause Windows PCs and Macs mostly the same hardware. Do you know at least what each part does?

Trying to answer your question, it is a fun question, an equivalent in power to a imaginative Mac Pro 2013 would be an i7 Xeon wich the CPU is over $1000, there is one for $2000. Plus Thunderbolt PCI card and standart PC parts
 
For the wife's PC, we started with a mid-range ASUS and then bought a bunch of extra components, and paid Best Buy $100 (for Geek Squad Tech Support) to basically take apart the system and start over. For the most part that's turned out well.

Apart from that.. as mentioned if you're interested in Mac Pros, then you're interested in Xeon server mobos/processors, which are a ton more expensive and not exactly sold in retail stores.

Pretty sure I've heard that Nvidia GPUs play better with Adobe than AMD's. The rough equivalent to the 2012 iMac in desktop cards would be the GTX 670.
 
I'd buy a second hand Mac for cheap, or a refurb on the Apple Store. Buy new iMac (or whatever it is) when it comes out. If not, enjoy Windows. I used it for 20 years and will NEVER go back.

bsod1.jpg
 
iMacFarlane said:
I'd buy a second hand Mac for cheap, or a refurb on the Apple Store. Buy new iMac (or whatever it is) when it comes out. If not, enjoy Windows. I used it for 20 years and will NEVER go back.

Image
Click to expand...

We aren't in the Windows XP days anymore. Which is the last time I had that problem. And 9 times out of 10, that issue was caused by a 3rd party program or driver. Windows 7 and 8 are rock solid stable. I have yet to have a crash with either.

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forty2j said:
For the wife's PC, we started with a mid-range ASUS and then bought a bunch of extra components, and paid Best Buy $100 (for Geek Squad Tech Support) to basically take apart the system and start over. For the most part that's turned out well.

Apart from that.. as mentioned if you're interested in Mac Pros, then you're interested in Xeon server mobos/processors, which are a ton more expensive and not exactly sold in retail stores.

Pretty sure I've heard that Nvidia GPUs play better with Adobe than AMD's. The rough equivalent to the 2012 iMac in desktop cards would be the GTX 670.
Click to expand...

I would avoid purchasing computer components from retail stores. They are usually MUCH more expensive. If you want to buy computer components. The best site I can recommend is Newegg. It's all I use now for buying components. Their support is great and their shipping times are fast. Their prices are also usually the lowest. And they sell Xeons and there appropriate motherbroards.
 
TacticalDesire said:
I would avoid purchasing computer components from retail stores. They are usually MUCH more expensive. If you want to buy computer components. The best site I can recommend is Newegg. It's all I use now for buying components. Their support is great and their shipping times are fast. Their prices are also usually the lowest. And they sell Xeons and there appropriate motherbroards.
Click to expand...

We've done the Newegg-build-your-own thing before. Completely lost interest in it. It's a pain.
 
rawdawg said:
Any turn key recommendations? Hackintosh would be a waste of my time (unless you want to build it for me) 🙂
Click to expand...

Currently, there are no comparable MSWindows based solutions to the iMac/MP. They're just not the same as Macs. While a decent machine can be assembled from parts, the difference in workflow is tremendous. For gamers, this is not an issue since the workflow is "turn on machine, start mumble, start game, blow stuff up". For productivity applications, the difference in UI metaphor, integration, and workflow will be incredibly aggravating when compared to a Mac.

I don't want to talk you out of a PC, I want to talk you out of hating yourself in 6 months.

Best of luck,
F
 
russofris said:
Currently, there are no comparable MSWindows based solutions to the iMac/MP. They're just not the same as Macs. While a decent machine can be assembled from parts, the difference in workflow is tremendous. For gamers, this is not an issue since the workflow is "turn on machine, start mumble, start game, blow stuff up". For productivity applications, the difference in UI metaphor, integration, and workflow will be incredibly aggravating when compared to a Mac.

I don't want to talk you out of a PC, I want to talk you out of hating yourself in 6 months.

Best of luck,
F
Click to expand...

some truths in your post. I stopped using windows in the 90's. Spring of 2010 I added windows 7 and I now use windows and mac. Bottom line is to have both is better. All mac or all windows is more or less foolish since both companies have good and bad points. Also both companies are looking out for number one or number two. None of us are high on their priority list.
 
What current PC equivalent is comparable to 2012 iMac/ 2013 MP?


Maybe I could help you better if you provided the specifications for the 2012 iMac and the 2013 MP ? 🙂



.
 
We use Dell at work and they seem to work well enough and have decent support (even onsite support included). I see your applications are more production oriented so I would also agree that a Workstation would be the way to go.


Dell recently updated their Workstations and the link below would be more comparable to a Mac Pro than an iMac so you could easily overprice yourself to what an iMac might cost. Also, you will need a monitor with a workstation from the link below.

I did notice with the basic configurations for Dell in the link below they do not include the network card, the memory starts at 2gig and the HD starts at 250. All these items are upgradable and could be done by the end user but if you didnt want to open the case they really can get expense.


http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/workstation-desktop-deals
 
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thekev said:
Lenovo is one of the more popular non Apple brands on here.
Click to expand...

I have a Lenovo here, it was purchased solely for control of an Amateur Radion station that I just put online. It's OK and did what it was purchased to do, but since its acquisition I have acquired all native OSX software to run those radios. Now that task is all on Mac and I no longer need the Lenovo.

it is less that three months old, paid $550 for it new and cannot get $300 for it.

But again I bought it because of its reputation for 'not going back' for service.
 
harcosparky said:
I have a Lenovo here, it is less that three months old, paid $550 for it new and cannot get $300 for it.
Click to expand...

Thast why Macs are cheaper, they retain their resalle value. People who say PCs are cheapers are really dumb-asses who cant add or think further down the road.

russofris said:
While a decent machine can be assembled from parts, the difference in workflow is tremendous. For gamers, this is not an issue since the workflow is "turn on machine, start mumble, start game, blow stuff up". For productivity applications, the difference in UI metaphor, integration, and workflow will be incredibly aggravating when compared to a Mac.
Click to expand...

Dude, you said everything.

BTW, I dont think the OP is interested in any real answers, Troll thread perhaps? Anyways, the right Super Mac to get today would be the retina Macbook Pro, even when iMacs get released, they will have similar performance to the rMBP, and maybe not even retina display. From a point of view, the rMPC is a all-in-one computer
 
iMacFarlane said:
I'd buy a second hand Mac for cheap, or a refurb on the Apple Store. Buy new iMac (or whatever it is) when it comes out. If not, enjoy Windows. I used it for 20 years and will NEVER go back.

Image
Click to expand...

Windows 7 is pretty sturdy, it has never crashed on me. Also Macs have kernal panics which are just as bad.

There are now many iMac clones offered by Dell etc and a generic i5/I7 box with a decent GPU would be equivalent.

No equivalent of Mac Pro because PC vendors offer up to date stuff instead of 1 year old CPU and 3 year old GPU.
 
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