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Window's PC or Mac Pro?

W

Wootbear

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 27, 2008
5
0
I know I could be posting this on some other forum but after reading how cool the mac pro seems, I wanted to compare it to an alienware area-51
7500. The price range is almost the same, but I get more from the money I would give to alienware then I do for the money I would give to get a mac pro. I was wondering, IYHO what you think would be better. I would mostly use the computer for gaming, but I've been using windows for 14 years and think I should try something new like the mac. Any suggestions?
 
if you want computer gaming, get a PC. You can definitely do better with a PC for less.
 
Wootbear said:
I know I could be posting this on some other forum but after reading how cool the mac pro seems, I wanted to compare it to an alienware area-51
7500. The price range is almost the same, but I get more from the money I would give to alienware then I do for the money I would give to get a mac pro. I was wondering, IYHO what you think would be better. I would mostly use the computer for gaming, but I've been using windows for 14 years and think I should try something new like the mac. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Really, can the alien ware offer you 8 cores and the ability to have 32GB of RAM? In terms of a ridiculous computer, I think you'd get more from a Mac Pro. In terms of a purely gaming computer, alien ware would be the way to go. If you just want a gaming computer, don't get a mac. You can get gaming computers for less.
 
no doubt MP is a better machine paired with OS X. My cores are grinding away nearly 24/7. When I decide to re-encode say 40 videos with a new handbrake preset, I queue them up before work, click start and return home to check them out. It's a beast, but it isn't a power gaming machine. But who really computer games these days? Consoles are the way to go unless you want to geek out over Crysis graphics on a liquid cooled SLI 8800 Ult (note to self: resist geeking out over Crysis graphics)
 
I just switched a few weeks back from an older AMD FX55 windows SLI self build box to a mac pro - so my experience *may* be of interest.

I say may as I'm not that big of a gamer any more - though FSX and some racing sims / WOW are still on the occasional menu ;)

First thing I did in getting my mac pro was bootcamp it and transfer my XP license over from my old workstation - as an IT pro I was worried about getting what I needed to get my job done - I've a 24/7 support rotation for SQLServer databases to handle.

Since that install I've not actually booted windows once - the only time i see myself doing so is for native windows gaming.

OSX is definitely easier to work in once you get past the (surprisingly small) learning curve - I'm an old cynical fart who's written assembly since the ZX80 days - so I'm less interested in eye candy than getting work done.

Build quality on the mac pro is way way way outside what I've seen on any PC from any manufacturer or on any self build - the only time you'll see build quality like it is on $500k HP superdomes.

The machine is totally silent Vs my old PC sounding like a blackhawk cranking to life beside me.

No regrets here - but as a hard core gamer you may have - if you are the sort of person who HAS to have the latest rig.

If you want engineering excellence, design perfection and an OS that simply "Gets in the way less" I'd say go mac in a heartbeat - you can always bootcamp windows with a second video card if you need gaming horsepower.

I'm technology agnostic - I just want stuff to work - which is why my personal dollars went to apple - my biggest issue with apple is the starbucks swilling, back polo neck wearing yuppie apple fanboy.

I'm just not sure I want to admit I have anything in common with them ;)
 
At the end of the day, it's all about the OS baby! Go for the Mac. Order the 8800GT upgrade option and install a Boot Camp Windows partition if you want to play PC games. The best of both worlds.
 
For most games the 8800GT option in the Mac Pro will be enough. There isn't a graphics card available that performs in DX10 exceptionally well these days anyways and you can always buy one that does and stick it in as a second card for windows if you need to. OS X is a dream to use for anything else and the design and quality of build offered by the Mac Pro is second to none.
 
Get the best PC gaming rig you can and pick up a used Mac to mess with. Once you feel comfortable with the OS, you'll switch over your daily stuff to the Mac and know exactly which Mac in Apple's lineup you'll need. Then seel the used Mac you bought for the same price you got it for.
 
If you are a hardcore gamer, a dedicated gaming PC is your only answer right now. How else can you run optimal 2560 x 1600 on a 30" in Crysis other than in PC using quad-SLI?
 
Don`t get me wrong I think the mac pro is a great machine,but if u want to be in the present and future with the gaming community do not go mac.How many people in the windows world do you know that get so excited about 2 year old graphic cards that they post pictures of them taking them out of the box for the first time.My mac is 1 year old and the only option for graphics card is the geforce 7300 GT(only one that doesn`t catch fire).Now that the new mac pro`s are here there is the 8800 wich is already almost 2 years old.No other choices either.OSX is the best no doubt and Donkey Kong screams on my $3000 Mac with geforce 7300 GT.I to will post pictures some day when there is an upgrade.
 
IF you are going to get a gaming computer, get a Falcon Northwest. Alienware is now owned by Dell, and Voodoo just got bought by HP.
 
Thanks for the input guys, as far as my gaming goes I guess I have slowed down quite a bit, going into the mmorpg's more than the "lastest and greatest" games etc. Of course I'll probably still buy some of the latest games but I currently have a Toshiba P-100 and it is decent for gaming. It will run all of the games, but most not at max settings. I don't actually mind that kind of thing as much as the actual "graphics nerds" ;) but I do like to see my game run well and atleast at medium settings. I think I will go with the mac pro but I have a while still to decide anyways, since I need to build up the funds. I hope to see my computer near this summer.

Although SLI looks great, I think 512mb of vram will be enough for me, as my current 256mb of vram runs all games atleast on medium on a 1280 by 1024 resolution. I know that doesn't seem all that amazing, but currently it does the thing for me. Of course it would be great to have liquid cooling etc :cool: but I think I'll stick with the mac pro and maybe get alienware next time :rolleyes: Unless I really like the OS and system, which I'm sure I will since we have an iMac at work and I like it very much.

Also, another question. This is what i would buy my mac as:

Specifications

Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (8-core)
2GB (2 x 1GB)
320GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB (Two dual-link DVI)
Two 16x SuperDrives
AirPort Extreme card (Wi-Fi)
Apple Mighty Mouse
Apple Keyboard (English) + Mac OS X
AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac Pro (w/or w/o Display) - Auto-enroll

DO you guys know if the optical drives come with litescribe or some sort of photo imprinting technology? And, I have read about some issues with the Wi-Fi cards. Is it something I should worry about? The only way I can get internet without putting the computer in my home office is Wi-Fi, and I plan on putting the computer in my room.
 
[/QUOTE]Also, another question. This is what i would buy my mac as:

Specifications

Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (8-core)
2GB (2 x 1GB)
320GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB (Two dual-link DVI)
Two 16x SuperDrives
AirPort Extreme card (Wi-Fi)
Apple Mighty Mouse
Apple Keyboard (English) + Mac OS X
AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac Pro (w/or w/o Display) - Auto-enroll

DO you guys know if the optical drives come with litescribe or some sort of photo imprinting technology? And, I have read about some issues with the Wi-Fi cards. Is it something I should worry about? The only way I can get internet without putting the computer in my home office is Wi-Fi, and I plan on putting the computer in my room.[/QUOTE]

Not sure about the new Mac Pros, but my 1st generation 3 GHz MacPro Quad Xeon came with a pair of SuperDrives that did not have "litescribe". However, over the years I have replaced/upgraded the CD/DVD drives in my 2 G4 desktops with 3rd party drives (e.g.: Pioneer, LaCie, etc) that I purchased at local electronics stores. I think this is much cheaper than upgrading with Apple parts, and at least starting with the G4 lines, it's pretty much plug & play. Also, you will obviously have more selection as to drive capabilities & features. I don't care much for "litescribe" myself, mostly because of the added expense of the disks, and the fact that I find it much more helpful to have the disk information on the jewel case rather than on the disk itself when I'm looking for a disk...

Finally, now that the BluRay vs. HD-DVD battle has been settled, you might find that Apple starts shipping BluRays at some point in the not too distant future (?)

As for WiFi, the stock AirPort Extreme card is actually pretty good overall (mine shows up as a BroadCom part in the System Profiler). However, as I am sharing an internet connection over WiFi with my neighbor who has a LinkSys router, I've found that recently the signal has become flaky so I am looking at getting an external wireless antenna and try to plug that onto the internal AirPort card to increase signal strength... I think I've read that there are some network issues with OS X 10.5.2, but I'm not sure if this has anything to do with my recent signal problems. By the way, I've looked and looked for an inexpensive Wireless-N USB adapter (stick) that could be used as a remote antenna to improve signal strength, but there are very few available with OS X drivers, so your chouces for WiFi might be limited... Having said that, assuming you are not outside typical WiFi range limits, the AirPort Extreme (A, B, G, N) should work fine for you.
 
Wootbear said:
I know I could be posting this on some other forum but after reading how cool the mac pro seems, I wanted to compare it to an alienware area-51
7500. The price range is almost the same, but I get more from the money I would give to alienware then I do for the money I would give to get a mac pro. I was wondering, IYHO what you think would be better. I would mostly use the computer for gaming, but I've been using windows for 14 years and think I should try something new like the mac. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

honestly..for gaming..the alienware with decent specs would blow any mac pro out of the water. Anyone who says differently has no idea what they're talking about.

a couple reasons:

#1 - FB-DIMMS have about 40% worse performance than regular DDR2
#2 - you can't SLI with a mac pro
#3 - etc
 
Freyqq said:
honestly..for gaming..the alienware with decent specs would blow any mac pro out of the water. Anyone who says differently has no idea what they're talking about.

a couple reasons:

#1 - FB-DIMMS have about 40% worse performance than regular DDR2
#2 - you can't SLI with a mac pro
#3 - etc
Click to expand...

That's exactly correct.
If you are looking for a computer for gaming, get a PC.
The Mac Pro with it's 8800 GT card is a huge improvement for gaming but it can't touch Alienware's two 8800 GTXs in SLI or how about THREE 8800 Ultras in SLI!

If you want a computer for more than just gaming, then look at the Mac Pro.
 
Freyqq said:
honestly..for gaming..the alienware with decent specs would blow any mac pro out of the water. Anyone who says differently has no idea what they're talking about.

a couple reasons:

#1 - FB-DIMMS have about 40% worse performance than regular DDR2
#2 - you can't SLI with a mac pro
#3 - etc
Click to expand...

Topper said:
That's exactly correct.
If you are looking for a computer for gaming, get a PC.
The Mac Pro with it's 8800 GT card is a huge improvement for gaming but it can't touch Alienware's two 8800 GTXs in SLI or how about THREE 8800 Ultras in SLI!

If you want a computer for more than just gaming, then look at the Mac Pro.
Click to expand...

Fully-Buffered DIMMs do not incur a 40% penalty in performance.

Playing games with Anisotropic Filtering and Full Screen Anti-Aliasing puts the bottleneck at the graphic card and at these settings things tend to narrow down any performance deficit there may have caused by the use of Fully-Buffered DIMMs in the first place.
 
Do you guys have a suggestion for which monitor to get? I was thinking of getting an acer 24" with 2ms response time for 400$... seems cheap and i didn't catch the product number from futureshop... I don't really need anything bigger than that, and as long as it has a good pixel rate, then suggest plz:cool:
 
For gaming; Alienware. Period.

I'm sure that a few Mac homers will have you believe that a Mac Pro is the be-all/end-all, but Alienware just offers a much larger range of hardware, often specifically geared towards gamers, and all can easily be swapped out piece by piece for future upgrades as they use industry standard cases, motherboards, video cards, heat-sinks, sound cards etc.

If I were you though, I'd just build the PC yourself. You can save a lot of money. My fiance and I built our dream gaming rig for just under $2,500 and it could smoke either. It's equivalent would have cost quite a bit more through Alienware and alike. Plus - Alienware cases are often too cheesey for my taste.
 
Heliconsoul said:
Just caught this. The 8800GT was released in late October 2007. That's 4 months, not 24 months.

The 8800GT in my Mac Pro is plenty to run Crysis at 1680x1050 at hight to very high settings.
Click to expand...

Yes that`s right,but that is for the mac.My brother has an 8800 in his dell wich he bought all most 2 years ago,and it is not the 512 but the 768.So like I said Your 8800 is already way long in the tooth and you my never have another option.But you can always buy a new mac pro because the new one is already dead for gaming.I have a mac pro and love it,but lets talk facts for once and not opinions please.
 
lampliter said:
Yes that`s right,but that is for the mac.My brother has an 8800 in his dell wich he bought all most 2 years ago,and it is not the 512 but the 768.So like I said Your 8800 is already way long in the tooth and you my never have another option.But you can always buy a new mac pro because the new one is already dead for gaming.I have a mac pro and love it,but lets talk facts for once and not opinions please.
Click to expand...

Your brother's 8800 Ultra is G90, this newer 8800GT is G92, which is a smaller die (65nm vs. 90nm) and has the same performance of a 8800GTS G90 at a smaller price. While its not "next gen" technology (9800, etc.), it is certainly a current-model graphics card and carries an appropriate price.

IMO the 8800GT is all the graphics you need for any common mac application. And you can always drop in the next gen card to use on Windows, so at least your gaming won't be gimped by apple's lack of graphic card updates.
 
lampliter said:
Yes that`s right,but that is for the mac.My brother has an 8800 in his dell wich he bought all most 2 years ago,and it is not the 512 but the 768.So like I said Your 8800 is already way long in the tooth and you my never have another option.But you can always buy a new mac pro because the new one is already dead for gaming.I have a mac pro and love it,but lets talk facts for once and not opinions please.
Click to expand...

Jonny427 is correct, the 8800GT came out for PCs in late Oct. 07, and wasn't available at reasonable prices, or in quantity, until December.

This card has no relation to the previous generation 8xxx cards (8800GTX and 8800 Ultra) other than having similar performance. It's much cheaper.
 
Jonny427 said:
Your brother's 8800 Ultra is G90, this newer 8800GT is G92, which is a smaller die (65nm vs. 90nm) and has the same performance of a 8800GTS G90 at a smaller price. While its not "next gen" technology (9800, etc.), it is certainly a current-model graphics card and carries an appropriate price.

IMO the 8800GT is all the graphics you need for any common mac application. And you can always drop in the next gen card to use on Windows, so at least your gaming won't be gimped by apple's lack of graphic card updates.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jonny427,I am wrong and admit it,but is it not true that on the mac side we are only getting this stuff way way later and then with no hope of upgrade.
 
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