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Xeon vs i7?

Corocota said:
I know this might be a dumb question for all of you mac lovers, but I am still on the fence. Which is better for gaming then? mac or pc? I would like to go mac due to the level of customer satisfaction, but I am afraid that I wont be able to play games on it. People are talking about bootcamp, but I am worried that it will slow down the game. can anyone give a struggling decider some info that will help one decide? :confused:
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If you don't need a MP for OS X software, then a PC would be a better value.

But if you're doing say video/graphics work for example, then you can stuff in a better graphics card (PC version), and dual boot into Windows for gaming (which at that point is cheaper than separate systems).
 
One of my friends told me, that the difference between the Xeon CPUs and the "normal" dekstop CPUs were always one thing: the Xeons supports multisocket motherboards, while the normal CPUs don't.

He said the last Intel CPUs, that could work in dual socket motherboards(when they were available from different manufacturers) were the Pentium III chips.

AMD had that with the Athlon MP (or something similar) and latter with the AMD Opterons.

Anyway, it really doesn't matter anything, since we have multicores now.

Do you remember the Mac clones? There were machines with motherboards that had 4 (!) PowerPC 150 MHz (or even faster) CPUs in them.
 
opeter said:
One of my friends told me, that the difference between the Xeon CPUs and the "normal" dekstop CPUs were always one thing: the Xeons supports multisocket motherboards, while the normal CPUs don't.
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Not all XEON processors are multiprocessor units. x3xxx are single socket versions, whereas x5xxx and x7xx are dual, respectively quad socket processors.

And of course there are other differences, as mentioned in this thread, but the additional features of the XEON don't result in considerably more performance.
i7 and Nehalem are based on the same core architecture, so the almost equal performance does not surprise.
 
TennisandMusic said:
So PC users are "suckers" and "lacking knowledge"? I think the definition of sucker is buying a 2500 dollar mac pro that costs about 1000 for the actual parts if you wanted to do the same thing on PC. Once the specs and prices came out for the new mac pros there was simply no WAY I could buy one. I simply could not bring myself to flush that much money just to have OSX. I can do my work just as well on Windows, and I have decided to build a PC. Building a Core i7 machine with TWELVE gigs of ddr3, a GeForce 2XX video card, and basically all around great parts is coming in around the 1300 dollar range. This machine will kill the SP Mac Pro once (easily) overclocked. It is also a fraction of the price.

Apple completely blew this round of hardware. The iMacs are STILL dual core. The Mac Pro's are GROSSLY overpriced. The OS is NOT that much better. I use both (macbook and desktop) and Vista 64 is a far snappier OS for me. It blazes in fact, and I am not sure where all the trash talk comes from. Granted I got in to Vista post SP1, but still...I've never had a single problem with it and it's running fantastic on older hardware. I can only imagine what my Core i7 box will be like. I do quite a bit of "high end" work (video editing, programming, music, etc) and Vista has been fantastic for such work. There is simply no need for OSX, unless you are locked in to specific Apple apps.
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I can sell my Mac Pro after owning it for a year to someone and they will have a 2 year warranty on it... while your $1300 measily dollars depeciates to $300 if your lucky because like you said, you can build it cheaper! I'll sell mine for a slight depreciate and buy the new Mac Pro for a few hundred bucks extra and be current... oh yeah, and not have to deal with windows among other things. PCs are door stops after a year... A MP will hold it's value better because most people who buy and use macs aren't computergeeks... they are artist and musicians and creatives and windows blows for creative work because something always pops up and you have to deal with it...
Your statements are like saying to a BMW owner that they pay too much but they will hold their value better than your ford focus!
 
cutthroughthebs said:
I can sell my Mac Pro after owning it for a year to someone and they will have a 2 year warranty on it... while your $1300 measily dollars depeciates to $300 if your lucky because like you said, you can build it cheaper! I'll sell mine for a slight depreciate and buy the new Mac Pro for a few hundred bucks extra and be current... oh yeah, and not have to deal with windows among other things. PCs are door stops after a year... A MP will hold it's value better because most people who buy and use macs aren't computergeeks... they are artist and musicians and creatives and windows blows for creative work because something always pops up and you have to deal with it...
Your statements are like saying to a BMW owner that they pay too much but they will hold their value better than your ford focus!
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Stop whining children, They are all made with the same crap now anyways. If you ask me they all need extra work done to improve them. The only company I've never had trouble with when it comes to electronics is my old G Shock watch..the thing has been running for about 10 years now (solar powered).

Truth is, for 90% of people the i7 would be much better..especially the new ones out like that amazing 980x. Xeon is optimized for working as a server and staying on constantly..as with the error correcting RAM among other things. i7 is actually better for most general multi-tasking and any kind of media (and games ofc). It is also a biiiit cheaper for the power you're getting. Here is a website that goes into some detail about it: http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/difference-between-xeon-and-i7/

"Core i7 features a better virtualization and digital media experience, which supports photo creation and publishing, video encoding and more complex games."

And heres a site that shows benchmarks as well as power for the money:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/

AMD is the best FOR THE MONEY..but shoot a monkey intel is so much faster!

btw, i7 and Xeon both overclock themselves in case it hasn't been mentioned.

Oh, and something you guys might find interesting: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Psystar-hackintosh-mac-osx-apple,8923.html
 
blacksheep23 said:
Stop whining children, They are all made with the same crap now anyways. If you ask me they all need extra work done to improve them. The only company I've never had trouble with when it comes to electronics is my old G Shock watch..the thing has been running for about 10 years now (solar powered).

Truth is, for 90% of people the i7 would be much better..especially the new ones out like that amazing 980x. Xeon is optimized for working as a server and staying on constantly..as with the error correcting RAM among other things. i7 is actually better for most general multi-tasking and any kind of media (and games ofc). It is also a biiiit cheaper for the power you're getting. Here is a website that goes into some detail about it: http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/difference-between-xeon-and-i7/

"Core i7 features a better virtualization and digital media experience, which supports photo creation and publishing, video encoding and more complex games."

And heres a site that shows benchmarks as well as power for the money:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/

AMD is the best FOR THE MONEY..but shoot a monkey intel is so much faster!

btw, i7 and Xeon both overclock themselves in case it hasn't been mentioned.

Oh, and something you guys might find interesting: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Psystar-hackintosh-mac-osx-apple,8923.html
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Thanks for updating us 6 months after the last post ;)

And the interesting article is about a now-defunct company.
 
alphaod said:
Thanks for updating us 6 months after the last post ;)

And the interesting article is about a now-defunct company.
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OH YEAH NO PROBLEM!! seeing as how it still applies just as much, people question this same thing today as much as then..if not more.

And the point was to open people's eyes. I believe in knowing every aspect of things before arguing as to what is possible and impossible..better or worse. They started a ripple that caused many companies to do the same thing..just Google it and see what you find. I'm not attacking anybody, I just so happen to be the type of person that loves to build/tinker/customize, so this sort of thing appeals to me quite a bit. I hate pre-set anything..especially something as complex as a computer. I only trust quality of products that are built with more expensive labor (i.e. made in America).
 
blacksheep23 said:
OH YEAH NO PROBLEM!! seeing as how it still applies just as much, people question this same thing today as much as then..if not more.

And the point was to open people's eyes. I believe in knowing every aspect of things before arguing as to what is possible and impossible..better or worse. They started a ripple that caused many companies to do the same thing..just Google it and see what you find. I'm not attacking anybody, I just so happen to be the type of person that loves to build/tinker/customize, so this sort of thing appeals to me quite a bit. I hate pre-set anything..especially something as complex as a computer. I only trust quality of products that are built with more expensive labor (i.e. made in America).
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They neither started it, nor did they cause "many" companies to do the same thing.
 
blacksheep23 said:
Ok ok, They inspired people to follow in their footsteps. hows that. Oh, and I never said they started the idea.
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Not really, without the hackintosh community Psystar would never have existed. There are a number of sites who have inspired far more to build their own hacks than Psystar ever sold.
 
Mackilroy said:
Not really, without the hackintosh community Psystar would never have existed. There are a number of sites who have inspired far more to build their own hacks than Psystar ever sold.
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oh mah gosh... I was just trying to make a quick mention, not start a new thread. I didn't say they started it, and I didn't say they inspired EVERYBODY. Now back to the CPUs already.

I like the idea of the new Intel Hexa cores; it makes me feel like I can do so much multi-tasking with ease..but is it not enough for the large price tag? I can thoroughly bog down any quad core after all. After Effects<3
 
cmaier said:
Yes you did. I quoted your exact post, in bold.

And, again, they didn't inspire anyone. They were very late to the party.
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I said they started a ripple! I didn't say they were the pioneers. And I know for a fact they inspired people even if they were a little late with "Hackintosh." As OS X grows in popularity, so does the Community of people who desire such an opportunity through any means..which is getting more creative every day. Their program wasn't exactly hacking, however. ..now can you correctly guess what I meant by "do the same thing"? I highly doubt it..moving on yet? maybe a thought or two on a CPU? Did you look at my other links? (my guess is NO)
 
Macpropro80 said:
Thanks, Gaming forums are not the best place to ask mac related anythings. My best defense against gamers hating mac is this simple question:

me: "so you say macs suck? Well how many cores does your PC have?"
Gamer: "(insert $250-400 processor)"
me: "well my mac has 8 cores running at 2.8ghz, so according to my math my mac is better then your pc"
Gamer: "macs suck how many games do you have, roflcopter!"
me: "every game you have, I have boot camp"
Gamer: "i have blue leds in my case"
me: "congratulations you obviously beat me do to the fact that it has a blue light!"
Gamer: "your a noob"
me: "and your a moron"
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Sorry to tell you that you are wrong, Mac hardware is overpriced and offers little hardware customization and options, MacBook air 1100$ for a core 2 duo with 2gb ram and 80gb ssd and one USB port, very recently I saw a Sony i5 quad core with 4gb ram 800gb HDD cd drive amd 3 USB ports and on top of all that other ports like enthernet FireWire etc. For 1500$ so you compare those and google processing specs of the CPUs and tell me macs are better! And I fro got to mention the Sony computer was 3mm thicker so don't bring up thickness.
 
Macpropro80 said:
Im really confused which is better: Xeon or i7? PC users* and gamers tell me i7 is better** but my friends who are mac users tell me xeon is better. Which one truly is better? Can someone explain it in an easy to understand way.



* PC users: also known as suckers or lacking knowledge
** They also told me mac sucks, instantly making everything they told me untrue.
:apple:​
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Not all pc users are imbeciles as you make them out to be, I'm impartial on everything and normally follow the right way, the way that makes sense and that's why I like pc over Mac. I have many reason but will only list a few

MacBook air. A Sony computer with some long ass name
2gb RAM. 4GBram
80gbssd. 800gbhdd
1usb port. 3usb ports
Core 2 duo. Quad core i5

Also on top of that the Sony computer was 3mm thicker and has FireWire cd drive plus windows can run Mac natively and is 99%of the time cheaper PLUS offers open platform and cross platform compatibility and can run any program all you need is a simple 2 minute plugin download. Don't even think about brining up security, if you say Mac is more secure tell me hacking a single password for all macs in the world is secure whereas windows will possibly, very rarely let a virus in past a single layer of security but also allows secure root level modifications without viruses sneaking in.

PS feel free to ask me about my quad core i5 8th ddr3 RAM 1.5th HDD 2gb nvidia gpu card with a 24" LED HD 1080p monitor for 1000$(less than a MacBook air OR a MacBook pro)
 
^^^. Thanks for posting the same exact info twice in a row about the sony laptop. I admit that although it looks like a nice machine, it gets discredited by your last post, nobody really cares about your $1000 machine, well except for you :). We all love the back and forth nature of these forums, but a simple CPU difference discussion quickly turned into mac vs. Pc
 
mac pro 2009 vs mac mini quad core

hi, sorry to revive a old threat.

what you guys advice, recently i have a opportunity to get a mac pro ( early 2009) basic configuration for the same price of a mac mini server that i was about to buy to use with "normal" lion

i dont do audio or video edition

i always being fascinated by mac pro and i can't make a decision.
for the other side the small space occupied by mac mini is very good because i live in a flat.

sepcs:

mac pro intel xeon 3500 (bloomfield)
2,66 single quad core
3gb
nvidia gt120
640 hd

vs

mac mini intel core i7
2.0 quad core
2gb ram
intel hd 3000 grafics

thanks.
 
Since you are comparing processors that are generations different you should really start your own thread if you want more responses.
The Mac Pro is old but has areas of upgradability.
The Mac Mini is technically faster (barely) with CPU. The GPU may be a toss up with the new Intel Integrated as the GT120 is terrible and Intel is terrible.
I'd get the Pro as I could buy more memory and a nicer GPU when I feel like it.
What for form factor do you like? It's kind of a toss up.
 
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