Mac or Windows?

[Neil S.]

I'm looking in to a home-built d-slr....I just KNOW I can build a better one than one designed by 100, 150 engineers with a collective 1,500 to 2,000 years' worth of experience...

I owned a Windows XP machine..it surprised me every day, with how clunky and kludgy and idiotic the entire file management system was...Windoze was so lame I would never call it an "operating system", just a file management system (effort).

Derrel lol...

I want you to know that I can in fact build a better machine than 150 engineers, at least with the restrictions that are placed on them when designing it for the average joe.

I am not kidding you, I am that damn good at building PCs.

Custom companies like Alienware just use really high end parts, and often ones targeted at the overclocking crowd.

Why would I pay them 2x what it would cost to build the rig myself though? I will leave that to the people who don't know how, or aren't good enough.

Building it is only part of the equation by the way, keeping it running stable is another factor.

1,000,000 engineers can't do much here, if the user doesn't know what they are doing.

This why people who don't know much about computers are always screwing up their OS.

 

[DennyCrane]

...yeah, this is the same asshattery I see in Nikon Vs Canon threads.

 

[usayit]

very same reason comparing a custom built PC to a retail box (of any sort) is a lame comparison.

 

[table1349]

That's the problem with growing up in a Microsoft world. If it ain't Bill's build most people don't understand it nor have they every played in it. They understand Windows, and maybe DOS. That is where starting with old time programing like Fortran and Cobol come in. They are obsolete, but they expanded the range of what is possible in the computer world, not just the Microsoft world. The Microsoft world is only a small part of the computer universe.

Have you seen the Robin Williams live on Broadway special lol?

One of his jokes was:

"Mr Gates, when did you realize you were creating a monopoly? "Monopoly's just a game, Senator... I'm trying to control the ^#*%!$& world....."

For me Windows is just a means to an end.

I do greatly enjoy the flexibility though, and widespread compatibility. Even if it means that sometimes you will have hardware or driver conflicts.

I will say that Windows 7 surprises me every day, because its so stable and reliable. At least compared to other Windows releases over the years.

Perhaps they are finally getting one right...

It's actually not a joke. It is the direction that Microsoft has taken from the very beginning. I'm not saying it is either good or bad, Nor am I saying that the Apple philosophy is the right one. I am just pointing out that they take different approaches to marketing and their customers.

 

[Neil S.]

...yeah, this is the same asshattery I see in Nikon Vs Canon threads.

I realized something today.

The Canon vs. Nikon threads are probably good for these forums overall, at least if it doesn't get out of control with name calling, etc.

Think about it.

Arguing which one is better in such detail is bound to increase peoples knowledge and understanding of the two.

I have already learned a lot of stuff from people here arguing why one or the other is better.

I just try to squash it when people start calling names and making it personal. Thats when it gets ugly.

The same thing goes here.

I have already learned quite a few things in this thread, and I already knew a ton about computers (PCs at least).

I am sure that the people that dont know very much have learned even more.

Can we all just agree to be mature during these types of discussions? Yes I mean me too, I know that I am not perfect.

If we can just keep it positive, there is a lot of good knowledge to be shared.

 

[shuttercraft]

So this is where I personally get my "overpriced" mindset from. I'm not sure how things faire now, but since my PC still runs like a champ, I haven't looked to anything new anyway. Well.. other than the recent pump from 4gb to 8gb RAM.

It might not matter to many consumers but open up the two boxes and check out the components spec'd. That's were the differences lie. You have to look beyond the sheer specs.

I selected every part in my computer myself. I picked very high quality components, and my computer is extremely fast and stable while still being affordable.

Look at this screenshot.

Correct me if I am wrong, but there are no Macs no matter what you pay that run this fast. This will likely be the case for some time still, even though my PC is almost a year old.

Keep in mind that I have been running the same overclock since day one of the build.

I just speced a Mac Pro to close to what my hardware is, and they want $4300 for it. For just my base hardware I doubt I spent over $2,000, and that was with an Intel 160GB G2 SSD back when they cost over $600. I just configured the Mac with a cheap 2TB HDD.

The Mac I built on the site had a 3.2Ghz quad core mind you, and mine runs all day at 3.8Ghz stable as a rock. My processor cost under $300...

To go from 3GB to 12GB of ram right now they want $1200...lol?? My 12GB ram kit cost me under $300 A YEAR AGO.

Macs are cool, but they are way overpriced and not my style. If I was rich though they are pretty sexy...

My brothers Mac pro has 32 gigs of ram, Two ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB, Two 2.93GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon “Westmere” possessors, 4TB of hard drive space, and he has never maxed it out running final cut pro, aperture, browsers, and much more at the same time. Its faster then your PC.

 

[Neil S.]

My brothers Mac pro has 32 gigs of ram, Two ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB, 4TB of hard drive space, and he has never maxed it out running final cut pro, aperture, browsers, and much more at the same time.

Ya but what did it cost? It had to be like $5,000-8,000 right?

For what it did, I 100% gaurntee you I could build a better/faster/cheaper PC.

Give me the price and I will list the parts if you want, to prove it.

 

[shuttercraft]

My brothers Mac pro has 32 gigs of ram, Two ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB, 4TB of hard drive space, and he has never maxed it out running final cut pro, aperture, browsers, and much more at the same time.

Ya but what did it cost? It had to be like $5,000-8,000 right?

For what it did, I 100% gaurntee you I could build a better/faster/cheaper PC.

Give me the price and I will list the parts if you want, to prove it.

He got the mac for 3,700 and upgraded it. We work with macs because we love macs.

You don't get much better then the specs listed above.

I would never go back to a PC.

 

[table1349]

Perhaps it would be better to use the word assemble rather than build in these discussions. Take two people involved in the making of a Cadillac. There is the engineer that designed the thing from paper sketch, to computer model, to clay full size model to final production car.

Then there is the guy on the assembly line that attaches the bumper.

Which one really built that Cadillac?


On a side note, the Mac pro described by shuttercraft has a maximum potential Ram capacity of 1TB. That is based on the particular configuration of the Westmere processor in a 12 core configuration. The only limitation to meeting that capacity is the physical one of building either a MB that could hold that many ram sticks or build 4-250gig sticks. OX10 has no ram limitations. Well there would be the one other limitation. At present ram prices 1TB of ram would run approximately $380,000.00.

Even if the hardware was available, you can't get Windows 7 to recognize that much ram.

No matter whether you are a Windows fan or a Mac fan you have to admit having 1TB of ram would be freaking cool. :mrgreen:

 

[Josh66]

The only limitation to meeting that capacity is the physical one of building either a MB that could hold that many ram sticks or build 4-250gig sticks. OX10 has no ram limitations. Well there would be the one other limitation. At present ram prices 1TB of ram would run approximately $380,000.00.

Even if the hardware was available, you can't get Windows 7 to recognize that much ram.

No matter whether you are a Windows fan or a Mac fan you have to admit having 1TB of ram would be freaking cool. :mrgreen:

Give it a year or two... Five, tops.

 

[shuttercraft]

Perhaps it would be better to use the word assemble rather than build in these discussions. Take two people involved in the making of a Cadillac. There is the engineer that designed the thing from paper sketch, to computer model, to clay full size model to final production car.

Then there is the guy on the assembly line that attaches the bumper.

Which one really built that Cadillac?


On a side note, the Mac pro described by shuttercraft has a maximum potential Ram capacity of 1TB. That is based on the particular configuration of the Westmere processor in a 12 core configuration. The only limitation to meeting that capacity is the physical one of building either a MB that could hold that many ram sticks or build 4-250gig sticks. OX10 has no ram limitations. Well there would be the one other limitation. At present ram prices 1TB of ram would run approximately $380,000.00.

Even if the hardware was available, you can't get Windows 7 to recognize that much ram.

No matter whether you are a Windows fan or a Mac fan you have to admit having 1TB of ram would be freaking cool. :mrgreen:

Just for your information you can configure a mac pro on apples website with 32 gigs of ram shipped. But do we really need that much ram? I told my brother to stop at 16 gigs. He went mad scientist on us.

 

[table1349]

Perhaps it would be better to use the word assemble rather than build in these discussions. Take two people involved in the making of a Cadillac. There is the engineer that designed the thing from paper sketch, to computer model, to clay full size model to final production car.

Then there is the guy on the assembly line that attaches the bumper.

Which one really built that Cadillac?


On a side note, the Mac pro described by shuttercraft has a maximum potential Ram capacity of 1TB. That is based on the particular configuration of the Westmere processor in a 12 core configuration. The only limitation to meeting that capacity is the physical one of building either a MB that could hold that many ram sticks or build 4-250gig sticks. OX10 has no ram limitations. Well there would be the one other limitation. At present ram prices 1TB of ram would run approximately $380,000.00.

Even if the hardware was available, you can't get Windows 7 to recognize that much ram.

No matter whether you are a Windows fan or a Mac fan you have to admit having 1TB of ram would be freaking cool. :mrgreen:

Just for your information you can configure a mac pro on apples website with 32 gigs of ram shipped. But do we really need that much ram? I told my brother to stop at 16 gigs. He went mad scientist on us.

Try and keep up, your behind the times.
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...reviews/218869-mac-windows-3.html#post2032381

:lmao::lmao:

 

[Neil S.]

He got the mac for 3,700 and upgraded it. We work with macs because we love macs.

You don't get much better then the specs listed above.

I would never go back to a PC.

Well thats a pretty open ended number, because he could have spent a ton upgrading it.

In the spirit of the "unlimited build" I am listing what I could do if money was no object.

The parts here are far from the most expensive that I could throw togethether, keep that in mind. This is a somewhat realistic build, like the dream Mac listed before.

$300 - LIAN LI PC-P80 Aluminum ATX Full Tower Case

$300 - ENERMAX Galaxy EVO 1250W ATX12V CrossFire Certified Active PFC Power Supply

$600 - EVGA Classified SR-2 (Super Record 2) Dual LGA 1366 Intel 5520 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HPTX Intel Motherboard

$1225 ea. - (2X) Intel Xeon X5660 Westmere 2.8GHz 12MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 Six-Core Server Processors

$550 ea. - (2X) OCZ Reaper HPC 24GB 6 x 4GB DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Kit

$1,600 - OCZ Colossus Series 500GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

$75 ea. - (2X) ZALMAN 120mm 2 Ball Low-noise Blue LED CPU Cooler

$130 ea. - (5X) Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 32MB Cache SATA Internal Hard Drives

Note: These would be in a RAID 5 config giving you 8TB of fault tolerant storage. The case can easily handle this number of drives, and I own the same one btw.

$140 - LITE-ON 12X SATA Internal Blu-ray Burner

$1860 ea. - (2X) HP DreamColor LP2480zx 24" 6ms HDMI Widescreen Professional Display w/ LED Backlighting

$550 ea. - (4X) ASUS Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express CrossFireX Video Cards

Total: $13,210

Heres what the case looks like:

1.

2.

Power Supply:

Motherboard:

RAM:

SSD:

CPU Coolers:

LCD:

Video Cards:

*First this PC is way better than the dream Mac listed earlier.

*Second even if you could build a Mac anywhere near this bad ass (which you cant) it would cost like $30,000 or some insane number. Because they markup sooo much.

Yup this has dual 6 core Westmere Xeons, 48GB system memory, 4 video cards with a combined 8GB of video memory, 8.5TB of storage, and two of the best monitors in the world. Yup the MB supports it all...

It would be reasonable to expect a stable overclock of 3.5GHz, and likely quite higher.

The motherboard is an overclocking model, and is built to very high standards, with solid caps, etc.

This does not include mouse/keyboard/etc, just the base hardware. And oh what nice hardware it is.

Yes I did steal the idea for the MB from the dream machine '10, but so what lol. Its the best mobo in the world, period. It is so big that it has its own form factor "HPTX".

You would have to dremel tool the motherboard tray, and custom secure it for it to fit the case.

This would make it all that much more of an epic build though...

 

[Neil S.]

Now would be a good time for someone to admit that this PC destroys the Mac listed before...

 

[prodigy2k7]

Now would be a good time for someone to admit that this PC destroys the Mac listed before...

I don't endorse all this arguing but you are right.