On 10/08/2010 04:03 PM, Warren Young wrote:
> On 10/8/2010 4:29 PM, Jerry Franz wrote:
>> On 10/08/2010 03:25 PM, Warren Young wrote:
>>> There's more to a PC than [a] spec list.
>> Apple runs commodity hardware that is essentially identical to everyone
>> else's - just priced 3X more.
> ...says the guy comparing machines based only on the spec list.
>
> We're just throwing blind assertions at each other, but since I don't
> want to go PC shopping just to pursue the argument, let's keep it
> theoretical. Which do you suppose is a harder task:
>
> a) for you to show me a third-the-price PC that's truly an
> apples-to-apples comparison with some given Mac; or
Ok. Here is a fairly basic Mac Pro:
* One 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Nehalem” (8M cache, 2.8Ghz, 4.80 GT/s)
* 6GB (PC3 1066, 3x2GB) (four memory slots, max RAM 16GB)
* Two 1 Gbit ethernet interfaces
* 2 x 1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drives
* ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB
* One 18x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* Apple Magic Mouse
* Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (English) & User's Guide
* Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter
* 4 x Firewire 800 ports
* 5 x USB 2.0 ports
* Front-panel headphone minijack
* Optical digitial audio TOSLINK ports
* Multichannel audio through Mini Display Port
* 1 x 16x PCI-e, 2 x PCI-e 4x
* 6 x 3Gb/s SATA II ports
for a "mere" $2973.
Here is what I'm running on my desk right now:
* Gigabyte EX58-Extreme motherboard ($328)
* One 3.06GHz Quad-Core Intel i7 950 (8M cache, 3.06Ghz, 6.4 GT/s) ($294)
* 6GB (PC3 1600, 3x2GB) (six memory slots, max RAM 24GB) ($189)
* Two 1 Gbit ethernet interfaces
* ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB ($150)
* LiteOn DVD A DH24AYS (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW, DVD-RAM, Lightscribe, x24
speed) ($70)
* 2 x 1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive (2 x $80)
* Microsoft Natural 4000 Ergonomic Keyboard ($41)
* Microsoft 3 button mouse with scroll wheel ($15)
* 7.1 surround sound, S/PDIF in/out, High Definition Audio
* 2 x 16x PCI-e, 1 x 8x PCI-e, 1 x PCI-e 4x, 1 x PCI-e 1x and 2 x PCI slots
* 10 x 3Gb/s SATA II ports
* Onboard RAID 0,1, 5 and 10 support
* 12 x USB 2.0 ports
* 3 x Firewire 400 ports
* 750W Corsair power supply ($170)
for a grand total of $1417
Which makes my machine 1/2 the price with *better* performance and
features. The price ratios get really crazy once you get off the basic
machine.
Want 12GB of memory instead of 6GB? Add another $1050 to the Mac Pro. Or
$189 to my machine.
Want RAID support on the Mac Pro? Add another $700. RAID support is
already included on my board, but even buying a card I would only spend
$300 for a battery backed 8 port SATA II RAID card.
Want built in system backups and restores right from the BIOS? Tough.
Macs can't do it.
Want Crossfire support for your video? Well, you're out of luck. Macs
can't do Crossfire.
What is special about Macs *is not their hardware*. It's all about the
software. And the only reason that software doesn't run on every desk
out there is because Apple is fundamentally a *hardware* company: The OS
is just there to sell the machines at a very healthy profit margin.
Don't take away that I'm slamming Macs. I'm not. They are very nice
machines. I have no problem using one (in fact I've owned a couple over
the decades). But they are substantially overpriced for what they
actually are.
--
Benjamin Franz
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