Are imac and mac pro config the same?

[jimbo110]

imac

2.0GHz Intel Core Duo
1GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2 x 512MB
250GB Serial ATA drive
ATI Radeon X1600 with 256MB SDRAM
Keyboard & Mighty Mouse + Mac OS X
20-inch TFT display
SuperDrive 8x (DVD+R DL/DVD+RW/CD-RW)
AirPort Extreme
Bluetooth 2.0

Mac pro

Two 2GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
1GB (2 x 512MB)
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB (single-link DVI/dual-link DVI)
250GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
1 x SuperDrive
Both Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and AirPort Extreme

I made these two configurations on the apple store. I noticed the Mac pro is about is about 18% higher priced than imac. Since imac have a display built-in is there any reason to buy Mac pro in above configuration? Since in my eyes the look really similar.

 

[Origin]

If you don't see the difference, then, buy an iMac, the MacPro is not for you !

iMac : one LCD integrated display
MacPro : no display at all, but replacable GfxCard and possibly multiple GfxCards for many more than 2 monitors.

iMac : ONE Dual-Core processor with 2Megs of L2 Cache
MacPro : TWO Dual-Core processors with 4Megs of L2 Cache (and i dont even mentionned that it is two Xeon professionnal processors)

iMac : one front side bus running at 667 Mhz
MacPro : TWO independant front side buses each running at 1,33 GHz

iMac : One SO-DIMM memory expansion slot
MacPro : 8 FB-DIMM memory expansion

iMac : One slot for the harddisk
MacPro : up to 4 disks

iMac : no PCI Express expansion slots
MacPro : 1 Gfx slot + 3 PCIe general purpose slots empty

etc. ...

 

[jimbo110]

If you don't see the difference, then, buy an iMac, the MacPro is not for you !

iMac : one LCD integrated display
MacPro : no display at all, but replacable GfxCard and possibly multiple GfxCards for many more than 2 monitors.

iMac : ONE Dual-Core processor with 2Megs of L2 Cache
MacPro : TWO Dual-Core processors with 4Megs of L2 Cache (and i dont even mentionned that it is two Xeon professionnal processors)

iMac : one front side bus running at 667 Mhz
MacPro : TWO independant front side buses each running at 1,33 GHz

iMac : One SO-DIMM memory expansion slot
MacPro : 8 FB-DIMM memory expansion

iMac : One slot for the harddisk
MacPro : up to 4 disks

iMac : no PCI Express expansion slots
MacPro : 1 Gfx slot + 3 PCIe general purpose slots empty

etc. ...

Thanks I must not be really awake...ha ha Didn't notice it was TWO Dual-Core on the pro. I know the up to 4 disks but don't need up to 4 harddisks.

 

[steelfist]

it can be confusing.

for example, look at the processor speed. you haven't heard of the megaherz myth, have you

 

[Applespider]

imac
Since in my eyes the look really similar.

They're nothing like each other. One is a pro piece of kit and one is consumer with entirely different abilities in terms of upgrading etc

What do you want to do with your Mac? How long do you intend keeping it? Do you want to upgrade it regularly with internal drives/graphics cards? Do you want something compact or a traditional tower and monitor set-up?

If all you intend to do is some basic photo editing/video editing, surfing, mail, then the iMac will be enough for you. Stick some extra RAM in and you'll be fine. In a few years though, you're looking at buying a new machine entirely though and retiring that iMac to the bedroom to watch DVDs on.

If you buy a PowerMac then you can pretty much run anything... and you could add new hard drives, new graphics cards, new displays and possibly new processors as they become available. But it's bigger, bulkier and you have to decide whether the extra cost of it initially plus the cost to buy any new components is worth it to you or whether the additional performance (which will be substantial) is overkill for your needs.

 

[CyberDoberman]

Thanks I must not be really awake...ha ha Didn't notice it was TWO Dual-Core on the pro. I know the up to 4 disks but don't need up to 4 harddisks.

Be careful when you say you don't need more than one hard disk.

Look at the LEOPARD features (OS X 10.5) the Steve previewed at the WWDC.

The backup feature called Time Machine will pretty much need it's own hard disk ... so never say never...

 

[jimbo110]

it can be confusing.

for example, look at the processor speed. you haven't heard of the megaherz myth, have you

Yeahh I hear somewhere megaherz is pure marketing.

 

[jimbo110]

They're nothing like each other. One is a pro piece of kit and one is consumer with entirely different abilities in terms of upgrading etc

What do you want to do with your Mac? How long do you intend keeping it? Do you want to upgrade it regularly with internal drives/graphics cards? Do you want something compact or a traditional tower and monitor set-up?

If all you intend to do is some basic photo editing/video editing, surfing, mail, then the iMac will be enough for you. Stick some extra RAM in and you'll be fine. In a few years though, you're looking at buying a new machine entirely though and retiring that iMac to the bedroom to watch DVDs on.

If you buy a PowerMac then you can pretty much run anything... and you could add new hard drives, new graphics cards, new displays and possibly new processors as they become available. But it's bigger, bulkier and you have to decide whether the extra cost of it initially plus the cost to buy any new components is worth it to you or whether the additional performance (which will be substantial) is overkill for your needs.

The I think the most demanding task right now is photoshop and dreamweaver. Normally I upgrade my computers and keep them for years. The only thing that excites me about the imac is the fun features like remote and front row. Since I work from home.

 

[Josias]

Also:
iMac: One 8x DVD+/-RW DL drive.
MacPro: One or two 16x DVD+/-RW DL drives.

iMac: 3xUSB 2.0, 2xFW400.
MacPro: 5xUSB 2.0, 2xFW400, 2xFW800.

 

[jimbo110]

Be careful when you say you don't need more than one hard disk.

Look at the LEOPARD features (OS X 10.5) the Steve previewed at the WWDC.

The backup feature called Time Machine will pretty much need it's own hard disk ... so never say never...

You are right extra hard disks may be very useful. At the moment I use external hard disks.

 

[jimbo110]

Also:
iMac: One 8x DVD+/-RW DL drive.
MacPro: One or two 16x DVD+/-RW DL drives.

iMac: 3xUSB 2.0, 2xFW400.
MacPro: 5xUSB 2.0, 2xFW400, 2xFW800.

Good point about the superdrive. I don't use that many USB's

 

[jimbo110]

I only need a remote and front row on the mac pro then I'm convinced

 

[Josias]

Good point about the superdrive. I don't use that many USB's

Yeah, I use two: Mighty Mouse (soon to be BT), and then printer/iPod Shuffle randomly... I could do with one...