Ha ha ha ha, you're funny. Ever tried running a heavy Cinema4D or After Effects composite on a MacBook Pro? Yeah, me neither because you wouldn't want to.
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For those ready to switch if no new mac pro: what are your pc system specs?
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Ha ha ha ha, you're funny. Ever tried running a heavy Cinema4D or After Effects composite on a MacBook Pro? Yeah, me neither because you wouldn't want to.
I'm doing that right now which is part of the reason I'm getting so impatient about this next round of releases. I'm NOT paying 2012 prices for 2010 hardware.
Unless the new Mac Pros simply blow me away with price/features, I'll be looking to upgrade my 4,1 to 2x X5650 6-Core Xeons (~$1100 with patient eBaying).
If I come across an extra $1,800 somehow (one can dream), I want to build a modest SB-E workstation:
* ASUS Sabertooth X79
* i7-3820
* 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3-1600
* GTX 670
* 2x256GB OCZ Vortex 4 SSDs RAID 0
All other parts are more-or-less modular depending on specific deals available at the time or parts I have lying around the house.
If I come across an extra $1,800 somehow (one can dream), I want to build a modest SB-E workstation:
* ASUS Sabertooth X79
* i7-3820
* 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3-1600
* GTX 670
* 2x256GB OCZ Vortex 4 SSDs RAID 0
All other parts are more-or-less modular depending on specific deals available at the time or parts I have lying around the house.
Talk about overpriced! For about $11,500, you could buy the exact same components, e.g., from Newegg and Amazon:
- CPU: 4x AMD Opteron 6282 SE Interlagos @2.6GHz, 16MB L3 cache, 16 cores (64 cores total)
- Motherboard: Supermicro H8QGI-F-O SWTX socket G34
- Memory: 512GB (32x 16GB) Kingston DDR3 1333 SDRAM ECC registered server memory
- Case: Supermicro SuperChassis 748TQ-R1400B with 1400W Redundant High-efficiency (80Plus Gold) power supply
- GPU: 2x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680, 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16
- HDD: 4x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 64MB cache
assemble the workstation yourself, and save $6,200; if you opt for dual NVIDIA Quadro 6000s, you'd save around $7,900.
As an aside, if you really want a workstation-sized computing behemoth, be prepared to plunk down around $112,000:
- CPU: 8x Intel Xeon E7-4870 @ 2.4GHz/2.8GHz, 30MB L3 cache, 10 cores/20 threads (80 cores/160 threads total)
- Motherboard: Supermicro X8OBN-F socket LGA 1567
- Memory: 2TB (64x 32GB) Samsung DDR3 1066 SDRAM ECC registered server memory
- Case: Supermicro CSE-758A-R2800B with 2800W (2+2) Redundant 1400W high-efficiency power supply
- GPU: 2-4x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690, 4GB 512-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16
- HDD: 6x HGST 4TB 5400RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 32MB cache
Well, I built my pc to most of my original specs, and as a first time builder I have to say I couldn't be happier. The machine is amazingly fast, perfect for my tasks, and totally free of bloatware. After past experiences with xp and vista I can gladly report that Windows 7 is a fine operating system, the first time I can say that about a windows os. I won't be switching to 8 anytime soon, and luckily with windows that doesn't present a huge obstacle moving forward as many people skip intermittent windows updates till the kinks are worked out (ehm.. Metro...).
Sure there are aesthetic things about OSx I miss but they're minor, and for now I'm using my MBP for all internet and web based tasks. I think this will be my plan fom now on, keep a mini or MBP around for communications and online tasks, and windows workstation for production. I grabbed a nice KVM switch to make this plausible with a second monitor and things are running great! The machines are networked and playing nice so far.
If any other builders want to share their experiences I'd enjoy hearing them!
Sure there are aesthetic things about OSx I miss but they're minor, and for now I'm using my MBP for all internet and web based tasks. I think this will be my plan fom now on, keep a mini or MBP around for communications and online tasks, and windows workstation for production. I grabbed a nice KVM switch to make this plausible with a second monitor and things are running great! The machines are networked and playing nice so far.
If any other builders want to share their experiences I'd enjoy hearing them!
I left in 2010 when I couldn't afford to upgrade from my 2008 Mac pro. Apples prices vs building your self is a big chunk of change. After seeing Xserve dropped, figured the Mac pro's were not far behind. Glad I jumped. Win7 64 is actually descent. For those complaining about win7 at work, probably because of all the bloated BS from HP or Dell where it came from is why it's problematic. That, and not knowing how to properly tweak it. I installed OEM win7 so zero bloat ware. My builds are in my sig. Saved allot compared to comparable Mac pro. It's also great to put any available gpu in my system. Can't do that on a Mac pro.
Do I miss OS X, yes. It's a great OS. Still have my mini to do small stuff. My big builds handle my video editing and photo chopping. Win7 is working out for me.
It will be interesting to see if apple hoses the rest of the hold outs. Would suck for sure. I wasn't sticking around to find out the hard way.
Do I miss OS X, yes. It's a great OS. Still have my mini to do small stuff. My big builds handle my video editing and photo chopping. Win7 is working out for me.
It will be interesting to see if apple hoses the rest of the hold outs. Would suck for sure. I wasn't sticking around to find out the hard way.
Since I didn't really need 8 or 12 cores, I decided to build a hackintosh to tide me over. The reality is that I've got too much invested in time and effort in using OS X to switch to Windows (though I do have XP Pro under Fusion when I need it and will add a Windows 7 VM if/when I need it). I also had parts I wanted to keep using to save money and landfill space, which ruled out an iMac for tiding me over (pair of 24" 1920x1200 monitors that work well on my Middle Atlantic desk with 8U of rackspace that puts an iMac 27" screen too high without adding MiM Boa mount, SATA drives, video card, etc.). It really boiled down to what was more economically sensible. I'm a developer, and time is money, but the reality is that with the right drive setup my builds run plenty fast on an i7-2700K with a mild 42X multiplier. S/PDIF out works fine, my Geekbench score is just over 15,000, Cinebench OpenGL is 46 fps, Heaven 3.0 at 1920x1200 with 4xAA, shaders and textures on high runs 44 fps. That's with a relatively inexpensive EVGA GTX570 1280MB card. Works great for me.
So if it were me, I'd be spec'ing a system that will run OS X without a ton of fiddling. That just means picking parts known to work, learning a bit about what needs to be done to get things working, and staying a little bit behind on software updates (let others live on the bleeding edge). To be honest I've been pleasantly surprised how well the machine works. It only took me a day to assemble the machine and get everything working, then a few hours a day over the next few days for tweaking/optimizing, setting up TimeMachine to back up to my FreeBSD server in the basement, etc. I've even got USB 3.0, though I've not done much with it yet other than a quick test. Magic Trackpad works dandy with a USB Bluetooth adapter, the machine is quiet (Corsair H100), I put 16G of 1600MHz RAM in it and will add another 16G next month just to fill the slots, and I spent very little money on it (about $1000 less than the base 2012 Mac Pro quad-core). If I wanted a screamer, I'd have gone with an EVGA SR-2 but I'd have spent a ton more money which would leave me drained a bit for a 2013 Mac Pro. Spending so little gets me what I need for now (mostly expandability and no dirty screen issues of the iMac) until I see the 2013 Mac Pro. I think I can get decent longevity out of the hackintosh as long as I keep it clean.
I'll continue buying MBP machines for work-anywhere, but for now I'm all set desktop-wise without feeling like I spent too much money on old Apple hardware to take advantage of newer hardware from Apple when it comes along. And I didn't need to switch to Windows, which I can't really do as a developer anyway.
So if it were me, I'd be spec'ing a system that will run OS X without a ton of fiddling. That just means picking parts known to work, learning a bit about what needs to be done to get things working, and staying a little bit behind on software updates (let others live on the bleeding edge). To be honest I've been pleasantly surprised how well the machine works. It only took me a day to assemble the machine and get everything working, then a few hours a day over the next few days for tweaking/optimizing, setting up TimeMachine to back up to my FreeBSD server in the basement, etc. I've even got USB 3.0, though I've not done much with it yet other than a quick test. Magic Trackpad works dandy with a USB Bluetooth adapter, the machine is quiet (Corsair H100), I put 16G of 1600MHz RAM in it and will add another 16G next month just to fill the slots, and I spent very little money on it (about $1000 less than the base 2012 Mac Pro quad-core). If I wanted a screamer, I'd have gone with an EVGA SR-2 but I'd have spent a ton more money which would leave me drained a bit for a 2013 Mac Pro. Spending so little gets me what I need for now (mostly expandability and no dirty screen issues of the iMac) until I see the 2013 Mac Pro. I think I can get decent longevity out of the hackintosh as long as I keep it clean.
I'll continue buying MBP machines for work-anywhere, but for now I'm all set desktop-wise without feeling like I spent too much money on old Apple hardware to take advantage of newer hardware from Apple when it comes along. And I didn't need to switch to Windows, which I can't really do as a developer anyway.
I would get a pre-built Dell workstation. Their business line is fantastic. And so is their support (on the professional side of things. Their consumer support is crap).
These [ http://www.eicsolutions.com/blog/pre-pack-protector-1043 ] pre-packaged air conditioned enclosures, if priced right, might spell the end to water cooling and case envy, and lead to the occurrence of higher and more frequent turbo boosting and prolonged system life. So I might include them in my system spec if the price is right.
It's quite a contradiction to need the fastest bleeding edge computer while sitting on the sidelines with a "slow" machine for months waiting to hear from apple. That is unless you don't really need the fastest bleeding edge computer.