which system setup is better?

R

runrunrun

New Member
So I'm looking for opinions on the computer setups below. I'm trying to stay in the range of $3,200. I'm going to be studying industrial design and working with many 3D modeling programs and doing lot of rendering. I haven't even decided on wether to get a PC or Mac. I'm comfortable with both so it really only comes down to performance. The other key aspect to this is room for upgrades. Right now I'm looking at getting a good system but would like to have room for upgrades over the next few years.

Mac Pro (this on the apple website under refurbished Macs. I've witnessed and heard good things about the refubished Macs)
Two 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon (4MB of shared L2 cache per processor)
2GB (4 x 512MB) of 667MHz DDR2 Fully-buffered DIMM ECC
ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2x dual-link DVI)
250GB Serial ATA (3Gb/s); 7200 rpm; 8Mb cache
16x SuperDrive with double-layer support
Price: $3,299



Mac Pro (new with student discount)
Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon (4MB L2 cache per processor)
4GB (4 x 1GB) of 667MHz DDR2 Fully-buffered DIMM ECC
ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2x dual-link DVI)
250GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
16x SuperDrive with double-layer support
Price: $3,152

My question about this Mac is wether upgrading the graphics card to four NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB cards is a good choice. It would cost $180 to do that. Would this help rendering speeds or is this mainly for the use of mutliple monitors?


As for PCs, here is what I came up with.


Dell XPS 710 (with student discount) comes With Windows XP Media Center)
Intel Core Q6600 Quad-Core (2.4GHz 8MB L2 cache 1066 FSB)
4GB (4 x 1GB) Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
768MB nVidia GeForce 8800 GTX
250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM)
16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW)
other stuff: comes with Windows XP Media Center, 4 year Dell in-home help, 3 year accident forgivness, Office 2007
Price: $2,989


My question regarding this is about a few other options. I could add one of the following to my package (each woudl add 315 to the total cost)
1. Change the processor to: Intel Core Extreme QX6700 (2.66GHz 8MB L2 Cache1066 FSB)
2. Change the processor to: Intel Core Extreme X6800 (2.93GHz 4MB L2 Cache1066 FSB)
3. Change the graphics card from the 8800GTS to the 8800Ultra
4. And finally, for $80 I could change the 750w power supply to a 1000w power supply.


So please let me know what everyone thinks. I've been getting the impression that XP is a better way to go than Vista. Why is that?
 
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So why aren't you building this system yourself? Just curious.. because most people here will suggest that.
 
I'm not opposed to it

well, I've never built a system before and to be honest, I don't know how hard it is to do. I assume it would be cheaper. How would one go about doing this for the first time.

I can pick things up fairly quickly so I'm sure I could do it but about how long would this take to do. A couple hours? A day?
 
runrunrun said:
well, I've never built a system before and to be honest, I don't know how hard it is to do. I assume it would be cheaper. How would one go about doing this for the first time.

I can pick things up fairly quickly so I'm sure I could do it but about how long would this take to do. A couple hours? A day?
Click to expand...

It is really easy to build your own computer and it is much cheaper. Your first build could take you anywheres from 3 hours or more depends on how many problems you run into or how fast you go.

If you dont want to build out of all of those systems I would go with the dell it looks to be much better than the apples probably cause i hate them.
 
well, I may consider building it myself. However, of all the parts I'm looking at (in particular the processor and graphics card), which would be better for what I'm doing? (3D modeling and rendering).

Just because it is more expensive does that mean it is better? I know that is not always the case but could someone please suggest which upgrades are worth the extra money.

Thanks
 
Just read up on a couple guides. make sure to take the proper precautions, and you will be fine. Definitely not difficult, and will save you a ton of money compared to those prices.I mean sure those comps come with a warranty, but just spend a little extra dough, and get parts with lifetime warranty, especially on the expensive things like the graphics card.
 
So I've begun compiling estimates on the price of a system that is comparable to a possible Dell computer I could get. With student discount and a special promotion, the Dell Precision 690 is fairly cheap.

I don't know a lot about this stuff so please let me know where I may be off on the estimated price.

Motherboard: $130
Tower: $150
processor: $790 (Intel Dual Core Xeon 5150 2.66GHz, 4MB)
Memory: $100 (2GB)
Graphics card: $860 (nVidia Quadro FX3500)
Power supply: $130 (750w)
Optical drive: $60 (Dual Layer dvd burner)
Monitor: $210 (19" LCD)
sound card: $120 (Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic)
hard drive: $100 (250 GB)

Total: $2650 (this doesn't include any shipping costs)

The dell system would cost 3,045. So that is $395 difference. The Dell would come with the warrenty and 3 years of On-Site technical help and lifetime phone hardware help. While i probably won't have a problem, this could be very helpful. Considering the 2 days I would spend in total buying all the items and time spent putting it together, I just don't know if it is worth the money. If I have messed up somewhere and the price I came up with is way wrong, please let me know.

I forgot to add the cost of Windows XP professional, I don't know what that would be exactly, but it is probably a lot.

thanks
 
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Dude, $3200 is insanely expensive for that! If you got those parts on a Windows pre-built or custom, it should only cost $1000-$1500. And it's refurbished!
 
get the mac

and 3200 for dual xeon processors is not expensive, its about what it would cost to buy it from anyone else or build it yourself. They don't run C2D procs, they run xeons - HUGE difference

Also if you build it yourself, good luck with the warranty and supporting it yourself. If you buy something built and it breaks at least you have that warranty to back it up.

What software packages are you going to use for 3D rendering/modeling? That is also a factor.

also if its going to be a render work station you may want to get a quadro card from nvidia, they suck for gaming but are awesome for doing 3D design work.
 
My daughter had that Mac Pro, she sold it after I built the one she has now. I put one together for $1825. It took me 2 hours,after I got all the parts. Its really rather simple to do. Just be cautious of going online before you get protection installed:D
 
tlarkin said:
get the mac

and 3200 for dual xeon processors is not expensive, its about what it would cost to buy it from anyone else or build it yourself. They don't run C2D procs, they run xeons - HUGE difference

Also if you build it yourself, good luck with the warranty and supporting it yourself. If you buy something built and it breaks at least you have that warranty to back it up.

What software packages are you going to use for 3D rendering/modeling? That is also a factor.

also if its going to be a render work station you may want to get a quadro card from nvidia, they suck for gaming but are awesome for doing 3D design work.
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I understand your point. I know that the two 3.0GHz Xeons are crazy good, however, as you said the graphics card should be a Quadro. I have found a Dell system that I can get for less money and has a nVidia Quadro 3500 card, the same RAM, a 19" monitor which I set up to my existing 19", and with two 2.33GHz Xeons processors. The Dell is slightly cheaper and if I was to buy the Quadro 3500 card for the Mac, that would cost a ton.

I hope I don't regret my choice. But I think I will be happy.
 
well it depends on what applications you will be using too, and if you are doing anything else hefty. video editing, dvd authoring, audio editing, etc.

I work IT for a living and support several high end animation labs, a render farm, AutoDesk labs (inventor, viz, cad, etc), so on and so forth. Software packages are factor. If you are going to use Autodesk, you should go with windows based platform because the mac support is lacking, unless you are going to use 3DsMax or maya because those apps are heavily supported on the Mac platform.

I will also say less hassle with the mac, NO KNOWN VIRUSES!!!!!!

Again, though it comes down to what your needs are. I would look at software packages you will be using because that can be a huge factor. Then again, you can run windows on your Mac pro.
 
dell still sells their 8800gtx over 600 dollars so they dont really keep up with the prices or they're in it for big profits.
 
I don't know exactly what programs I will be using because I'm just starting an industrial design. I know we will be using Maya for sure but definitly more. The computer techs at the school recommended PC's because of software issues but as you said, it could be possible to run XP on the Mac Pro. I also have many personal programs that run in windows so I would be using it 90% of the time anyway.
 
I'll be completely honest with you from my personal experience. Been supporting macs and PCs since 1999 professionally. I hated the classic Mac OS with a passion I thought it sucked, but then OS X came out.

Right now I have (including home and work)HP NC4200, HP dx5150, custom built PC, Macbook pro, PowerMac G4 (I have 2, the MDD model and a dual 500) and an older custom build PC that does nothing that I need to get rid of. I use Linux (mostly redhat based distros) OS X, and windows on these machines. I can tell you that in a working environment I am like 10 times more productive on the Mac platform. My macbook pro runs 4 OSes on it and I use it for work and it rules. I have maya 8.5 currently on it to test out some mental ray network rendering projects I will be doing soon.

I am not trying to preach evangalism here about the mac platform I am just saying that don't disregard it. Also most IT workers don't know anything about the mac platform, they are lazy, and don't want to learn new stuff. macs are not incompatible in any way, especially since they can run windows apps natively and freaking boot into windows.
 
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