I just got a wild hare up my ass and figured, hey, why not!

[wheelema]

I mean, I'm stuck in hospital bed, and maybe, just maybe, this will help somebody.

The eternal debate between IBM PC compat and Apple Macintosh... One More Time!

I spec'd out the HOTTEST computer I could using the mwave.com website. This baby uses the HOTTEST Intel processor, the HOTTEST Asus motherboard, and the HOTTEST OCZ memory (4GB). I popped a super nice Sony DVD-RW and two Western Digital 10,000 RPM hard disk drives in. I spec'd out TWO of the HOTTEST consumer video cards, the nVidia 7950GX2. All of this is would go into a 4u rack mounted - 120mm fans up the ASS - MONSTER of case by i-Star, and be powered by an ePower 900 watt power supply. Wireless keyboard, mouse, and Windows XP Pro included.

Here are the details...

• INTEL CORE 2 EXTREME X6800 (BX80557X6800) 2.93GhZ EM64T DUAL CORE W/2MB CACHE 1066MHZ LGA775-PIN RETAIL BOXED W/COOLING FAN (3 YEARS WARRANTY) $995
• OCZ OCZ2G10002GK 4GB KIT (1GB x 4) PC2-8000 1066MHZ 5-6-6-15 240-PIN DDR2 DIMM W/HEAT SPREADER $639.86
• ASUS P5W DH DELUXE INTEL 975X CHIPSET SERIAL ATA300 ATX FORM FACTOR 2xPCI-E(X16)/2xPCI-E(X1)/3xPCI/4xDDR2 W/SATA2 RAID,DUAL LAN(Gb),1394A,USB 2.0 & AUDIO (CPU TYPE:INTEL - SOCKET 775) $256.80
• I STAR D-400L STORM SERIES 4U (BLACK) RACKMOUNT NO POWER SUPPLY 7x5.25" 1x3.5" 1x3.5"(hidden) W/ FRONT USB 2.0 PORT, 120mm CASE FAN x 3 & 80mm CASE FAN x 1 *SLIDING RAIL NOT INCLUDED! $190
• EPOWER TG-900-U95 900W TURBOJET SERIES EPS 12V SLI CERTIFIED & RoHS COMPLIANT POWER SUPPLY FOR ATX CASES $349.00
• SONY DRU820A 16x8x16x/DVD+RW 16x6x16x/DVD-RW 8x/DVD+R DL 4x/DVD+R DL 48x32x48x/CD-RW EIDE INTERNAL W/SW (Retail) $69.94
• (x2) WD 150GB WD1500AHFD SATA150 10,000RPM 16MB Digital Raptor X $275.00 each, both for $550.00
• MICROSOFT B7T-00001 WIRELESS LASER DESKTOP 6000 KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO PS2/USB $49.90
• ZALMAN CNPS9500 LED-CU COPPER BASE CPU COOLING FAN FOR AMD (SOCKET 754/939/940) AND INTEL (SOCKET 478/775) PROCESSOR W/3 PIN CONNECTOR $57
• MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL W/SP2 #E85-04135(DSP/OEM) $129.90
• (x2) EVGA 01G-P2-N592-AX GEFORCE 7950GX2 1GB DDR3 PCI-E W/HDTV & DVI $519.90 each, two for $1,039.80

AND IN THE OPPOSING CORNER...

The FABLED Apple Macintosh PRO!!!

This monster has TWO 3Ghz Intel Xeon processors, 4GB of memory. It features the FABLED SuperDrive!!!, and uses a 160GB AND a 500GB hard disk drive (both at 7,200 RPM). It uses TWO nVidia GeForce 7300 GT video cards with a WHOPPING 512K EACH. All of this is packed into the stylish Mac Pro case. Wireless keyboard, mouse, and Mac OS included.

Here are the details...

• Mac Pro Z0D8
• Bluetooth 2.0+EDR module
• Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple wireless Mighty Mouse - U.S. English
• 500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
• One 16x SuperDrive
• Accessory kit
• Two 3GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
• 160GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
• 4GB (4 x 1GB)
• Mac OS X - U.S. English
• 2 x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB

... AND NOW FOR THE BOTTOM LINE!!!

IBM PC Compat...$4,338
Apple Mac Pro....$4,517

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT FOLKS!!??!!??

For LESS than the cost of the FABLED, the heretofore UNDEFEATED (at least in the fevered dreams of Macintosh Nazis) Mac Pro you can get a SCREAMING bleeding edge MONSTER of a DAW.

AND HERE IS THE REAL KICKER!!!

If this shit scares you, Mwave will build the IBM Compat for you for only $75! Your friends never need to know you can't hold a freaking screwdriver!!!

... and by the bye... I spec'd out the Mac using educational pricing!!!

Well! I feel better!

Whoo Ra!!

 

[altitude909]

The mac is better deal. 5160 Woodcrests are $850 a piece, you could not build one that cheap by yourself.

And believe me, i'm probably the most anti mac person on this board so i dont make that statement lightly

 

[wheelema]

Oh wow!! Now there is an intelligent, reasoned, well thought out response...

...duh... the Mac is a better deal because... uh... duh... it's a Mac!!

I don't hate Mac's... would actually like to own one if the damn things were FREAKING REASONABLE. But as a computer guru of long long (too damn long) standing I know, and I demonstrated, that you get a LOT more BANG FOR THE BUCK if you DON'T buy Macintosh!

 

[wheelema]

Oh, and I really LOVE the MORONS who say...

..uh... uh... uh... the Macintosh... uh... doesn't get viruses.

Well, whoop de doo! Don't treat your computer like a freaking whore, and NO computer gets a virus!

 

[altitude909]

how exactly is that a better deal? Your not comparing apples and apples (no pun intended). Loose the EE core 2 duo and replace that with a pair of 5160 Xeons and see what your price looks like.

Well, whoop de doo! Don't treat your computer like a freaking whore, and NO computer gets a virus!

ok, maybe your as illiterate as you are stupid but where did I make any inference to about OSX, windows or anything related to them? I am well aware of the issues of each and I manage systems for a living so assuming that your grand knowledge of everything computer related automatically trumps everyone else's is juvenile at best.

But as a computer guru of long long (too damn long) standing I know, and I demonstrated, that you get a LOT more BANG FOR THE BUCK if you DON'T buy Macintosh!

I'm sure that title is self imposed

 

[wheelema]

how exactly is that a better deal? Your not comparing apples and apples (no pun intended). Loose the EE core 2 duo and replace that with a pair of 5160 Xeons and see what your price looks like.

Exactly! The Intel dual core processors kick Xeon butt, but the Xeon are still more expensive. One of the beautiful thing about roll-your-own is that you don't have to wait for a monolitihic corporation to get off it's ass.

ok, maybe your as illiterate as you are stupid but where did I make any inference to about OSX, windows or anything related to them? I am well aware of the issues of each and I manage systems for a living so assuming that your grand knowledge of everything computer related automatically trumps everyone else's is juvenile at best

Oh no! I am far stupider than I am illiterate! So, you manage systems for a living!? Wow. I mean, really, wow. And the post about the virus issue wasn't in response to anything you said, that was just preemptive.

I'm sure that title is self imposed

Well of COURSE it's self imposed. And if you really really care, here ya' go.

First started programming COBOL apps for Dr. Cashman (of Shelby and Cashman) on a Univac 90/60 in 1978. My first IT purchase was a dumb terminal to access MCI Mail, followed shortly thereafter by a Tandy Color Computer (a POS if ever there was one). After the IBM PC came out I worked selling software for several months or so then went to work as a bench tech repairing IBM PCs. Not PC-XTs, not PC-ATs, they weren't out yet. IBM DOS 2.0 came out to support the 10 meg HDD that came with the PC-XT. The first hard disk drive I saw was at the second Comdex in Vegas... it used 8" platters. The first practical consumer HDD I saw was the Apple 'HardFile' at a whopping 3 megs and I remember trying to figure out just what exactly the incredibly expensive thing did. I was there when the first Macintosh came out, and I was selling them for Betty Sun in Carson when the first Lisa came out. I was there when Apple tried to rebrand the Lisa as a Macintosh. I remember when Novell manufactured file servers and scratching my head trying figure out just exactly what made a PC a 'file server'. I worked as QSECOFR on 3 AS/400s for the Los Angeles Superior and Municipal Courts, and as QSECOFR for Paramount Pictures. My last postion was with Nestle USA where my primary responsibilty was QSECOFR on approx. 42 IBM AS/400s (it varied), Domain Admin over 5 Microsoft NT domains, and root on 110 or so HP servers running HP-UX 10.

So, you tell me, do YOU consider that a long long long time?

Hey, it just occured to me! If you're not lying about your age (as I am), I've been working in IT almost as long as you've been alive!

God I feel old.

 

[ez_willis]

I mean, I'm stuck in hospital bed, and maybe, just maybe, this will help somebody.

Do you have any insight on the whole "is a dj a musician" debate?

 

[altitude909]

Exactly! The Intel dual core processors kick Xeon butt, but the Xeon are still more expensive. One of the beautiful thing about roll-your-own is that you don't have to wait for a monolitihic corporation to get off it's ass.

What the HELL are you talking about, woodcrest is based on the same core as the core 2 duo (in fact, core 2 is based on woodcrest). If you have been in the IT biz that long, you should brush up on current events

 

[scrubs]

Well, you both know more about computers than me, so I hope that boosts your egos a bit.