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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

A little fun at Newegg... (Apple vs. PC $)

I added two edits to the first post (in color) just so we don't get too may people saying the same thing.

Gavin Greenwalt said:
I'm saving up my hardware money for a Caustic raytracing card next year.
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"Conventional graphics chips use a technique called rasterization to model 3D graphics, which tells the chip to draw a polygon at a given space, and apply a texture and filtering to it. Raytracing, as the name suggests, tries a different approach: actually trying to model each photon or a collection of photons as they bounce off objects." - from PCmag.com (link)

Whoa, that sounds heavy...
 
Seems that both single i7 CPU mobo, and the MacPro are priced high. A 2-3 months wait will save a $ or two. Here in Sweden the price of building a dual xenon PC (old xenon) and getting a new mac dual i7 is almost same!!

A $4500 old-Xenon 8 core PC have almost same spec as a $5000 8 core i7 MacPro.
 
JanneJansson said:
Seems that both single i7 CPU mobo, and the MacPro are priced high. A 2-3 months wait will save a $ or two. Here in Sweden the price of building a dual xenon PC (old xenon) and getting a new mac dual i7 is almost same!!

A $4500 old-Xenon 8 core PC have almost same spec as a $5000 8 core i7 MacPro.
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Not sure about the market in Sweden, but price drops are coming. We should see a major price drop from Intel in about a month.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-cpu-i7-core-prices,7326.html

goffb said:
Apparently it's possible to get osx to run on newer pc's - anyone done this - does it realy work?
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The term you're looking for is probably "hackintosh." Yes, it's possible, but you have to pick from a limited selection of components which are compatible with Apple's drivers and such. Also, check out Psystar, which builds OSX machines (relatively cheaply) and is currently engaged in a legal dispute with Apple.

Roberto: Forgot to mention that the current Nehalem Xeons (Gainestown) have two quick path interfaces (QPI). That's the only physical difference they have between the Core i7 CPUs (Bloomfield) and they should also use significantly less power.
 
Also, if Caustic's card actually delivers, it's going to be HUGE for the 3D world. It's no wonder they're calling it the CausticOne, is it? If Caustic delivers on its promises, they could change the world of 3D content creation just as dramatically as RED is planning to mix-up the camera market.

Granted, I can barely deform a sphere in Maya, but it's still pretty exciting.
 
Eric Strunz said:
Roberto: Forgot to mention that the current Nehalem Xeons (Gainestown) have two quick path interfaces (QPI). That's the only physical difference they have between the Core i7 CPUs (Bloomfield) and they should also use significantly less power.
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And less power means more power. :D

Theoretically speaking Xeons should OC more than i7's... that is why it is gonna be so freaggin' awesome if they let us OC them. But I am trying not to get my hopes up.
 
So building an i7 8 core would cost just the same as buying one from Apple?
 
facetmedia said:
So building an i7 8 core would cost just the same as buying one from Apple?
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We won't know for sure about the 8-core configurations until Apple's exclusivity expires and the microarchitecture is opened up for the rest of the market. However, I and other enthusiasts think a similarly configured non-Apple system would probably run about $1000 cheaper.

If you compare a 4-core set-up, we can compare a little more effectively right now. Apple is using Gainestown (aka Xeon) processors, whereas the only Nehalem chips available for consumers currently are Bloomfield (aka Core i7). For the $2300 Mac Pro, a Bloomfield equivalent would cost ~$850, maybe $950 if you factor in ECC memory. This price difference doesn't factor in the fact that the Mac Pro is probably using a server-class Xeon board, but the performance would be similar (without overclocking).

But like I've said, Apple opens up certain workflows which, for a lot of people, definitely justify a price premium. Personally, I prefer non-Apple systems not so much for the price (which helps), but because I have more freedom in hardware configurations with PCs, especially with video card support. But, I also edit in FCP a lot and am really looking forward to a potential FCS 3 and improvements with Snow Leopard.

Eric
 
USlatin said:
No, not yet, but there is no freaking way that there won't be a dual Xeon 5500 board. Also, they will likely take more memory. If so then Apple's ONLY hardware advantages vanish into the wind. Or do you think they are going to renew their exclusivity contract? Something tells me they'd have to sell their own stock to afford that.

You don't seem to understand how DDR3 works. What matters is that you have the same modules in sets of three, not that the capacity of each be a multiple of 3.

But thank you for pointing out the fact that I left out the actual cost of the six 2GB DDR3 third party Apple RAM... I figured there would be something I'd forget to include on that long ass rant.

However, that only makes the tables shift more in the same direction.

I guess I'll have to find something else to buy for the PC side... maybe a better VFX card... or TWO. I believe the Motherboard that I have in mind will have no issues with two massive Nvidias in SLI plus a Kona :-)

I'll update the post if you get me a link.
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I understand that... I just didn't noticed the number of sticks in the parenthesis.

:cute:

Link for what?
 
5. run a 24hs test
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In my experience, that is not enough. My old computer can be overclocked in a way that it will just randomly reboot. If you don't overclock it as much, it will reboot every week or month or so.

Anyways, in the end, I don't think it really matters.
 
USlatin said:
Oh! Please explain to me what this means. Do you mean that the grading would be handled by the CPU?
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What I was talking about opening up the graphics subsytem is the allowing of video card manufacturers to supply their own driver sets and hardware. No more complaining about the paltry graphics card selection from Apple. You want the latest GeForce card? No problem, install it and nVidia's drivers and away you go. This would be the best thing Apple could do for the Mac pro right now.

As for the Caustic card... It's something to watch, but this has been done before. I'm normally an optimistic guy, but for this product I fully expect history to repeat itself and once again by the time it comes to fruition the cost compared to actual performance gain will offer little incentive to most potential customers. I guess I don't have very high hopes when the bulk of the 3D software industry is now under one roof, all the major 3D apps have become bloated whale-ware. They only take small incremental steps to update and optimize their render pipelines, what makes us think they're going to suddenly incorporate drivers, and support for some new processor card? The actual modeling / creation apps are still stuck in the days of single-threaded, mono-tasking glory. We can't even get XSI, Maya, etc.. to make decent use of current GPU offerings. And we're going to get excited over a proprietary accelerator card? Whatever, I'll believe it when I see it. It's nice to see at least Luxology and NewTek are trying to progress their software more now that XSI, MAX and MAYA are all under the Autodesk label. But so far NewTek's core looks more like wispy vapor and a nice concept with little substance. Modo 401 is going to rock. But won't become a big player until they unleash full animation abilities... Modo 5, maybe?
 
GlennChan said:
In my experience, that is not enough. My old computer can be overclocked in a way that it will just randomly reboot. If you don't overclock it as much, it will reboot every week or month or so.

Anyways, in the end, I don't think it really matters.
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Don't push it so hard then. Every computer component has a threshold. What you have to do is find it, then set them at a safe distance from it. If you are having random reboots you still don't have a safe system. Perhaps your stress tests weren't the correct ones for your configuration. Either way you are not done overclocking until you are stable. It depends on the overclocker how long that will take. Using popular chips like an i7 make it easier because everyone and their mother has one running on just about every board. That allows you to look at data. Good luck with it hope you are able to figure it out.

Jeff Kilgroe said:
What I was talking about opening up the graphics subsytem is the allowing of video card manufacturers to supply their own driver sets and hardware. No more complaining about the paltry graphics card selection from Apple. You want the latest GeForce card? No problem, install it and nVidia's drivers and away you go. This would be the best thing Apple could do for the Mac pro right now.
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Hehe... I am living in the future, lol. Ok, back to the present, that is great... I hope so! That would alleviate some of the R&D cash demands on Apple and hopefully bring it back to the table in terms of graphics. A little of the gaming crowd wouldn't help their numbers.
 
Here is a configuration I was quoted from Boxx Labs for a dedicated CS4/Scarlet workstation.
Intel i7 Quad Core Enhanced Performance Processor (4.0 Ghz)
6GB DDR3 1333 (3 DIMMS)
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1700 512MB
Highpoint Rocket Raid 4320
Firewire Card 800 3 Port PCI-E
RAID 1 Configuration
RAID 5 Configuration (Add In Card Used)
USB External Floppy Drive
3 x 250GB 7,200rpm SATA
3 x 500GB 7,200rpm SATA
20X Dual Layer DVD–RW Writer
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Edition 64-Bit
USB Keyboard
Logitech MX 400 Corded Mouse

$6618.00
 
The new four core should perform about on par with the old 8 core. Nothing wrong with the old 8, especially at a good price.
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
What I was talking about opening up the graphics subsytem is the allowing of video card manufacturers to supply their own driver sets and hardware. No more complaining about the paltry graphics card selection from Apple. You want the latest GeForce card? No problem, install it and nVidia's drivers and away you go. This would be the best thing Apple could do for the Mac pro right now.
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Here here...

...plus allowing Crossfire/SLI. :-)
 
omen said:
Here here...

...plus allowing Crossfire/SLI. :-)
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Yes, that too! But this is Apple... baby steps... I'd be happy if they would give us one more PCIe slot in the damn system!
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
Yes, that too! But this is Apple... baby steps... I'd be happy if they would give us one more PCIe slot in the damn system!
Click to expand...

Preferably x16. :-)
 
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