|
Avid Pro Audio CommunityHow to Join & Post • Community Terms of Use • Help Us Help YouKnowledge Base Search • Community Search • Learn & Support |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
PC - vs - Mac -- A Breakdown For Everyone
I'm researching as much as I can before deciding which system to buy, PC or Mac. Here's what I've gathered so far from reading these boards, and perusing Pricewatch. Please feel free to add any experience or details I have not found. I'm going to cross post this to the Mac board, as well, so everyone from both sides can share their knowledge.
-PC- Motherboard The BX133-RAID appears to be the best choice among motherboards, as it has the Intel 440BX chipset, supports up to 1GIG of PC133 RAM, and has the ability to hook up two or more ATA/DMA-100 hard drives to its RAID controller, virtually eliminating the need for SCSI and the high price tag associated with it (wow, what a sentence). It is currently $112 on Pricewatch. Processor How much performance is really gained by having 200 more MHz? The price difference between the 1GHz and the 800Mhz is currently $270. Is it worth the extra cost? Pentium III 1GHz - $449 Pentium III 933MHz - $320 Pentium III 866MHz - $227 Pentium III 800MHz - $179 RAM This is a somewhat tricky area, in that the quality of the RAM can make a real difference in system stability. The BX133-RAID supports up to 256MB PC133 RAM in each slot. Here are the lowest prices for good quality PC133 RAM that I could find. 128MB - $97 256MB - $198 Hard Drives ATA/DMA-100 7200RPM Hard Drive costs. -Western Digital WD200BB 20GB - $114 WD400BB 40GB - $158 -Maxtor 52049H3 20GB - $110 54098H6 40GB - $179 Dual Monitor Video Card The Matrox Millenium Dual Head Cards G400 ... 16MB - $74 ... 32MB - $102 G450 ... 16MB - $83 ... 32MB - $146 The G450 has faster DDR RAM, but I doubt it is necessary. Other Stuff Decent case prices vary from $35-$75 CD-RW drives 8W/4RW/32R around $111 Floppy $8 -Total System Costs- BX133-RAID ........ $112 PIII 800MHz ....... $179 256MB PC133 RAM ... $198 WD200BB-Win98SE ... $114 2x WD200BB-Audio .. $228 G400 32MB Card .... $102 CD-RW ............. $111 Case & Floppy ..... $80 ------------------------- Total Cost ........ $1124 Upgrade to 1GHz ... $ 270 to 512MB RAM ..... $ 198 to 2x40GB Audio .. $ 88 to G450 32MB ..... $ 34 ------------------------- Upgraded Cost ..... $1714 So, for a good PC system, you're looking at anywhere from $1100-$1700. Add your keyboard and mouse for around $15-$50. -Macintosh- Your base stripped down G4 system from Apple is configured as follows for $1549: 400 MHz G4 Processor 64 MB RAM 20 GB ATA 5400 RPM DVD-ROM RAGE 128 PRO 16MB Video Card Keyboard and mouse Processor Dual 450MHz - $600 Dual 500MHz - $900 RAM RAM prices from Apple are expensive, for a 256MB base, instead of 64MB, it's $450 more. From Pricewatch I got these much lower prices: 128MB - $99 256MB - $199 512MB - $599 SCSI Controller Looking at the Digi001 compatability pages, I see that the Apple bought SCSI controller isn't supported. There are two supported controllers, one by Atto, one by Adaptec. ATTO Express PCI Dual Ultra Wide - $309 Adaptec HBA 2906 - $40 Something seems strange about the large difference in the prices, so if anyone knows why, please post why. Hard Drives For the OS, you can upgrade to the ATA 30GB 7400 drive from Apple for $150. For the audio drives, the cheapest prices I could find on Pricewatch are as follows (all drives are 10000 RPM U160). WD 18GB - $270 Seagate 18GB - $308 Seagate 36GB - $599 Dual Monitor Video Cards Reading on the Digi001 compatability pages again, I see that the only dual monitor card supported is the Appian Jeronimo 2000 Macintosh, which costs a whopping $715. Other Stuff Imation SuperDisk - $98 Regular Floppy - $8 -Total System Costs- Base 400 G4 system ....... $1549 Add 128MB RAM for 196MB .. $ 99 SCSI Controller .......... $ 40 18GB 10000RPM U160 SCSI .. $ 270 -------------------------------- Total Cost ............... $1958 Upgrade to Dual 450MHz ... $ 600 to 30GB ATA 7400RPM ..... $ 150 to 320MB RAM ............ $ 100 -------------------------------- Level 1 Upgrade Cost ..... $2808 Upgrade to Dual 500MHz ... $ 300 to 576MB RAM ............ $ 400 to 36GB U160 SCSI ....... $ 329 to Dual Monitor Card .... $ 715 -------------------------------- Level 2 Upgrade Cost ..... $4552 Upgraded PC Cost ...... $1714 Comparable Mac* Cost .. $3732 ---------------------------- Difference in price ... $2018 *Comparable Mac is Dual 500MHz with 320MB RAM, 36GB SCSI, Dual Monitor, and keeps the 20GB ATA 5400RPM drive. Zoinks! Note these costs do not include monitors, nor the Digi001 package. So, it's obvious that the PC wins the price game by over $2000. That's quite a bit. What about features and performance? I've read here that the Macintosh has more plug-ins and supports more effects at once, and also that it is more stable than PC (though many PC users say their systems are stable). Also, with the upcoming OS X dual processor support, the Macintosh performance could go up quite a bit. But are the extra plug-ins and possibly more stable performance worth $2000? I'm interested in all comments regarding this subject. Thanks! |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
BLA 's breakdown of the 003! | Yodah | 003, Mbox 2, Digi 002, original Mbox, Digi 001 (Win) | 0 | 03-25-2007 07:44 PM |
Communication Breakdown | xianny | 003, Mbox 2, Digi 002, original Mbox, Digi 001 (Mac) | 2 | 07-21-2006 04:50 PM |
Track Breakdown for Docs | anders | Post - Surround - Video | 11 | 02-23-2005 11:12 PM |
Digi-001 for Dialog Breakdown? | Rumpled Man | 003, Mbox 2, Digi 002, original Mbox, Digi 001 (Win) | 3 | 01-18-2003 04:12 PM |
PC - vs - Mac -- A Breakdown For Everyone | pcvsmac | 003, Mbox 2, Digi 002, original Mbox, Digi 001 (Mac) | 8 | 11-25-2000 06:13 PM |