Comments on: Mac Pro vs Dell Precision http://soapboxrants.net/2008/05/07/mac-pro-vs-dell-precision/ Speaking on all things. Sat, 29 Jan 2011 09:51:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: fieryhail http://soapboxrants.net/2008/05/07/mac-pro-vs-dell-precision/comment-page-1/#comment-1567 fieryhail Sat, 29 Jan 2011 09:51:00 +0000 http://soapboxrants.net/?p=167#comment-1567 PS, Apple will also work with you on the price point, especially for the Mac Pro customers. They don't budge much on their consumer models, but the Mac Pro they WILL work with you. PS, Apple will also work with you on the price point, especially for the Mac Pro customers. They don’t budge much on their consumer models, but the Mac Pro they WILL work with you.

]]> By: fieryhail http://soapboxrants.net/2008/05/07/mac-pro-vs-dell-precision/comment-page-1/#comment-1566 fieryhail Sat, 29 Jan 2011 09:49:00 +0000 http://soapboxrants.net/?p=167#comment-1566 I own a Mac Pro 2,1 (2x 3GHz) and am extremely pleased. I have used Precision machines before, and they do not seem to have the same performance. The only thing I can think of is the OS, OS X 10.6.x is rock-solid, and on equivalent hardware, faster than Win 7 x64. The downside is that with my model, I have the EFI32 not the EFI64. Which means that I can not boot a ntive 64-bit Snow Leopard kernel, however, I have no difficulty running 64-bit apps. When 32GB RAM becomes a limiting factor, I will either look at upgrading my MacPro to 64GB (unsupported by Apple of course) or looking into the 12-core MacPro which handles 64GB nicely and SHOULD handle ever more. HP's, I find to be overpriced for what you get, no arguments there. Very informative writeup, and non-biased which OI also like. I own a Mac Pro 2,1 (2x 3GHz) and am extremely pleased. I have used Precision machines before, and they do not seem to have the same performance. The only thing I can think of is the OS, OS X 10.6.x is rock-solid, and on equivalent hardware, faster than Win 7 x64. The downside is that with my model, I have the EFI32 not the EFI64. Which means that I can not boot a ntive 64-bit Snow Leopard kernel, however, I have no difficulty running 64-bit apps. When 32GB RAM becomes a limiting factor, I will either look at upgrading my MacPro to 64GB (unsupported by Apple of course) or looking into the 12-core MacPro which handles 64GB nicely and SHOULD handle ever more. HP’s, I find to be overpriced for what you get, no arguments there. Very informative writeup, and non-biased which OI also like.

]]> By: Michael http://soapboxrants.net/2008/05/07/mac-pro-vs-dell-precision/comment-page-1/#comment-1540 Michael Thu, 02 Dec 2010 14:32:00 +0000 http://soapboxrants.net/?p=167#comment-1540 The problem with that is there is no way to quantify the amount of discount. It really depends on the deals available, the rep you get, quantity ordered, and many other factors. I felt the best way to do a comparison would be to work strictly off list prices from their sites. I do think, though, now that you have mentioned it that I should have put a "YMMV" disclaimer for discounts/sales/etc. It's also time I do a new set of comparisons. The problem with that is there is no way to quantify the amount of discount. It really depends on the deals available, the rep you get, quantity ordered, and many other factors. I felt the best way to do a comparison would be to work strictly off list prices from their sites. I do think, though, now that you have mentioned it that I should have put a “YMMV” disclaimer for discounts/sales/etc. It’s also time I do a new set of comparisons.

]]> By: Tex http://soapboxrants.net/2008/05/07/mac-pro-vs-dell-precision/comment-page-1/#comment-1539 Tex Thu, 02 Dec 2010 02:54:00 +0000 http://soapboxrants.net/?p=167#comment-1539 Um you guys are leaving out the important part on the price/purchase system. On the dell you can call a rep and have the price slashed by a much bigger factor. The dell will ALWAYS ALWAYS be cheaper. Systemshootouts.org was always off, this comparison is much more fair. Just missing the part where anyone buying a precision or server calls a rep and gets a deal. Um you guys are leaving out the important part on the price/purchase system. On the dell you can call a rep and have the price slashed by a much bigger factor. The dell will ALWAYS ALWAYS be cheaper. Systemshootouts.org was always off, this comparison is much more fair. Just missing the part where anyone buying a precision or server calls a rep and gets a deal.

]]> By: Michael http://soapboxrants.net/2008/05/07/mac-pro-vs-dell-precision/comment-page-1/#comment-1443 Michael Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:59:32 +0000 http://soapboxrants.net/?p=167#comment-1443 Now that I have done a new comparison, change the video card on both systems above to the 1.5GB nVidia Quadro-FX 5600 and both systems have three 500GB hard drives. Now change the totals as follows:<br><br>Mac Pro - $6348.00<br>Dell Precision T5400 - $7475.00<br><br>I'd like to know the exact hardware specs you used to get such disparate numbers between the Dell and the Mac. Anyone can just throw some random options together and call out the totals to skew the results any way they wanted, that is why I give a listing of which options I chose...to show I'm getting the systems built as close to identical as possible. Now that I have done a new comparison, change the video card on both systems above to the 1.5GB nVidia Quadro-FX 5600 and both systems have three 500GB hard drives. Now change the totals as follows:

Mac Pro – $6348.00
Dell Precision T5400 – $7475.00

I'd like to know the exact hardware specs you used to get such disparate numbers between the Dell and the Mac. Anyone can just throw some random options together and call out the totals to skew the results any way they wanted, that is why I give a listing of which options I chose…to show I'm getting the systems built as close to identical as possible.

]]> By: Michael http://soapboxrants.net/2008/05/07/mac-pro-vs-dell-precision/comment-page-1/#comment-1444 Michael Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:40:11 +0000 http://soapboxrants.net/?p=167#comment-1444 I'd like to point out you built a system that has a single Core2 processor, not a system using dual Xeon processors. So yes, you built a far cheaper system. It is also nowhere near the specs of the Mac Pro I used in my comparison. You will need to go at least to the T5400 line to have dusl Xeon processors for a more accurate comparison.<br><br>FYI - the Harpertown CPU that is standard on the Mac Pro is the E5440, so make sure you configure your Dell correctly. I hit over $4,000 before I got past the memory options on the Dell where the Mac Pro was still at $2999...and that was today. As for software, I haven't found much that is PC only these days in the realms of software that I could conceivably use. However, after saving over $1,100 by getting the Mac Pro, I think I could afford a copy of Windows and VMWare Fusion and still put money in my pocket. I'd like to point out you built a system that has a single Core2 processor, not a system using dual Xeon processors. So yes, you built a far cheaper system. It is also nowhere near the specs of the Mac Pro I used in my comparison. You will need to go at least to the T5400 line to have dusl Xeon processors for a more accurate comparison.

FYI – the Harpertown CPU that is standard on the Mac Pro is the E5440, so make sure you configure your Dell correctly. I hit over $4,000 before I got past the memory options on the Dell where the Mac Pro was still at $2999…and that was today. As for software, I haven't found much that is PC only these days in the realms of software that I could conceivably use. However, after saving over $1,100 by getting the Mac Pro, I think I could afford a copy of Windows and VMWare Fusion and still put money in my pocket.

]]> By: Loraine http://soapboxrants.net/2008/05/07/mac-pro-vs-dell-precision/comment-page-1/#comment-1442 Loraine Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:41:27 +0000 http://soapboxrants.net/?p=167#comment-1442 really well i just did a compare myself to see if it was right with a dell precision T3400 that came up to 2,325 and the mac pro that came up to 4, 717.31. Now the Dell system had more features than the mac pro and hardware also. it runs more and so i have to argue with your comparison. If your going for high tech i would definatley choose the Dell, because your gonna like put software unto the pc and there are lots of software to go with the dell while at moment there arent as much options with the mac.... really well i just did a compare myself to see if it was right with a dell precision T3400 that came up to 2,325 and the mac pro that came up to 4, 717.31. Now the Dell system had more features than the mac pro and hardware also. it runs more and so i have to argue with your comparison. If your going for high tech i would definatley choose the Dell, because your gonna like put software unto the pc and there are lots of software to go with the dell while at moment there arent as much options with the mac….

]]> By: Michael http://soapboxrants.net/2008/05/07/mac-pro-vs-dell-precision/comment-page-1/#comment-816 Michael Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:59:32 +0000 http://soapboxrants.net/?p=167#comment-816 Now that I have done a new comparison, change the video card on both systems above to the 1.5GB nVidia Quadro-FX 5600 and both systems have three 500GB hard drives. Now change the totals as follows:<br><br>Mac Pro - $6348.00<br>Dell Precision T5400 - $7475.00<br><br>I'd like to know the exact hardware specs you used to get such disparate numbers between the Dell and the Mac. Anyone can just throw some random options together and call out the totals to skew the results any way they wanted, that is why I give a listing of which options I chose...to show I'm getting the systems built as close to identical as possible. Now that I have done a new comparison, change the video card on both systems above to the 1.5GB nVidia Quadro-FX 5600 and both systems have three 500GB hard drives. Now change the totals as follows:

Mac Pro – $6348.00
Dell Precision T5400 – $7475.00

I'd like to know the exact hardware specs you used to get such disparate numbers between the Dell and the Mac. Anyone can just throw some random options together and call out the totals to skew the results any way they wanted, that is why I give a listing of which options I chose…to show I'm getting the systems built as close to identical as possible.

]]> By: Michael http://soapboxrants.net/2008/05/07/mac-pro-vs-dell-precision/comment-page-1/#comment-815 Michael Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:40:11 +0000 http://soapboxrants.net/?p=167#comment-815 I'd like to point out you built a system that has a single Core2 processor, not a system using dual Xeon processors. So yes, you built a far cheaper system. It is also nowhere near the specs of the Mac Pro I used in my comparison. You will need to go at least to the T5400 line to have dusl Xeon processors for a more accurate comparison.<br><br>FYI - the Harpertown CPU that is standard on the Mac Pro is the E5440, so make sure you configure your Dell correctly. I hit over $4,000 before I got past the memory options on the Dell where the Mac Pro was still at $2999...and that was today. As for software, I haven't found much that is PC only these days in the realms of software that I could conceivably use. However, after saving over $2k by getting the Mac Pro, I think I could afford a copy of Windows and VMWare Fusion and still put money in my pocket. I'd like to point out you built a system that has a single Core2 processor, not a system using dual Xeon processors. So yes, you built a far cheaper system. It is also nowhere near the specs of the Mac Pro I used in my comparison. You will need to go at least to the T5400 line to have dusl Xeon processors for a more accurate comparison.

FYI – the Harpertown CPU that is standard on the Mac Pro is the E5440, so make sure you configure your Dell correctly. I hit over $4,000 before I got past the memory options on the Dell where the Mac Pro was still at $2999…and that was today. As for software, I haven't found much that is PC only these days in the realms of software that I could conceivably use. However, after saving over $2k by getting the Mac Pro, I think I could afford a copy of Windows and VMWare Fusion and still put money in my pocket.

]]> By: Loraine http://soapboxrants.net/2008/05/07/mac-pro-vs-dell-precision/comment-page-1/#comment-814 Loraine Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:41:27 +0000 http://soapboxrants.net/?p=167#comment-814 really well i just did a compare myself to see if it was right with a dell precision T3400 that came up to 2,325 and the mac pro that came up to 4, 717.31. Now the Dell system had more features than the mac pro and hardware also. it runs more and so i have to argue with your comparison. If your going for high tech i would definatley choose the Dell, because your gonna like put software unto the pc and there are lots of software to go with the dell while at moment there arent as much options with the mac.... really well i just did a compare myself to see if it was right with a dell precision T3400 that came up to 2,325 and the mac pro that came up to 4, 717.31. Now the Dell system had more features than the mac pro and hardware also. it runs more and so i have to argue with your comparison. If your going for high tech i would definatley choose the Dell, because your gonna like put software unto the pc and there are lots of software to go with the dell while at moment there arent as much options with the mac….

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