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mediahound · Nov 16, 2002, 11:13 AM

A friend of mine always sends me these things because he loves PCs and Bill Gates. What's the best way to respond?

APPLE VS. PC: IS THE DEBATE OVER YET?

The release of PCs based on the 3.06GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor has ignited another round of Macintosh versus PC comparisons, and this time the debate is getting ugly. Sorry, Apple fans, but a Dell PC now significantly outperforms a significantly more expensive Power Mac for image and digital-video editing, long considered the Mac's last bastions. According to the Digital Video Editing Web site, the PC has "slaughtered" the Mac again, with the PC running all the Adobe PhotoShop and Adobe After Effects benchmarks nearly twice as fast as the Mac. So how does the PC do it? Well, the humongous megahertz gap helps (3.06GHz versus the fastest Mac, a 1.25GHz dual-processor machine), as does Intel's Hyper-Threading Technology, which lets a single-processor machine behave like a dual-processor box. But the PC also offers PC1066 RDRAM and a 512MHz front-end bus, making the Mac look old-school. In conclusion, the site says, time is money. "If you have an After Effects composite that needs, say, 2 hours to render on the Mac, it'll take you about an hour and 10 minutes on this PC," the review reads.

http://www.digitalvideoediting.com/2...macvspciii.htm

Un-Inferior · Nov 16, 2002, 11:23 AM

'damn those things are fast!'

idyll · Nov 16, 2002, 11:36 AM

Sad.. sad to hear.

SMacTech · Nov 16, 2002, 11:49 AM

I would tell him to go buy one. However, it proves the mhz myth was true, as it takes a P4 running almost 3 times as fast to sometimes only produce less than a 50% improvement over a G4. But now that they are this fast, it doesn't really matter about the myth. Until we get something in the ~1.8ghz range and a substantial boost in the FSB speeds, we are stuck running our slower Macs. My dual867 is still fast, to me

robby818 · Nov 16, 2002, 12:37 PM

And they are quieter too! Dells are already pretty quiet to begin with so I wonder what Dell did to make it even quieter. Do you think Apple can still demonstrate favorable comparison tests at Macworld?

CheesePuff · Nov 16, 2002, 01:11 PM

Originally posted by robby818:
And they are quieter too! Dells are already pretty quiet to begin with so I wonder what Dell did to make it even quieter. Do you think Apple can still demonstrate favorable comparison tests at Macworld?

My friend just got a new 8200 Tower from Dell (their highest end) and he keeps it right on his desk and its whisper quiet!

Un-Inferior · Nov 16, 2002, 01:18 PM

looking at those benchmarks, it seemed to put the 1.25dp in between the two 2.53 p4's benched. i wouldn't consider that a slow computer. i would consider the premium worth it for those who want to use os x. i'm going for a dual 867 this month and i'm not complaining.

however, i can look forward to upgrading my pc next summer or so with a hyperthreading p4.

Scotttheking · Nov 16, 2002, 03:55 PM

Off to the lounge.
Same reason as every other Pentium thread posted in this forum.

Zimphire · Nov 16, 2002, 04:51 PM

Originally posted by Un-Inferior:
looking at those benchmarks, it seemed to put the 1.25dp in between the two 2.53 p4's benched. i wouldn't consider that a slow computer. i would consider the premium worth it for those who want to use os x. i'm going for a dual 867 this month and i'm not complaining.

however, i can look forward to upgrading my pc next summer or so with a hyperthreading p4.

BUT YOUR COMPUTER WILL RUN .3456 of a second slower!!!!! That is so last year!

fat mac moron · Nov 16, 2002, 05:15 PM

I still think the sad part about the Wintel situation is the "if I had a quarter for every time I opened the PC case, I'd be a rich man" syndrome.

Or formatting the hard drive every 6 months.

el lindo · Nov 16, 2002, 05:37 PM

I agree. Regardless of processer speed, it's still a PC, and for my money, is still far inferior to the Mac.

Jansar · Nov 16, 2002, 06:57 PM

That is so lame! I would have heard about it from a reliable source if this story really was true.

Nimisys · Nov 16, 2002, 07:31 PM

Originally posted by fat mac moron:
I still think the sad part about the Wintel situation is the "if I had a quarter for every time I opened the PC case, I'd be a rich man" syndrome.

Or formatting the hard drive every 6 months.

if either of fhtose were the case i would be a very poor son of a bitch. i only format when i choose to, which is about once a year to clean out the **** that got loaded on during the year. that and very rarely does hardware just up and die in PC's. that seems to be limited to iFruit logic boards

olePigeon · Nov 16, 2002, 07:48 PM

Originally posted by Nimisys:
if either of fhtose were the case i would be a very poor son of a bitch. i only format when i choose to, which is about once a year to clean out the **** that got loaded on during the year. that and very rarely does hardware just up and die in PC's. that seems to be limited to iFruit logic boards

Heh, maybe in your little world.

6 of my friends with PCs do nothing but talk about how "this broke" or "that broke" or "I need to hit the store to pick up a new <insert component here>"

I won't argue that Macs don't have their problems, but with over 3 years field work as a Computer Support Specialist I will tell you PCs have some sort of component that fails on average 3 times more than a Macintosh.... with the exception of the Performa 6x00 series computers. I HATE THOSE! They're quite possibly the worst computer ever. No, I take that back. Acer AND the 6x00 are the worst computers ever. I hate Acer too.

MindFad · Nov 16, 2002, 07:57 PM

Almost all of my friends have had troubles with their PCs. Not that Macs don't have problems, but a lot of my friends have had them. Probably just their bad luck, of course, but damn. And I am enjoying my dual-800 still, thank you. Can I have a dual-PPC 970, please? Thank you, Santa (next year's Santa).

PPC 970: Better to bring you icons with.

Spliffdaddy · Nov 16, 2002, 08:12 PM

Originally posted by Scotttheking:
Off to the lounge.
Same reason as every other Pentium thread posted in this forum.

No.

Like every other Pentium vs. G4 Power Mac thread - even though it's perfectly suited for the Power Mac forum...

Drizzt · Nov 16, 2002, 08:14 PM

Or is it that fast?

According to this benchmark on the same web site.. Photoshop 7 and After Effects doesn't efficiently use the 2 processors on MacOS X.

So.. if the machine is less than twice faster than the Dual-G4, in reality it's slower

fat mac moron · Nov 16, 2002, 08:59 PM

Originally posted by Spliffdaddy:

No.

Like every other Pentium vs. G4 Power Mac thread - even though it's perfectly suited for the Power Mac forum...

Just throw a little copper at it...

Un-Inferior · Nov 17, 2002, 01:05 PM

Originally posted by fat mac moron:
I still think the sad part about the Wintel situation is the "if I had a quarter for every time I opened the PC case, I'd be a rich man" syndrome.

Or formatting the hard drive every 6 months.

if you don't install any 3rd party apps in those 6 months, you won't need to reformat. i reinstall windows every year because i'm always installing and uninstalling a lot of 3rd party crap.