Which one would you go for?

i have a dell dimension 8200 with 2.0ghz and 1g of ram and a 64mb of video memory (yeah i know) so i finally decided to get a new desktop computer and i wanna go high end i have two desktops that i got my eyes on option #1:

Dell XPS 710 H2O

Intel® Core™2 Extreme X6800 (4MB,3.46GHz Factory overclocked)

Dual 768MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX

1.5tb HD

4gb of ram

Xfi Sound Blaster

24" LCD

Price tag of $6800

Or

option #2 (i always wanted to switch to mac so i'm just wondering if it's the right time lol)

Mac Pro

Two 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon

4gb of ram

1.5tb HD (2*750 GB)

NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512MB

price tag of $8500 (no LCD)

Option #3

wait for a vista installed dell

i got a good deal on the dell yet it still comes with windows xp MCE instead of vista

mac pro with no lcd

so what do you guys think ?

#452828

being a Mac fan, I would say go for the mac pro if you have the cash and a decent monitor, it'll allow you run both OSX and Vista (if you ever want to do so) legally. You could obviously get Hackintosh installed on the XPS but then again, the process of installing Hackintosh is just a pain in the arse (I've tried myself on my Dell laptop and eventually given up). It's all down to how much you're willing to pay anyway...

#452833

It all really depends on your application, and how desperately you need or want to upgrade.

They are both beasts.

The thing you need to consider about the mac is, if you have never aquainted yourself with Mac OS before... its a hell of a lot of money to buy something you may not like.

Having said that When Leopard 10.5 is released Boot Camp should be able to handle Vista nicely allowing you the best of both worlds enabling you to boot in either system.

I do know for a Fact that Windows flys on the Mac Pros however Vista and Boot Camp are a problematic marriage at the moment one of the reasons I believe Leopard has been delayed.

Other options include Parrallels which would give you live switching between OSX and Windows once again I am uncertain as to the competence of Vista and this just yet.

Back to my opening line though, the specs are really very high so it would beg the question do you really require such hardware and to what purpose if you do.

#452834

Vista is officially supported by Bootcamp since 1.2

I have Vista ultimate installed on my Mac, everything works, including bluetooth, apple remote and isight

#452837

There is nothing official about Boot Camp yet.. Its still BETA. (supports 32-Bit Vista)

I didn't say that VISTA wasn't supported I just said its somewhat Problematic, hell its problematic on some PCs.

I was simply making the point I wouldn't recommend spending $8000 on a computer to rely on doing something with a particular piece of software that is still in BETA form and to have known issues.

#452839

Be smart and wait option #3 (wait for a vista installed) .

#452856

Dell doesn't offer free upgrades with XP purchases? Wow thats lame I thought they had a deal with that stuff, Microsoft had mentioned that if you buy a computer with XP bundled in with it between January and June you get a free Vista upgrade, in MCE 2005's case that would be Home Premium I believe.

#452858

Personally I have always wanted to switch to a mac so I would go with the Mac Pro.

#452866

I'm going to follow what everybody else said, and say "Go Mac"! If you've been waiting for a while to switch, I'd do it now, while you have the chance.

I believe Apple offers refunds if you don't like it.

#452904

ur old computer sounds like mine exactly

But I think it depends.... do you want to run OSX? and/or do you want the freedom to run ALL OSes using bootcamp (which might I add is the best/most stylish bootloader out there)?

Even if you get the dell you will be able to upgrade to Vista, strange that it comes with media center tho.

the XPS has the better graphics cards by the sounds of it, yet the Mac Pro has the CPU brains.

So I take it your wanting a pure gaming rig?

if so go for the XPS... but if you want just a blazing fast desktop for umm photoshop or whatever the Mac Pro would be better because of its CPUS.

That said either would be more than wicked for both purposes...

#452906

If you're a mac fan go with Mac Pro... If you want a cheaper fast computer go with the XPS and you can at least emulate os x if you don't have $10,000

#452910

go with a Mac. this way, all your PC stuff would work too, as oppose to vise versa where, of course, Mac stuff isnt supported.

But, im a fanboi, so....what the hell

#452943