New Apples Versus Comparable Dell
Apple's announcement this morning, of new dual-processor, DDR memory (double data rate -- super efficient memory), gigabit-Ethernet PowerMacs made me ask: what does it really cost now to buy a fully equipped Mac server with this new architecture versus Dell, one of the cheapest and best Wintel providers. The answer honestly surprised me.
I choose comparable equipment, with the primary exception being processor: I chose the slowest Intel available in this workstation configuration versus the slowest Mac processors because Apple's Photoshop and rendering benchmarks show a pretty high advantage (better than 2:1) for PowerPC chips by megahertz over Windows. Removing an Intel processor cuts the price by $400. Add to that the faster DDR RAM, and it's works out to a wash or better.
Feedback is welcome on whether this is a fair comparison.
|
Price with these options |
$2900 (includes $100 mail-in rebate, but excludes $250 small business purchase discount which you must qualify for) |
$2127 |
|
Processors |
2 Intel® Xeon™ Processors, 1.80GHz, 512K Cache per processor |
Power Mac G4 Dual 867 MHz w/133 MHz system bus: 256K Level 2 Cache, 1MB DDR SRAM Level cache per processor |
|
Memory |
256MB PC800 ECC RDRAM® (2 RIMMS™) |
256 Mb PC2100 DDR SDRAM |
|
Keyboard |
Entry Level Quietkey Keyboard, PS/2, (No Hot Keys) |
Apple Pro Keyboard |
|
Graphics Card |
nVIDIA,Quadro2 EX,32MB,VGA |
NVIDIA GeForce4 MX dual-display w/32MB DDR (ADC and DVI connectors; DVI to VGA adapter included; dual display support for mirror, extended desktop) |
|
1st Hard Drive |
80GB ATA-100 IDE (7200 rpm) |
80GB Ultra ATA drive |
|
Floppy Drive |
3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Drive |
None |
|
Operating System |
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional |
Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar), OS 9.2 |
|
Mouse |
Dell, PS/2 (2-button, no scroll) |
Standard optical mouse |
|
Additional Network Card |
Intel PRO/1000 XT, Gigabit PCI NIC |
Built-in gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000) |
|
Modem |
V.90 PCI Data/Fax Controllerless Modem |
56K internal modem (V.92) |
|
CD ROM, DVD, and Read-Write Drives |
16X, DVD-ROM and 24X CDRW with Decode Solution |
8x DVD-ROM/16x CD-R/10x CD-RW/32x CD-ROM (Combo Drive) |
|
Sound card |
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! Value |
Front headphone minijack and speaker, rear Apple speaker minijack, audio line in, audio line out |
|
Hardware Support Services |
Promo! 3Yr Same Day 4Hr Response Parts + Onsite Labor (M-F 8am-6pm) and Gold Technical Support by phone (no details as to limits) |
3-year AppleCare warranty (carry-in, onsite w/in 50 of service center, prepaid express mail in) which includes both hardware and unlimited phone support for software and hardware |
|
Extras |
Two FireWire ports |