What type of system do you have?

[MonkeYoakum]

Im contemplating a new computer system to buy after making the decision to get more proffesionaly involved as an artist. I was hoping to get some advice on what type ( I.E. Mac v.s. PC ) and any other advice on how it should be built or what not. So fire away. Maybee a good place to start is what type of system you have. Thanks for the advice.

-Chris

[waronmars]

It's spelt queries. PC vs. Mac seems to be mostly personal preference. I've never really had a Mac so I can't tell you much about them art-wise, but I know alot of the pros here use them. PC's have an advantage (or disadvantage, depending on where you're coming from) of being able to run a whole lot more games than a mac can without emulation. If you are new to computers you are probably better off just buying a system, rather than setting your own up. You can probably get away with a fairly low-end system if all you plan on doing is Photoshop.

A better way to work out what would suit you is to ask you what you need in a system. If you plan on making 3d assets for next gen consoles then you're going to need a different system to say, if you want to play oblivion or battlefield 2 and do some less intense 3d and ps, and a different system again to if all you need is photoshop and internet access. Also your budget will limit what you can get. Just remember, all the super fast computers in the world won't make you a better artist.

And when I say Photoshop I mean and/or Painter...PS is just what I'm used to.

[figure2]

Apparently the new Intel Macs will allow you to switch back & forth between Windows & the Mac OS.

I was reading an article in the business section of my local newspaper which mentioned Apple's new academic iMac targeted towards schools for under $1000. Early on Apple had a large share of the academic market which they lost over time to the more low cost PCs. Several school administrators the article's author polled said they were considering switching back to Macs since the cost of eradicating viruses & spyware had more than offset the savings from the cheaper PCs.

Just something to consider as you make your decision.

[MonkeYoakum]

Lately I have been seeing comercials on tv debating macs vs pc. saying that macs are better for multimedia purposes, what is all that about.

likewise i heard some one say that the difference in a mac and a pc is how they process ram packets or somthing. what do you know about aht>?
that.?

[magicgoo]

Macs used to be better at graphics in the early '90s, but PCs caught up. Now, you can customize a PC to fit your needs precisely, and the cost will be less than a Mac. Macs now run Windows, anyway, so there's even less of a difference between the 2. Only cost.

Macs have the same exact parts as PCs. Neither is better. It's just another concept like Republicans vs. Liberals, Sport Team A vs Sport Team B: People just like to choose sides so they can feel like they're part of some elitist insider group.

I'd recommend going into a PC shop, telling them your goals, and spending no more than $800.00. That will build you a nice system that will run every program you need it to.

[Mirana]

I agree with Magicgoo. Macs used to have a jump on the artistic market, but no more. I will say that cost is not the only difference (though 'goo is right about Macs being wildly more expensive than a PC with the same hardware). Macs are also package deals. If you want to upgrade or replace one part, you're fucked.

[DormantWalker]

Apparently the new Intel Macs will allow you to switch back & forth between Windows & the Mac OS.

Thats only if you have bootcamp and it kicks the shit outta your machine

Mac is still far superior for anything graphics the only kicker is finding software (at times)

And as for pc's even being on the same map (in terms of speed) its not even close!!
http://www.apple.com/powermac/performance/

I personally choose pc's just cuz I'm a gamer too :P
But I work on mac's all day at work and it hurts to say it but there still graphic gods (excluding the new intel duo cores crash all the goddamn time!)

[magicgoo]

I almost forgot:

Your video card choice matters A LOT. Your video card's memory will take all of the weight off of your processor's memory. If you've got an on-board vid card, you're gonna hate it because that will suck up the processor's memory. I would put most of the money into the vid card, which is what I did 6 years ago, and I've never had issues until very recently. If you can make your vid withstand 6 years of graphics and gaming abuse without problems, then that's the sign of a great card.

[Flake]

If you are interested in 3D work, a PC would give you a wider choice of software.

If it's solely 2D that interests you buy either depending on how rich you feel.

[DormantWalker]

If you are interested in 3D work, a PC would give you a wider choice of software.

If it's solely 2D that interests you buy either depending on how rich you feel.

do your research people!!
http://www.pure-mac.com/3d.html

if your doing 3d your using maya (period) (3d studio max is slowly fading)

[Flake]

Checked any jobs listings lately? Max remains huge, especially in the games industry.

Edit: also, keep in mind which company bought Alias quite a few months back and consider also that most of the applications on that list you posted are either obsolete, junk or so obscure that you'll likely never use them in any professional environment.

[DormantWalker]

name 5 big name 3d programs for PC (widely used in the industry) if you wanna talk about junk software there 50 pc 3d apps to every 1 mac 3d app

ever heard of a company called pixar? (owned by steven jobs)

[NoSeRider]

I built my own computer. Over 4 times.

I'm not impressed with this thread......computers turn into crap....eventually.

[Ilaekae]

I use only Macs. The current primary machine is a G5 Quad with two 250gig matching drives and two 20" monitors. I also use a PowerMac 8600 with a ViewSonic monitor jacked up with extra SCSI drives.

I won't get into a Mac vs Win machine argument, but I have no logical or realistic working reason to ever use any Windows OS.

[sweetoblivion314]

the method in which a g5 proccessor works is designed with vector (graphical) computations in mind. PC processors process with pure math (standerd algebra) in mind. The new Apple laptops use PC proccessors so they are for all intensive purposes a pc with Mac OS.

If your geting a desktop and dont want to play video games get a Apple g5.
If your getting a laptop its personal OS preferance.

but the things that will make the most difference are the memory (you want atleast 1gig preferably 2) and the videocard. Like magicgoo said stand alone video cards matter alot. However, card speed doesnt matter for graphics creation, unlike for playing video games. a GeForce 7800 isnt gonna be better then a 6800 cause they are designed to render as fast as possible not with as high quality as possible, same with ATI radeon cards. This actualy makes them suck ass for high poly 3d rendering. If you are doing 3d graphics, look at ATI FireGL or Nvidia Quadro cards, they are designed for that work. If you cant afford the heavy duty professional cards though dont worry about it, any reasonable card with 128 or 256mb of memory will do great.





right now im running a 3.4gig Intel pentium 4. 1gig or ram (upgrading to 2gig when i get some money). Nvidia GeForce 6800gt (i used to be a gamer :) ). I used to software mod my videocard to a Quadro FX when in my 3d graphics class though (basicaly the only difference between the 6800 and quadros where the drivers :) )

good luck.

[jfwalls]

Go with PC. It's cheaper, easier to upgrade, and has more software suppport.

I worked on G5's for a few years, as well as PC's, and I just prefer the availabilty of PC parts and software to that of MAC's.

[Mirana]

I built my own computer. Over 4 times.

Computer hardware isn't rocket science. Anyone can build their own box--which is probably the best bet if you have a little time to learn.

[magicgoo]

Toms Hardware .com (http://www.tomshardware.com) Remember it. Love it.

This is the best UNBIASED comparison of video cards. And, yes I'm about to compare my tiny little system to the G5...

First, I go to apple.com and get the specs for the top of the line G5 starting at $3,299.00:

Two dual-core 2.5GHz PowerPC G5 processors
1.25GHz frontside bus per processor
1MB L2 cache per core
512MB of 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-4200)
250GB Serial ATA hard drive
16x SuperDrive (double-layer) (this is just a DVD burner)
Three open PCI-Express expansion slots
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 with 256MB GDDR SDRAM

Then we take my so-so, middle to bottom of the line PC with a cute "beast" case (as seen here (http://www.bit-tech.net/content_images/cebit_2k4_3/dsc01749.jpg)) that has glowing red eyes and horns (approximately $680.00 + 19" Samsung Monitor $220.00) and get its specs:

1 Athlon 64 3200+ Processor (pretty weak chip, not duelcore just yet)
1 GB IDNA mobo (bleh)
1.0 GB 400MHz DDR
2 Harddrives 160GB 7200 & 120GB 7200
DVD Burner standard 16x
3 PCIE slots
Radeon X850 XT PE 256MB Video Card

Now we compare the video cards at Tom's Hardware here. (http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html?modelx=33&model1=310&model2=294&chart=93)

My vid card is #9 in the top 10 and Mac's is in the bottom 10. This means my computer will smoothly render textures better than the mac, but the mac will kick my ass in processing speed. My GB of memory is better than the mac, and my vid card will allow my PC to free up even more of its memory for other stuff. To upgrade my chip to a dual core, I can spend about $300 and to up my memory to 2 GB, it will be about $100. So $400 more dollars, for a whopping total of approximately $1080.00, and my compy will kick the whiny butt of the top of the line mac. I'll still have a better video card and more harddrive space, too, for less than 1/2 the cost, and I can forever upgrade.

[DSillustration]

i know people with macs that are 15 years old and still work.
personally, ive never seen a pc last that long.

macs are just better engineering, imo.

[Justice Von Brandt]

PC all the way

[jcaffoe]

I love how PC users have to write out all of their specs with bullets and bold type, and mac users can just say

I have a macbook pro.

It owns your face.

I mean really, even THAT is simpler!


(says the kid who can't afford one and has a shuttle instead which he loves)

[DormantWalker]

it's obvious PC's will rule the planet when it comes to gaming.... "duh"...
but......... hmmmmmmm......

I had something good to say....




oh ya!




you have the pleasures of running windows!!!!!! :wink:

PS: at the end of the day who gives a shit which is better? I like em both <3

[waronmars]

This thread is turning into a PC vs. Mac bitchfight. Each platform has it's strengths and weaknesses. GET OVER IT.

[MonkeYoakum]

I was kind of hoping some one could explain the difference in how the two systems operated, but my mind was made up when I heard 3,200 dolars and realized that Im a working student and that is a substancial sum. Plus I know if I spent that much on a PC I would get a really nice one that wouldn't stugle and I could play games on. So I think that PC is the winner, but only by default. If I had the cash Id buy a mac.

[AngryScientist]

Macs are nice and all but really, it's just a question how smart you are when using it, what websites you visit (talking about PC). PCs will always be cheaper because there's more competition. Macs will always have less viruses because they're based on Unix. There pros and cons in both.

So cut the stupid fanboying, guys.

Anyways, if you're a student, I'd go for a PC, it allows you to relax with a game once in a while (for cheaper). Now if you're looking for a laptop I'd wait till the Duo Core 64 bit Intels come out - because they just rock so much..