What Difference Am I Not Seeing Between This Mac Pro and This HP PC?

ClashCorp · Sep 10, 2015

So I know that Macs are more expensive then PC's in general, however I often hear from Mac users that PCs from HP, Dell, and other pre-built manufacturers are just as expensive as Macs. So I was looking for a New PC and found one with these specs on HP.com

4GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 [DL DVI-I, HDMI, DP, DP, DP]
3TB 7200 RPM SATA 6G 3.5 Hard Drive
1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6G 3.5 2nd HDD
1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6G 3.5 Hard Drive
32GB DDR3-1600 DIMM (4x8GB) RAM
HP WLAN 802.11 ac 2x2 Dual Band MCard BT
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit OS
7-in-1 Media Card Reader, 4 USB Ports (Top), Audio [Top 2USB2.0, 2USB3.0]
4th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790K processor quad-core [4.0GHz, 8MB Shared Cache]\
Integrated Sound, Bang & Olufsen Audio

Total Cost: $2,117.99

I can't help but compare this to the Mac Pro with the PC having a 4.0 Ghz processor and total of 5 TB of Space (or 512 GB SSD + 2 TB HDD) along with a whopping 32 GB of RAM. So why is the Mac Pro with somewhat of the same Specs cost around $5,500? Note thats just an estimate based off Apple.com since they done make a Mac Pro with exactly the same Specs.

So what am I missing? Is Apple Valuing their OS and Ease of use at $3,000 or is there some Specific piece of hardware in the Mac I'm not seeing?

ComputerSecurityGuy · Sep 10, 2015

Macs tend to be overpriced, so while a few things on the Mac are better they are the same for most purposes. If you want to put in the effort you can make a Hackintosh with the right components at a lower price point.

itmoba · Sep 10, 2015

I wouldn't call that a fair comparison. Here's why:

(1) Regular consumer-grade RAM and commercial ECC RAM are completely different in terms of cost. ECC RAM is a lot more expensive than its average-joe counterpart. The HP rig lacks ECC RAM. A 32 GB RAM kit as you described costs at most $150, whilst the same with ECC is a good $250 to $325.

(2) The CPUs are from different classes. The HP is equipped with a standard consumer-grade processor, whilst the Mac Pro is equipped with a Xeon server-grade processor. For example, the i7-4790K will set you back a mere $350, whereas the Intel Xeon E5-2643 will put a dent in your wallet, costing $1250.

(3) The graphics cards, likewise, belong to different consumer/commercial classes. The equivalent of a GTX 970 is the Quadro M4000. While the GTX 970 costs about $475, the Quadro M4000 costs a staggering $900 to $1200.

Any questions?

[edit -- update]
(Currency expressed in USD)

computertech82 · Sep 10, 2015

The mac is using PC parts....PERIOD. The only thing that is different is the mother board is missing bios on a apple. (and the os of course). Apple is overpriced aka price gouging it's customers. Don't fall for it.

itmoba · Sep 10, 2015

The OP is comparing between a consumer-grade computer and a workstation-grade computer. If the OP were to compare between the HP and the "best" iMac, then, hardware-component-wise the HP wins. Unfortunately, however, HP manufactured computers are, well, quality lacking. True, whilst a component-basis cost approach to the iMac yields that it is, indeed, overpriced, and that the performance of the fully upgraded iMac is inferior to the HP rig detailed above, the rest of the comments are grayish. One would also have to factor in that the iMac comes with a video monitor, whilst the HP does not (based on what the OP said).

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