HELP!! (MAC vs PC) Photo/Video Editing and Rendering + Gaming

zeshan105

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Hello...

I am planning to purchase a new computer. Main use of my computer would be photo/HD-video editing rendering and light gaming. I know for gaming there can be nothing better than PC and for photo/video editing etc Mac is better. Now I am stuck between these two systems. The price and specs are as follows:-

Apple Store...
Imac 27
2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
16GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x4GB
1TB Serial ATA Drive
8x double-layer SuperDrive
ATI Radeon HD 5750 1GB GDDR5 SDRAM
For 3199 - 220 (student discount) + Tax = $3247


Core i7 950 3.06GHZ Processor $249 (Micro Center)
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 1600 24GB $600 (Newegg)
ASUS Rampage III Formula LGA 1366 Motherboard SATA6.0/USB3.0 $290 (Newegg)
Antec Nine Hundred Two Computer Case $110 (Newegg)
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5870 1GB Video Card $340 (Newegg)
Second SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5870 1GB Video Card $340 (Newegg)
Crucial 64GB SATA III Solid State Drive $155 (Newegg)
Western Digital 1TB 7200 RPMSATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive $90 (Newegg)

Total $2174

As you can see the PC is much cheaper than the Mac. I do know that the PC doesn’t come with monitor and the sexy looks but that’s not my concern. What I want to know is would the PC be equal to iMac, in photo/video editing and rendering, with all these extra power i am throwing in ?
Or if you can suggest any third way?
Any suggestions would be helpful.
 
Solution
-_- if you can afford that Mac, why don't you just get it. Macs own at video editing, I've used them and they are a beast at vid editing. Final Cut Pro cuts down Adobe Premiere and Sony Vegas easily.

Now if you don't account for video editing. Then the PC is the better deal, it'll run Photoshop and stuff like that fine, some cases perhaps better than the Mac. However, Did you just find the most expensive product for each thing and think that it was the best thing for you to build?

You picked a pretty crappy SSD compared to others of the same size, (IE Vertex 2's or S599) That HDD is just not justifiable at its price, at that price you could afford 2 Samsung F3 500gb and put them in Raid 0 or Raid 1 For that matter they have the same...

ohiou_grad_06

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This is coming from a guy who was Mac certified up until earlier in the year. I don't go for the mac. Don't get the iMac. They are overpriced and also they are expensive to repair if it breaks down. I also think with your extra video horsepower, you are going to be fine. They are essentially the same parts. Only difference is the OS. You might essentially get the same effect of the mac by tossing ubuntu on your pc.

Honestly though, you may not even need all the horsepower you want in your pc. Look at the budget, and what is it going to cost for the programs. Depending on what you want to spend, you may find even 8 gb of ram is sufficient. I know a lot of guys will game on even 4 gb. I have 3 on my 2-3 yr old rig and honestly it does just fine. Just some things to look at.
 
A full sized PC desktop can take on any imac and win for less, imacs are much smaller and are forced to use specialized hardware, a mac pro is a much better adversary for a $2200 PC and would easily trounce the iMac in video and photo editing.

I would drop the PC down to 12GB of ram, that will still be more than enough for most uses and will drop its price significantly, especially if you get something that isnt the Corsair Dominators.

Of the two systems there, the PC will win at everything, its got a faster CPU, more and faster memory, and a vastly stronger video card.

One thing to be sure of is that you get a good power supply to power your PC, get a nice modular unit from Corsair, Antec, XFX, or Seasonic considering the total budget of your build.
 
-_- if you can afford that Mac, why don't you just get it. Macs own at video editing, I've used them and they are a beast at vid editing. Final Cut Pro cuts down Adobe Premiere and Sony Vegas easily.

Now if you don't account for video editing. Then the PC is the better deal, it'll run Photoshop and stuff like that fine, some cases perhaps better than the Mac. However, Did you just find the most expensive product for each thing and think that it was the best thing for you to build?

You picked a pretty crappy SSD compared to others of the same size, (IE Vertex 2's or S599) That HDD is just not justifiable at its price, at that price you could afford 2 Samsung F3 500gb and put them in Raid 0 or Raid 1 For that matter they have the same platter and size.. That mobo is just overpriced, so are most ROG things no offense to fans. You could just get a 1366 Asus Sabertooth. Which is only 200$ with Sata 6 and USB 3 as well with practically the same performance. And you don't need 24 gigs of ram, that's just stupid unless its a server. 12 or 6 is good enough for video editing.

Asus Sabertooth 200$: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131665&cm_re=asus_sabertooth_1366-_-13-131-665-_-Product
Samsung F3 500gb 55$: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181&Tpk=500%20f3
Vertex 2 60gb 130$: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227550&cm_re=vertex_2-_-20-227-550-_-Product
Other SSD
A-Data S599 64gb 100$: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211485&cm_re=s599-_-20-211-485-_-Product

Finally why get 2x 5870s when you can just wait a month and get 2x69xx which are expected to be way more powerful at about the same cost...

Vertex 2 Review: http://www.guru3d.com/article/ocz-vertex-2-ssd-review/
S599 review: http://www.guru3d.com/article/adata-s599-100gb-ssd-review/
 
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zeshan105

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Hmmm, Nice advice i can wait for the graphics cards since for the time being the system can run with the 4850 i already have...
The reason why I included Asus Rampage 3 in my list is because it is extremely tweak-able (Overclock able). But i am going to search about Sabertooth, how over clocking friendly it is. Of Course if I would love to save as much money as much I can if I get same features and performance.

I thought the more read speed the better the SSD. "Crucial 64GB" according to newegg website have upto 355mbps read speed and uses sata 6.0 gbps port. But sure i would look the reviews do my research and if I can get better performance with Vertex or A-sata i would go for it.

Some other people on other forums have also pointed that i do not need any more ram than 16 Gigs. so i have already changed my mind about the ram. But still if i can gain even a little more performance by putting more ram I would go for it since ram is not much expensive. But i understand it is not bad to first test the computer with 12 or 16 Gig ram and upgrade later if needed.

Thank you so much for taking time to pointing out all these things. These would defiantly help me out on budget and making a better PC. Any more advices would be helpful as well.
 

zeshan105

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Thank you so much for replying. Yes I am considering 12GB or 16 GB ram instead of 24 GB. Of course I would not power this computer with any thing less than a 1000 watt Corsair or Antec PSU.. Thanks for reminding me...
 
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3812/the-ssd-diaries-crucials-realssd-c300/4

Well Vertex 2 keeps up with it soo... But the C300 does outperform it. I suppose you were right in that decision, it's just I find it unnecessary because the Vertex 2 and S599 (especially the S599) will save you round 30$.

As for the Sabertooth, OCs like a champ for one of the X58 boards that are targeted for cheaper purposes. Plus it has a lot of features lower end boards it targets doesn't have.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/asus-tuf-sabertooth-x58-review/20

Just look at the OCing and conclusion section, that should give you a rough idea of the board.
 

zeshan105

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Thank You every one for your advices...

In the end i decided to get.
Core i7 950
Asus Rampage III Formula
Corsair Dominator 12GB 1600
Cooler Master HAF 922 Casing
ABS 1100 Watt PSU
Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler
Vertex 2 120GB SSD
And some minor Stuff........

I have not bought a Graphics card yet... I am waiting for AMD 6970 to come out on 29 of November....
I know the GTX 580 is out and I bearly held my self back from buying one...
Want to see the the benchmarks of both GTX 580 and AMD 5790 before buying....

I have also ordeed Adobe CS5 Mastercollection. Hopefully tommorow i will recieve evey thing will gestarted...
Once again Thanks foryour advices.....
 

TheTech214

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I think that the PC would be the better bet. PCs are more compatible with programs. They are also great for gaming. If you are looking for good photo editing software look into Adobe Photoshop. If you need good Photo editing software, Sony Vegas HD Platinum is one of the best. PCs are upgradable, for whenever the time comes. PCs have USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0 gigs a second, not to mention the Support Blu-ray and Crossfire. In the end I would recommend the PC.