iMac or Mac Pro?

[unclefarkus]

So my 2008 model Macbook Pro seems to be on it's last leg when it comes to doing any sort of intensive rendering/modeling. I love my current configuration with software however so I plan to stick with Mac... (vectorworks + Rhino Mac + import to bootcamp for Vray). I'm still a student with 1.5 years to graduate, which is close. I am looking to buy a computer that will last me into my interning days and beyond. I'm really hoping to go into the high-level rendering + animation aspect of the profession, so I know my computer configuration will need to be pretty good. I'm having trouble rendering bricks in Vray as it is now, so I need to do something that will conquor that Obviously the Mac Pro (the new one's due in August specifically) have a lot of power to them, but I wonder if a top notch iMac would be just as good? I don't know, what are your thoughts on them to those who use them? I'd hate to get one and realize it can't go to the next level when I'm at it (my current problem), but I think there probably comes a point when the software won't reach that level. I'm not sure, I don't know a ton about computers nor how the software works (something I intend to learn in the near future)

[AJLynn]

Looking at what's available now - I wouldn't buy a Mac Pro before the new ones come out, but I don't know what the cost breakdown would be - the obvious choices would be:

 

-iMac: 27", i7, 8GB, $2400. The CPU is a 2.93GHz quad core, which is quite good - you can definitely use this as a render box.

-Mac Pro: You need to make this powerful enough to distinguish itself over the iMac, so 2.66GHz CPUs, 12GB and the 4870 video card, $5200 - and that doesn't include monitor.

 

The Mac Pro would render nearly twice as fast and have better cooling, but the price is nuts. To spend that on a computer, as a student, you'd have to be independently wealthy. (Maybe you are - in that case, go for it, it's a great product.) But consider this alternative proposal:

 

Keep the laptop as your working Mac - I used a 2006 model until a couple of months ago; a 2008 model is still going to be good at anything but rendering. Add a Windows box. If you built the Midrange config from 3datstech.com but ditched its video card in favor of a Radeon 5670 and added a good 3rd party CPU cooler, it would cost under $1500 and overclock quite well (see http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/258573-29-black-edition-overclock-guide and consider 4.0GHz attainable). You could run your renders on that, and whatever else you might want the power for.

[unclefarkus]

I like the idea of the PC, I am not independently wealthy, I just have a minimum wage job

My next question is how much better the $1500 PC would be compared to the $2400 iMac? After purchasing a monitor, keyboard, and mouse for the PC, it may still be wise for me to get an iMac since I'm an OSX lover and the price is not THAT different (plus I get student discounts on Macs), unless it's just no comparison in which case performance will win for me.

[AJLynn]

It's not like the AMD box would be in a whole different class. The Mac would score probably just a hair under 5 in Cinebench. The AMD 1090T gets a 5.5 before OC'ing, and if you OC'ed it to 4GHz you'd be between 6.5 and 7. The Mac has the benefits of being a Mac, and including a 27" IPS monitor. As I say, cost/benefit is the buyer's call.