Mac Pro vs my old Windows computer

[Jayson]

I read the other thread talking about the macbook air vs the pro and began to wonder about my own situation since my computer motherboard fried recently. I have been considering a switch to Mac for a long time due to what I see and hear regarding reliability and performance.

How much, if any, performance increase or decrease do you think I would get by purchasing the macbook pro 13 inch monitor compared to my old computer. I would have CS5 and Lightroom 3. Maybe some other stuff, but that would probably be the most intensive stuff I would use. I am not a gamer.
My wife already has an Air with the Thunderbolt display so I don't want anything bigger than the 13in monitor.

Specs of the pro I am looking at are:

• 2.8GHz dual-core
• Intel Core i7
• 4GB 1333MHz
• 750GB 5400-rpm¹
• Intel HD Graphics 3000

​My Old computer was a Dell Inspiron 546s refurbished

Its specs were:

• ATI Radeon HD3200 graphics
• AMD Phenon X3 8450E 2.1GHz
• 8GB of DDR2 ram
• 640 GB 7200rpm HD

Thanks for any help you provide.

​Jayson

[M_Six]

An i7 processor with 4GB of RAM is a waste (IMHO). If you get that processor, go with at least 8GB of RAM. It'll take 16, but that can get pricey. If going to 8GB puts it out of your budget, consider adding RAM later, which can often be much cheaper. Crucial is a great place to buy RAM and adding RAM to a MBP is a snap.

The screen on the 13" MBP is incredible. I'm not sure how much Photoshop work you do, but the 13" screen on that is surprisingly roomy and very vivid. When my Dell Z600 finally goes, I'll be looking at a 13" MBP to replace it.

As far as the switch to Mac OSx, I don't know. I've played around with it and it seems easy enough, but I'm too used to working with Windows. You can run Windows7 on a MBP chassis by using Bootcamp. You'll need a Windows7 license, of course.

[Jayson]

Thanks Mark. I was planning on upgrading the memory after I purchased the machine and figured I could do it cheaper. I have played with my wife's computer a little bit and think I could get use to the Mac OS. I am a fast learner when it's interesting.

[jrw]

I7 very fast. When you get more memory to make better use of the CPU, you'll likely find that 8 GB is enough. When doing batch processing of many files I have monitored the CPU and RAM usage. The processor reaches capacity before the memory does. Don't forget to adust settings to allow CS5 and LR to use more of it. If motherboard is capable, a higher RAM access speed will benefit you when doing batch processing.

Is it possible to squeeze one of the flash hard drives into it as a second hard drive? If so, you may want to consider using one if you do batch process raw/jpeg/tiff conversions or if you do much work with video. The improved read/write times really improve the speed when doing files big enough to require spooling on and off the hard drive. Had one put onto my machine at work as I do a lot of video work and it does make a difference.

[HDNitehawk]

How much, if any, performance increase or decrease do you think I would get by purchasing the macbook pro 13 inch monitor compared to my old computer.

The Macbook will have much better performance than the Dell, if your Dell is like mine always bogged down with adware, malware and viruses. I think the MBP you mentioned will perform fine. The wife has a 13” MBP and it is two years old and it handles CS5 fine.

At first I was going to start the next sentence with “Seriously though” then I thought about it and the last statement really was serious it seems the Dell is always cluttered with junk.

You will not have problems picking up and using Mac, it is simple and not like learning a new language.

You can use Boot Camp and put Windows 7 on your machine, there is only one negative to this. On your laptop you will have to partition off space for Windows, you will loose precious space. While in Windows it will not read the Mac part of the hard drive, but you can read the Windows part of the hard drive in Mac. What that means is that you will not be able to pull files off your Mac partition to use in Windows, but you can do the opposite.

Last issue I see with the change, you will need to acquire the Mac version of CS5 and Lightroom. If I remember right Adobe will do this for a fee.

[bigblue1ca]

Regardless if you go with the MBP or a Windows 7 machine, if you are going to be processing lots of images and running LR and PS, especially together, and now with basic video editing in LR4, buy as much RAM up front as fits your budget. At the very least get 8GB of RAM.

Last fall I looked at the 17" MBP, as my wife has a Mac Laptop, and I also looked at a 17" Dell XPS. Spec for spec processor, RAM, video card, they were the same, the MBP was 1/4" thinner and 3/4's of a LB lighter though. I ended up going with the Dell though as I was able to buy 16GB of RAM vs. 8GB with the MBP at the time of purchase; my machine was $2200, while the MBP would have been $2900; I decided I could live with the marginal size difference for that price, and I've used Windows since 3.1 and haven't had any issues since XP was released more than a decade ago.

Despite the very successful marketing on Apple's part, Windows 7 vs Apple is pretty well Canon vs. Nikon these days. But, as with cameras and lenses, buy what best fits your needs.

[Sheiky]

How much, if any, performance increase or decrease do you think I would get by purchasing the macbook pro 13 inch monitor compared to my old computer.

Little increase I think. Definitely don't get your hopes up too high.

The traditional Hard Drive is the slowest component in todays computers. In your case you are used to a 7200RPM hard drive, this is most likely faster than the Mac's 5400RPM drive. The Mac wil have a faster CPU, but the speed of the hard drive is the "speed you feel".
Having a fast processor and loads of memory sound really nice, but the point is that you hardly use it. Having 8 or 16GB of RAM sounds amazing(and it can be) but truth be told is that you really have to push your machine to use it. For normal use and Lightroom plus the occasional edits in CS5 4GB will be fine. If you have more you are likely to use it only in small peaks. Processes which consume a lot of RAM are for example stitching multiple shots or using heavy filters in CS5. Or if you do real heavy multitasking which I doubt you will on a 13" screen. With more than 4GB these processes will just take a little less time on 8 or more GB's. Is it worth the extra money, that's up to you. It is cheap at the moment

As I said the traditional hard drive is the slowest component in todays pc's. If you want a faster PC go for a Solid State Drive. With a Solid State Drive you can take more advantage of a faster CPU and more RAM, because the drive is fast enough to enter lots of data simultaneously. SSD's are currently quite nicely priced compared to the traditional hard drives, just a thought

As far as Dell vs Mac is concerned. If you know how to work with W7 and disable those useless Dell apps that boot every time you start your pc, I guarantee you there's practically no difference in speed between W7 and Mac. It's a myth that you can't get a virus on a Mac or that Windows is slower than Mac OS. Just like bigblue1ca says: it's like Canon vs Nikon. Both have their pro's and cons, but all in all they pretty much give the same result.

My advice: go with what you like. Mac can be nice(I personally don't like the workflow) and it might be more easy to synchronize with your wife's Mac, iPads, iPhones and all other i-stuff. A new Dell or any other brand W7 laptop will do the same tasks just as well. Somewhat cheaper which is the most important factor in pretty much any Mac vs Windows debate and usually the warranty is better as well.

Ps: a new pc will always feel faster and better so enjoy it

[M_Six]

I agree that going with an SSD will increase speed. Just be aware that you'll sacrifice a considerable amount of storage space. SSD drives are still comparatively small. And the larger ones are quite pricey. A 512GB SSD runs about $500. Be prepared to pay for speed or lose storage space. In a workstation it's not a big deal, you can always add a normal drive for storage and run the OS and apps off the SSD. But in a 13" MBP, you're pretty much stuck with just one drive. If you go SSD, get yourself a good external to store files.

[Sheiky]

That is a factor indeed. I know there are laptops that have 2 slots for HDD's(HP has models). If you would buy a laptop with a 60GB or 120GB SSD you could transfer the hard drive from your old laptop to the second slot in the new laptop. Make it a hybrid pc. Use the SSD for your programs(+ cache) and the hard drive for storage of photos. That's how I have things in my desktop. I only have a 60GB SSD(unformatted) which is enough for W7, Lightroom, CS5 and all other programs that I use often. For programs that I don't use often and for games where I don't need the speed of an SSD I have normal hard drives.

I must say that 60GB is enough, but on the small side.

Edit: Just to get back at this. I know there are laptops that have 2 HDD slots. However those are big 17" laptops. I don't know if they exist in 13".

[HDNitehawk]

Or, he could buy an external hard drive and just hook it up to the FireWire.

On the Mac Pro, I have 4 hard drives. None are HDD, but I can write to the external as fast with the Fire Wire as I can the 3 internal hard drives. I had the external hooked up to the wife’s Mac Book Pro and it seems to load up pictures just as fast as it does on the Mac Pro. On all the machines the externals and the 3 internal hard drives are three slower than having your files on your main hard drive. So you are losing speed any time you put the files off of the main drive to a second drive, whether a HDD drive would make up the lost speed or not I do not know.

I think if you get the Mac you are talking about, it will do the programs you listed just fine, and better than the Dell you have now. The wife’s Mac Book Pro was one of the cheaper models; 2GB of ram, slower processor and it isn’t all that much slower than my Mac Pro with its 16GB of ram and 8 core processors. The real difference is load up time of big files in adobe bridge

My Dell is a Vostro 1710 with a few upgrades 3 years old, paid about 2 grand for it:
17” monitor
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5ghz
4GB of Ram
Nivada GeForce 8600M GS
300GB HD

The wifes Mac Book Pro is 3 years old, paid $1200:
Going from memory, because I am at work I think its specs are this:
Intel Core 2 Duo I think it is 2.1ghz
2GB of Ram
160GB HD +/-

I am using the Dell to type this, and from my personal exerience of these two I would choose the Mac Book Pro over the Dell.