What makes a macintosh a macintosh

[private_tank]

Most people believe that a macintosh pro has the same hardware configuration as any PC. I am here to tell you that it does not. This is straight from the mac website.

With the fastest Xeon architecture available, the new Mac Pro features 1600MHz dual independent frontside buses. These 64-bit buses give each processor a direct connection to the system controller and deliver improved processor bandwidth of up to 25.6GB per second — 20 percent greater than the previous Mac Pro. With a new system architecture, speedier system buses, and fast 800MHz DDR2 fully buffered DIMM memory, Mac Pro memory throughput is up to 1.6 times faster than before.2

Every Intel Xeon processor features an enhanced SSE4 SIMD engine. Capable of completing 128-bit vector computations in a single cycle, SSE4 is ideal for transforming large sets of data, such as applying a filter to an image or rendering a video effect.

Here is an awesome picture that shows the difference also.
http://www.apple.com/macpro/technology/processor.html

[RAW-Raptor22]

private_tank;2961958']Most people believe that a macintosh pro has the same hardware configuration as any PC. I am here to tell you that it does not. This is straight from the mac website.

With the fastest Xeon architecture available, the new Mac Pro features 1600MHz dual independent frontside buses. These 64-bit buses give each processor a direct connection to the system controller and deliver improved processor bandwidth of up to 25.6GB per second — 20 percent greater than the previous Mac Pro. With a new system architecture, speedier system buses, and fast 800MHz DDR2 fully buffered DIMM memory, Mac Pro memory throughput is up to 1.6 times faster than before.2

Every Intel Xeon processor features an enhanced SSE4 SIMD engine. Capable of completing 128-bit vector computations in a single cycle, SSE4 is ideal for transforming large sets of data, such as applying a filter to an image or rendering a video effect.

Here is an awesome picture that shows the difference also.
http://www.apple.com/macpro/technology/processor.html

Its just the new 45nm intel architectures server version. With that setup on a PC it is exactly the same performance.... :p:

[SoulsCollective]

I'm sorry, how is this different from any other 45nm dual-socket Xeon system?

[private_tank]

Well i guess i thought it was different.... Thats not embarrassing. I guess now we know (i.e. me) that its the same. It has two independent front side buses but again thats the same. I guess what we can say from this its the same. Yeah for me.

[Soulburner]

The only thing that makes a Mac a Mac anymore is the simplistic/minimalistic design and ridiculous markup.

[mike8913]

true story....and an outdated file system

[moto211]

private_tank;2965067']It has two independent front side buses

that's because it has two CPU's

[xsbb]

I'm sorry, how is this different from any other 45nm dual-socket Xeon system?

:rofl:


I guess it looks cooler... I guess.

[p2501]

When Apple still used IBM chips running Mac OSX, the points to answer the Ops question what makes a mac special would be:

positive:

- different CPU arch
- mainstream systems running bsd
- a unique GUI

negative:

- a "looks-are-more-important-than-function" attitude
- insane marketing
- insane pricing

In the days of Intel Macs one of the main differerences between macs and pcs is gone, the different cpu arch. Before the people buying macs had to ask themselfes if they need this special risc cpu for their application, now the only question that remains is: do you really want to spend a hell of a lot more money on a system where basically only the GUI is different from any other generic intel box. We all know that BSD is basically a stable system, but you can choose any GUI you might like to go with it and you don't need to pay anything to get that combination. So in my eyes Apple lost when they changed architectures. Now they could have Power6 which is a beast, but they won't. So what axactly is Apple nowadays? :shrug:

PS: I would buy a Mac, if it would run on the multi-chipped monster (pic (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Power5.jpg)) but I guess that won't happen, would it? And I don't have near 400K$ to spend on a system, so I guess I'll never buy a Mac...

[Makavre]

and just to leave fairly clear that MAC hardware is the same as that used on PCs ... here's the full spec of parts in case you want to build yerself a mac pro
:D

Cpu - Intel Xeon 5160 (x2)
Mobo - Tyan S2696 (optionally, you can also use an intel S5000XVN)
Ram - Crucial 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 FB-DIMM
HDD - 250GB SATA Seagate
Video - Geforce 6200 GT (or 7300 GT)
Optical - Sony DW150A

[private_tank]

So basically the only thing that is different is the operating system, which is just linux from what i hear. If that is the case, I still love my mac, granted it can't compete as much in games, but that front is slowing changing. Can't wait to see what the future holds.

[p2501]

private_tank;3022378']So basically the only thing that is different is the operating system, which is just linux from what i hear. If that is the case, I still love my mac, granted it can't compete as much in games, but that front is slowing changing. Can't wait to see what the future holds.

It's not based on GNU/Linux, but on Darwin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_%28operating_system%29). About you loving your Mac, I know a lot of people that are also very happy with their Mac! Even though I don't like the hardware part, the OS seems a very nice development. :up: