4 ms·

A lot of that iMac's cost is its retina display, and you didn't bother buying a retina display for the PC. Running a speed test is silly, there are already maj

A lot of that iMac's cost is its retina display, and you didn't bother buying a retina display for the PC. Running a speed test is silly, there are already major differences in the build. To make this remotely more scientific, you'd either need to buy a 4k monitor for the PC, or use a Mac Pro and just take the monitor out of the equation.

rayiner 11y ago
But the Mac pro hasn't been updated in years. The gpu is old, and this is mostly a gpu test.
- brigade 11y ago
  The Mac Pro can dissipate way more heat than an iMac, so between the two GPUs it can have almost twice the FLOPS of the iMac's GPU, even though it's several years older.
- oarsinsync 11y ago
  The article states repeatedly that it's all about CPU clock speed. If that's inaccurate, could you elaborate on how it's actually a GPU test?
maxxxxx 11y ago
That's true. They should have gotten a 5k screen with 5120‑by‑2880 resolution for the PC like the Mac. This Dell costs 2000 which would have reduced the available for the PC components. On the other hand if you don't care for such resolution the PC may be the better choice.
- bloaf 11y ago
  If they wanted a more apples to apples comparison in the hardware department, they probably should have added $600 to the monitor price[1] and paid for it by using the same CPU as the iMac (i.e. a 6700k) [1] http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Monitor-UP2715K-27-Inch-LED-Lit/dp/B00OKSFXZU http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Monitor-UP2715K-27-Inch-LED-Lit/d... Honestly, though, I don't think the point was to do an apples-to-apples hardware comparison. This was on a cost basis only.
  - Zombieball 11y ago
    I guess the issue is the driving factor of the iMac cost is the monitor resolution. It would've made more sense (if they didn't need the resolution) to pick a different iMac and spec out a PC at a similar price point.
  - HillaryBriss 11y ago
    The article also leaves out the cost of their IT guy's time to assemble the custom PC components. How much does an hour of Joseph WU's time cost? How many hours did it take for him to order, receive, unpack, and then assemble the components?
    - p1esk 11y ago
      My guess would be most of Wu's time was spent researching which components to order, probably several hours. On the other hand, if he's a full time employee, then it does not cost anything extra to have him do his job.
      - manicdee 11y ago
        If he is a full time employee then the time he spent researching and assembling this computer was time he didn't spend doing the job he was paid for.
        oarsinsync 11y ago
        Unless 'researching, building and supporting the IT environment' is his job, as their IT guy
- coldtea 11y ago
  >On the other hand if you don't care for such resolution the PC may be the better choice. On the other hand it's a Lightroom test -- the target market for Lightroom is precisely those that do care for such resolution.
soared 11y ago
Why would speed be silly? That is a business, who saves money with every speed increase. Also, the end of the article shows the next text is a Mac Pro. I thought commenting without reading was a reddit thing, not hn.
- r-w 11y ago
  These kinds of posts attract the Reddit-ier crowd of commenters that already exists within HN, if you know what I mean. The title gave me that feeling; the article confirmed it; and the fact that there were enough comments to require scrolling, on an article about “Which computer is faster, Mac or PC???”, hit the nail on the head and sealed the coffin.
KayL 11y ago
Retina only good at pixels but didn't mean its color accuracy better than others, like EIZO.
- coldtea 11y ago
  Its color accuracy is also better than most -- it has 10-bit screen colors for one. EIZO equivalent quality monitors go for $1500 and higher even for crappy resolutions.
imaginenore 11y ago
That's a bad argument. They spent $1K on a monitor. That can definitely buy a 4K monitor.
vancan1ty 11y ago
You can definitely buy a 4k IPS monitor for less than $1000, the amount they spent on a monitor. Source: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100160979%20600338147 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&Is...
yread 11y ago
Maybe people already have good enough monitors they can just plug into a PC without having to buy a new one every time they update the hardware?

rayiner 11y ago

But the Mac pro hasn't been updated in years. The gpu is old, and this is mostly a gpu test.

brigade 11y ago
The Mac Pro can dissipate way more heat than an iMac, so between the two GPUs it can have almost twice the FLOPS of the iMac's GPU, even though it's several years older.
oarsinsync 11y ago
The article states repeatedly that it's all about CPU clock speed. If that's inaccurate, could you elaborate on how it's actually a GPU test?

maxxxxx 11y ago

That's true. They should have gotten a 5k screen with 5120‑by‑2880 resolution for the PC like the Mac. This Dell costs 2000 which would have reduced the available for the PC components. On the other hand if you don't care for such resolution the PC may be the better choice.

bloaf 11y ago
If they wanted a more apples to apples comparison in the hardware department, they probably should have added $600 to the monitor price[1] and paid for it by using the same CPU as the iMac (i.e. a 6700k) [1] http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Monitor-UP2715K-27-Inch-LED-Lit/dp/B00OKSFXZU http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Monitor-UP2715K-27-Inch-LED-Lit/d... Honestly, though, I don't think the point was to do an apples-to-apples hardware comparison. This was on a cost basis only.
- Zombieball 11y ago
  I guess the issue is the driving factor of the iMac cost is the monitor resolution. It would've made more sense (if they didn't need the resolution) to pick a different iMac and spec out a PC at a similar price point.
- HillaryBriss 11y ago
  The article also leaves out the cost of their IT guy's time to assemble the custom PC components. How much does an hour of Joseph WU's time cost? How many hours did it take for him to order, receive, unpack, and then assemble the components?
  - p1esk 11y ago
    My guess would be most of Wu's time was spent researching which components to order, probably several hours. On the other hand, if he's a full time employee, then it does not cost anything extra to have him do his job.
    - manicdee 11y ago
      If he is a full time employee then the time he spent researching and assembling this computer was time he didn't spend doing the job he was paid for.
      - oarsinsync 11y ago
        Unless 'researching, building and supporting the IT environment' is his job, as their IT guy
coldtea 11y ago
>On the other hand if you don't care for such resolution the PC may be the better choice. On the other hand it's a Lightroom test -- the target market for Lightroom is precisely those that do care for such resolution.

soared 11y ago

Why would speed be silly? That is a business, who saves money with every speed increase. Also, the end of the article shows the next text is a Mac Pro. I thought commenting without reading was a reddit thing, not hn.

r-w 11y ago
These kinds of posts attract the Reddit-ier crowd of commenters that already exists within HN, if you know what I mean. The title gave me that feeling; the article confirmed it; and the fact that there were enough comments to require scrolling, on an article about “Which computer is faster, Mac or PC???”, hit the nail on the head and sealed the coffin.

KayL 11y ago

Retina only good at pixels but didn't mean its color accuracy better than others, like EIZO.

coldtea 11y ago
Its color accuracy is also better than most -- it has 10-bit screen colors for one. EIZO equivalent quality monitors go for $1500 and higher even for crappy resolutions.

imaginenore 11y ago

That's a bad argument. They spent $1K on a monitor. That can definitely buy a 4K monitor.

vancan1ty 11y ago

You can definitely buy a 4k IPS monitor for less than $1000, the amount they spent on a monitor. Source: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100160979%20600338147 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&Is...

yread 11y ago

Maybe people already have good enough monitors they can just plug into a PC without having to buy a new one every time they update the hardware?