If they're going to sell x86 workstations, at least sell some more powerful than the macintosh I can buy down the street. They've been shoving COTS motherboard

If they're going to sell x86 workstations, at least sell some more powerful than the macintosh I can buy down the street. They've been shoving COTS motherboards into x86 boxes for a few years now, how about keeping up with the idea of some computational ooomph? Seriously, what's a reasonable computer scientist supposed to use these days? I'd rather not spend a day a week fixing/maintaining a linux box for its own problems, or for tracking down the new compatible binaries, or begging for help on undocumented software on mailing lists.