Skip to content
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
Skins
  • Light
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (No Skin)
  • No Skin
Collapse
Code Project
  1. Home
  2. The Lounge
  3. Preferred hardware for developers?

Preferred hardware for developers?

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Lounge
csharpasp-netdesignhardwaretesting
48 Posts 21 Posters 0 Views 1 Watching
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • C Christian Graus

    I've never seen a PC with 8 cores and 20 gig of RAM, so I have no idea how much that costs. however 1 - the Mac is flat out a nicer machine to use 2 - it means I also have Safari on the Mac to test against ( and FF if I want to install it ). I would not assume they work the same on PC and Mac.

    Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista.

    G Offline
    G Offline
    Graham Bradshaw
    wrote on last edited by
    #28

    Christian Graus wrote:

    I've never seen a PC with 8 cores and 20 gig of RAM, so I have no idea how much that co

    Quick play on Apple & HP sites: 2 x 3.2GHz quad-core Xeon, 32GB RAM, 4TB disk with raid, Quadra FX5600 graphics, 2 DVD RW drives Apple: $18,899 HP: $14,605

    Christian Graus wrote:

    the Mac is flat out a nicer machine to use

    What do you mean by that? You're running (according to your example) a Windows OS in a VM, to the user experience is a Windows one. The only difference that I can see is that you are using an Apple keyboard and mouse (ie this is a hardware-based experience, not software-based). Is the Apple keyboard really that much better?

    P 1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • E El Corazon

      add up your macs you have almost as much power as the graphics card on my PC. ;P

      _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."

      C Offline
      C Offline
      Christian Graus
      wrote on last edited by
      #29

      ROTFL !!! That must be a hell of a graphics card.....

      Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista.

      E 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • E El Corazon

        Christian Graus wrote:

        I've never seen a PC with 8 cores and 20 gig of RAM, so I have no idea how much that costs. however

        probably less than 8k. My work machine has 8 cores, 8 SCSI drives (which are more expensive than the processors and could just as easily be cheaper SATA drives), and nv280, 16gig of RAM (with half free to reach 32gig as an upgrade). It is just above 8k, so the other should be cheaper with SATA drives.

        _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."

        C Offline
        C Offline
        Christian Graus
        wrote on last edited by
        #30

        Mine was $6k, which is US$4k.

        Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista.

        E 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • B Baconbutty

          I'd prefer it if apps were written to make effective use of the tech available rather than throw increasingly vast numbers of horses at it. I'm fed up of being railroaded into having to buy more and more powerful machines just to run a program (OS) that makes the PC work. I type a letter no faster now than I did many years ago on a 486 25sx with a massive 4Mb memory. Sure I can tart it up with a load of spurious crap that the vendor has so nicely provided for me that I didn't want but uses up resources - woo - bloody - hooo.

          My new favourite phrase - "misdirected leisure activity"

          H Offline
          H Offline
          hairy_hats
          wrote on last edited by
          #31

          Baconbutty wrote:

          I'm fed up of being railroaded into having to buy more and more powerful machines just to run a program (OS) that makes the PC work.

          I doubt that it's the OS that slows it down so much as the prettification of the interface than is running on top of it.

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • C Christian Graus

            Probably, because that would be all they are worth. Macs cost more ( mine cost AU$6000 ) because they are better engineered than the average PC. Swapping RAM on my Mac was such a dream, I wanted to do it again. Nothing like the many times I have done it on many, many PCs. You get what you pay for.

            Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista.

            J Offline
            J Offline
            James Simpson
            wrote on last edited by
            #32

            I suppose if you get paid $700 an hour, the amount you save swapping ram out in a lifetime could pay for that mac :)

            James Simpson Web Developer imebgo@hotmail.com P S - This is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were eliminated
            Mitch Hedberg

            C 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • C Christian Graus

              Probably, because that would be all they are worth. Macs cost more ( mine cost AU$6000 ) because they are better engineered than the average PC. Swapping RAM on my Mac was such a dream, I wanted to do it again. Nothing like the many times I have done it on many, many PCs. You get what you pay for.

              Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista.

              Richard Andrew x64R Offline
              Richard Andrew x64R Offline
              Richard Andrew x64
              wrote on last edited by
              #33

              Installing RAM chips is such a simple thing to begin with, how could it possibly be easier in a Mac than a PC? Please describe how it's easier in the Mac.

              C E 2 Replies Last reply
              0
              • C Christian Graus

                ROTFL !!! That must be a hell of a graphics card.....

                Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista.

                E Offline
                E Offline
                El Corazon
                wrote on last edited by
                #34

                Christian Graus wrote:

                ROTFL !!! That must be a hell of a graphics card.....

                when I am not calculating fluids and particle systems, I fold... :)

                _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • C Christian Graus

                  Mine was $6k, which is US$4k.

                  Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista.

                  E Offline
                  E Offline
                  El Corazon
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #35

                  Christian Graus wrote:

                  Mine was $6k, which is US$4k.

                  I'd have to look at the PO to find out how much the drives cost and pull them out of the price. Normally they are near 300-800. Obviously these can't be on the high end of that, but I didn't buy this one.

                  _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • C Christian Graus

                    A Mac Pro is flat out the best dev environment you can have. I have 8 processors and 20 gig of RAM. This lets me run a VM without any slowdown. Then I can create multiple VMs which have different versions of IE, and different versions of Firefox. I can also easily maintain a vanilla OS, just by backing up a file. Finally, I can also test for Safari, so my website works for Mac users.

                    Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista.

                    B Offline
                    B Offline
                    blackjack2150
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #36

                    Christian Graus wrote:

                    A Mac Pro is flat out the best dev environment you can have. I have 8 processors and 20 gig of RAM. This lets me run a VM without any slowdown. Then I can create multiple VMs which have different versions of IE, and different versions of Firefox. I can also easily maintain a vanilla OS, just by backing up a file. Finally, I can also test for Safari, so my website works for Mac users.

                    So, you use HAL[^] for building websites...

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

                      Installing RAM chips is such a simple thing to begin with, how could it possibly be easier in a Mac than a PC? Please describe how it's easier in the Mac.

                      C Offline
                      C Offline
                      Christian Graus
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #37

                      The Mac is very nicely put together. The side slides off, and a drawer opens ( it has two big finger holes to slide it open ). There's no cables getting in the way, you're not pushing hard drive cables away to get to the RAM slots, etc. Hard drive swapping is the same, they sit in bays and then connect as they slide in, without cables everywhere. I'm not saying I was ever incapable of installing RAM on a PC, just that sometimes it was a PITA when the case was pretty full.

                      Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista.

                      E 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

                        Installing RAM chips is such a simple thing to begin with, how could it possibly be easier in a Mac than a PC? Please describe how it's easier in the Mac.

                        E Offline
                        E Offline
                        El Corazon
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #38

                        it is TOO easy on the PC... I HAD 32gig when this was purchased... everyone raids it... of course I joke about it because if someone is looking I have to run XP32bit... it is the only official OS....

                        _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • C Christian Graus

                          The Mac is very nicely put together. The side slides off, and a drawer opens ( it has two big finger holes to slide it open ). There's no cables getting in the way, you're not pushing hard drive cables away to get to the RAM slots, etc. Hard drive swapping is the same, they sit in bays and then connect as they slide in, without cables everywhere. I'm not saying I was ever incapable of installing RAM on a PC, just that sometimes it was a PITA when the case was pretty full.

                          Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista.

                          E Offline
                          E Offline
                          El Corazon
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #39

                          Christian Graus wrote:

                          just that sometimes it was a PITA when the case was pretty full.

                          that is the case though! that has nothing to do with the PC! :doh:

                          _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."

                          C 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • J James Simpson

                            I suppose if you get paid $700 an hour, the amount you save swapping ram out in a lifetime could pay for that mac :)

                            James Simpson Web Developer imebgo@hotmail.com P S - This is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were eliminated
                            Mitch Hedberg

                            C Offline
                            C Offline
                            Christian Graus
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #40

                            Well, it's not all about money, that's just an example of how Macs are better put together, it's not a core reason for buying one, that is, it's not the only way they are better designed. Apple controls every aspect, that's the real reason they are better. But, they ARE better.

                            Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista.

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • E El Corazon

                              Christian Graus wrote:

                              just that sometimes it was a PITA when the case was pretty full.

                              that is the case though! that has nothing to do with the PC! :doh:

                              _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."

                              C Offline
                              C Offline
                              Christian Graus
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #41

                              EVERY case I have bought, at any price, has been the same. If I bought a Dell or I bought a third party case. I used to build PCs and sell them, I tried all sorts of cases. They are all the same.

                              Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista.

                              D E 2 Replies Last reply
                              0
                              • C Christian Graus

                                EVERY case I have bought, at any price, has been the same. If I bought a Dell or I bought a third party case. I used to build PCs and sell them, I tried all sorts of cases. They are all the same.

                                Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista.

                                D Offline
                                D Offline
                                Dan Neely
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #42

                                My Mozart TX case has made cable management very easy. There're no cables over the mobo area at all, they're all routed behind the board and pop up around the edge to plug in. I'll try and take a pic or two when I get home. It's huge and definitely not for everyone but is by an order magnitude easier to work on due to all the extra space. I've seen normal sized towers with similar grades of compartmentalization and cable management.

                                Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • C Christian Graus

                                  EVERY case I have bought, at any price, has been the same. If I bought a Dell or I bought a third party case. I used to build PCs and sell them, I tried all sorts of cases. They are all the same.

                                  Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista.

                                  E Offline
                                  E Offline
                                  El Corazon
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #43

                                  where are you shopping? McDonalds cases? Cases have always made the difference. our draftsman loves the Tai Chi I recommended, I run an Armor though I admit I have overrun it. I expect my next will be a Tai Chi or Mozart. I have officially fully filled my Thermaltake Armor.

                                  _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • D Dario Solera

                                    John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

                                    AMD dial-core

                                    You can type the number of cores you want with that processor?

                                    If you truly believe you need to pick a mobile phone that "says something" about your personality, don't bother. You don't have a personality. A mental illness, maybe - but not a personality. - Charlie Brooker My Photos/CP Flickr Group - ScrewTurn Wiki

                                    P Offline
                                    P Offline
                                    PIEBALDconsult
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #44

                                    I goes up to 11!

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • G Graham Bradshaw

                                      Christian Graus wrote:

                                      I've never seen a PC with 8 cores and 20 gig of RAM, so I have no idea how much that co

                                      Quick play on Apple & HP sites: 2 x 3.2GHz quad-core Xeon, 32GB RAM, 4TB disk with raid, Quadra FX5600 graphics, 2 DVD RW drives Apple: $18,899 HP: $14,605

                                      Christian Graus wrote:

                                      the Mac is flat out a nicer machine to use

                                      What do you mean by that? You're running (according to your example) a Windows OS in a VM, to the user experience is a Windows one. The only difference that I can see is that you are using an Apple keyboard and mouse (ie this is a hardware-based experience, not software-based). Is the Apple keyboard really that much better?

                                      P Offline
                                      P Offline
                                      PIEBALDconsult
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #45

                                      Just for the heck of it, a couple of weeks ago I went on the HP site to see what a new low-end Itanium server costs... about $34000. I hope to get a used one off ebay some time.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • P paulray

                                        Curious about CPU/MEM etc used for ASP.NET developers? I use a Pentium Core2 Duo Laptop for design and coding, then Celeron desktop for final compile and packaging (read SLOW). Standard P4 servers for testing etc... Not interesed in brand name of computers, but curious about configurations?

                                        T Offline
                                        T Offline
                                        Todd Smith
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #46

                                        Go for CPU speed over cores if you have the choice (ex. 3.6ghz 2core > 2.8ghz 4core) 4gb ram minimum (haven't made the jump to 64bit yet) dual monitors And the kicker...2x 10k raptor drives. One for the OS and apps and one for your projects and data.

                                        Todd Smith

                                        D 1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • T Todd Smith

                                          Go for CPU speed over cores if you have the choice (ex. 3.6ghz 2core > 2.8ghz 4core) 4gb ram minimum (haven't made the jump to 64bit yet) dual monitors And the kicker...2x 10k raptor drives. One for the OS and apps and one for your projects and data.

                                          Todd Smith

                                          D Offline
                                          D Offline
                                          Dan Neely
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #47

                                          Compiling is multithreaded, it likes more cores. For gaming faster single threaded performance is more important than throughput in CPU bound apps. OTOH to make a modern game CPU rather than GPU bound you have to play in ridiculous graphics settings eg 640x480 noAA noAF. Even then supposedly game designers are starting to figure out useful things to do with all the extra CPU capacity and are putting them in their upcoming games. :rolleyes: Unless you're spending large amounts of time with a single/dual threaded app that's CPU bound, go with a quad.

                                          Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall

                                          1 Reply Last reply
                                          0
                                          Reply
                                          • Reply as topic
                                          Log in to reply
                                          • Oldest to Newest
                                          • Newest to Oldest
                                          • Most Votes


                                          • Login

                                          • Don't have an account? Register

                                          • Login or register to search.
                                          • First post
                                            Last post
                                          0
                                          • Categories
                                          • Recent
                                          • Tags
                                          • Popular
                                          • World
                                          • Users
                                          • Groups