| Qty. | Item | Your Cost | My Cost | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gigabyte X58-UD4P Mother Board | $ 259.95 | $ 257.25 | $ 2.70 |
| 1 | Yours: i7-920 2.66 Intel Quad Core Processor Mine: i7-975 3.06 GHz Intel Quad Core Processor |
288.99 | 574.99 | 286.00 |
| 3 | Yours: OCZ Platinum 3 X 2 GB Triple Channel DDR3 RAM (6GB) Mine: Crucial 3 X 2 GB Triple Channel DDR3 SDRAM (6GB) |
94.99 | 230.00 | 135.01 |
| 2 | ATI 4890 Radeon HD Graphic Cards | 519.98 | 420.00 | 99.98 |
| 2 | 1 TB WD Hard Drives | 209.98 | 220.00 | 9.98 |
| 1 | 500MB WD Hard Drives | 0.00 | 57.00 | 57.00 |
| 1 | LG BluRay Lightscribe DVD burner | 109.99 | 90.00 | 19.99 |
| 1 | HD TV tuner | 95.99 | 88.00 | 7.99 |
| 1 | ASUS 25.5" 1920 x 1200 LCD Monitor | 349.99 | 330.00 | 19.99 |
| 1 | Yours: Cosmos 1000 Case Mine: Cosmos 1000 Case with four fans |
189.99 | 199.00 | 9.01 |
| 1 | Cosmos 1000 Case window | 29.99 | 49.00 | 19.01 |
| 3 | SILVERSTONE FM123 120mm Case Fan | 50.97 | 0.00 | 50.97 |
| 1 | Mushkin 800W Power Supply | 139.99 | 135.00 | 4.99 |
| 1 | Wifi card for Desk top | 0.00 | 20.00 | 20.00 |
| 1 | Firewire 400/800 card | 0.00 | 54.00 | 54.00 |
| 1 | Bluetooth card for desk top | 0.00 | 20.00 | 20.00 |
| 1 | Webcam | 0.00 | 20.00 | 20.00 |
| 1 | Wireless Keyboard and Mouse | 0.00 | 40.00 | 40.00 |
| 1 | Yours: Windows 7 Beta Mine: Windows Vista Ult or XP Pro 64 bit OEM |
FREE | 140.00 | 140.00 |
| TOTAL | 2,340.79 | $ 2,944.98 | $ 604.19 |
Some things I found were less expensive... but some were more expensive. Those were because I assumed you started with a faster i7, and, matching the specs of the iMac, I used much higher quality memory than your no-name memory, opting instead for top of the line Crucial made RAM.
If we replace those with current priced versions of the same stuff you used, (surprisingly your OCZ memory is 50% HIGHER now!) we find that the pricing is $2577.97 including an OS, and the additional IO to meet iMac specs which total $294.00 extra on a PC... not including a suite of integrated software. Subtract that out, and the total six months later is $2,383.97.
That's only $43.18! So, CaboJoe, yeah, you did damn good... but it still ain't as good as an out of the box iMac. ;^)>
But I think you proved Itsahoot's point... that a close to equivalent PC is not 1/4 the price of a Mac. Remmeber, what Mysterio claimed was that the Apple 27" iMac cost four times as much to which Itsahoot replied:
"Show me any PC with specs anywhere close to the Core i7 iMac for the same price, let alone one for $600.00 and I will eat my new mouse."What you very ably demonstrated is that it takes pretty much equal money to make a pretty much competitive computer... if you ignore form factor, esthetics, monitor quality, warranties, support, software, and a host of other engineering considerations. While your homebrew machine may exceed the 27" iMac's specs in some areas, it fails miserably to meet the specifications in areas such as having capabilities such as Firewire, WIFI, BlueTooth, wireless keyboards and mouses, built-in webcam, microphone, Integrated Software suite, available hardware and software support, integrated hardware and software warranties, product liability assurances, etc.
I have firewire. I also smoke performance wise. Are you going to add in eSATA for the iMac? “Show me any PC with specs anywhere close to the Core i7 iMac for the same price, let alone one for $600.00 and I will eat my new mouse.” I did that. Quit twisting and turning. I’m here to watch a guy on the internet eat his mouse. Now.
Are you calling OCZ memory no name memory??? What planet are you from?
A bluetooth dongle is 15 bucks. Wireless keyboard and wireless MX Revolution mouse were already here from previous builds. Available hardware and software support? That's for "amateurs" that need their hands held. I am my own support staff. Wifi is on my router, serving my phones, laptops, and pmp's...you know, portable stuff. My monitor is unbroken and doesn't flicker. And it doesn't run on a (mobile?)4850...lol.
I don't understand what you are doing with your price list either. What I posted is what I paid. My total is 2500. What did the iMac cost with shipping and CA tax?
And who made you the judge? That's like having the fox guard the fracken hen house. You are about as impartial as Barney Frank at a gay pride festival.
What I have been working to hear you say is that this mid range iMac with a hobbled dual channel i7 is better than a Mac Pro, or better than a PC more powerful than a Mac Pro. I figured that would make my day. And that's what you just did. Amazing. Thanks for playing.