MacPro Killer:
By: killa hafiz

Intro: The purpose of this article is to build a computer that can either perform at the same level as the MacPro 2013 for the same or less money. I have recently been told by people (Mac FanBoys) that I can’t build a pc just as fast for equal cost hence the necessity of this article. Note For this article we will be building a pc that is comparable to the 6-core configuration, so that sets my budget at a $4,000 limit.

Processor: The Processor used in the Mac Pro is equal to an Intel Xeon E5-1650 running at 3.5 GHz. It has 6 processing cores and 12 threads. The processor I will be using in my build is Intel Core I7-4930K. It has 6 cores 12 threads and runs at 3.4 GHz. I have chosen the Core I7, because not only is it faster, but it is also half the price of the Xeon E5. The only advantage the Xeon has is that it can use Error correcting memory and the core I7 cannot. This means that I would have the potential for a higher ram upgrade by going with the Xeon but I don’t care, in the end of the day The core I7 is faster out of the box, can be over clocked, costs $500 less, and what’s to stop me from upgrading in the future.
Intel Core I7-4930K Pass Mark Score: 13,550
Intel Xeon E5-1650 Pass Mark Score: 12,396
My Choice: Intel Core-I7 4930K $500
Motherboard: I will be using Asus Rampage IV Gene. As far as features and performance is concerned this one here is a no brainer. The only thing that hurts is that it only supports a maximum of 32 GB ram. However, looking at the bright side that’s how much ram I get to start out with. While it doesn’t have any thunderbolt ports, I myself don’t care for them. If you really want thunder bolt ports, then just buy an add-in card for little to nothing. As for me USB 3.0 will suffice and with USB 3.1 on the way I look forward to the upgraded interface dominating the consumer market once again.
My Choice: Asus Rampage4 Lga2011 $270
Memory: By buying the Core I7 instead of the Xeon E5, I find that I have plenty of room left in my budget for getting a maximum 32gb of ram for my system. Not only do I get to start out with more ram, but I also get to go faster at 2.1 GHz instead of the 1.8 GHz used in the MacPro.
My Choice: Muskin Enhanced Blackline 32Gb DDR3 2133 $310
Graphics: This is the hard part, because the naming scheme used for Amd’s Workstation graphics. The dual Amd FirePro D500 is inferior to the FirePro w8000. On top of the slower performance it only has 3gb instead of the full 4gb. If I was to go with the low End workstation model I felt that I would also undercut performance and not only the price so Instead I decided to do some research on a comparable Nvidia Model. After looking up an article comparing the Nvidia Quaddro K4000 to the FirePro W8000 I found that the Firepro card was Slightly victorious by winning 18 tests vs the 16 tests won by the nvidia card. Now if I was to take into account that The Mac Pro uses the D500 which is slower, then the results would have been different in favor of the Nvidia Card. So I took all of results that were tied and gave them to the nvidia card. In the end the day I came to the conclusion that the Quaddro K4000 can perform on equal level to the FirePro D500 and costs about $800 per card. If you want to go with the amd model, then you can just get the FirePro W7000 which may be a little slower but it has more graphics memory and cost $700 per card.
Nvidia Quadro K4000 Won 21 tests
Amd FirePro D500 Won 18 tests
My Choice: Dual Nvidia Quadro K4000 $1600
Alternative: Dual Amd FirePro D500 $1400
Storage: I’ve decided that I want to build a computer that is capable of running both windows and OSX so I Will be using 2 hard drives in my computer instead of 1. On top of the internal storage I will also be using an 2tb external drive Which I will labeling as optional, but this is just my personal preference.
My Choice: 2x Samsung Evo 840 250gb $326
External Storage: Western Digital My Passport Ultra 2TB Usb 3.0 $140 (Optional)
Optional Optical Drive: Just because the new Mac Pro can’t play or burn Blu-ray disks doesn’t mean my machine has to suffer from the same limitations. With that being said I will throw in a LG BDXL Burner for $120.
PowerSupply: By getting a Powerful and Reliable Power Supply, I guarantee that I will be to upgrade my system into far better performing components in the future. Rosewill Lightning 80 PLUS GOLD 800W $150
Chassis: BitFenix Prodigy M $100
Total $3376 I would purchase some parts off of amazon to save money.