PC or Mac

[Anonymous]

My office is about to buy new computers. I am looking for input as to which computers to buy. Is it worth buying a new G5 or should we buy new PC's? Is the 32 bit hype worth the money? Does Archicad run better on PC or Mac?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

If there are no budget problem with initial investment, go for Mac: you'll save money on future hardware maintenance. Beside that, you will have a better GUI experience: Mac OS X make the use of ArchiCAD becomes an experience of pure pleasure. It is like driving an Aston Martin: it transforms the work of the user into a sin of graphical luxury.

[Anonymous]

Everbody rather drifted off from the orginal question - does ArchiCAD 8 work better on the Mac or the PC.

I use both, a 2.3GHZ HP Vectra at work and a 1GHZ G4 Mac at home. Archicad environment is much better on the PC, with the toolbar & desktop surface features that the Mac version doesn't have. The number of times I've looked for the Intersect button on the Mac is in the 1000's, about the same number of times I've accidently clicked out of AC because of accidently clicking on some desktop object. The selected box highlights much better on the PC version, too.

Speed is another matter, the Mac beats the pants off the PC in 3D redraw, even more so after switching to the Panther OS. The Vectra has a 32MB NVidia graphics card vs the 64MB NVidia on the Mac - probably affects the comparison some, but is typical of quality - all componenets on the Mac are always the best available at the time.

The Mac wins hands down plotting and connecting peripherals (scanners, trackball, network). The Mac has been smooth sailing, but the HP is a nightmare with each piece of hardware added.

As for other day to day use, they are about the same. MSOffice works the same, although OfficeX for the Mac jumped past the PC version. Web browsing is dead even, and our Dreamweaver MX web software works better on the Mac.

So, I guess if you can afford the price difference, I'd say the Mac would be my current selection. In the late 1990's, it would have been the PC. I think Apple putting a Mac GUI over a UNIX kernel was a brilliant idea, and we've only seen the beginning. We've also noticed that since 1981, we replace our PC's every 3 years, yet the Mac's (counting the Apple II) run about 5 years between replacement.

Now, if Graphisoft will just fix the Mac version of AC....

RJ Dial
Pleasanton, CA
ArchiCAD8
1GIG G4, OS10.3.1
2.3 HP Vectra 2000Pro

[Anonymous]

Thank You for the input!

We have chosen Mac over PC. From the response it was an overwhelming Mac vote. Is it worth buying the dual processor or not? I know that AC does not take advantage of the dual processor but I will use Artlantis and my new found love, SketchUp a lot as well. We have 4 work staions. Should I get 1 of them with a dual or all of them? Or...None of them?

[Anonymous]

If you can afford it, I recommend dualies for all four. It does actually help ArchiCAD performance because you are never running just one program (the Finder and various System processes are always running), and you will often find yourself running ArchiCAD along with any or all of PlotMaker, BGArchiCAD, Photoshop, Mail, Word, Excel, Artlantis, etc., etc.

Now that dual processing is become fairly standardized on both platforms we can hope that Graphisoft will start supporting them directly (particularly for 3D hatching in hidden line and elevations).

If you get into serious high end rendering with Cinema 4D you will love the dual processors. It's fun to watch the rendering start at the top and middle as C4D makes full use of both processors to complete the rendering in half the time.

Finally, the better the machines you get now the longer it will be before you need to upgrade and the more value they will have on e-bay when the time comes.

Oh, one other thing, if you can afford it you should definitely get 23" Cinema Displays. I use one with my G4 PowerBook and IMHO it contributes more to my productivity than a faster computer (I was using a dual 1.42GHz G4 which I passed along to someone more in need when I got my 17"PB). Also remember that you will use a monitor typically about 2 to 3 times longer than a computer. I have had only three primary CAD monitors since 1990: a Mirror 20" XGA which cost $3000 in 1990, a Hitachi 19" multisync which seemed cheap (and a little small) at under $1000 in 1997, and the Apple 23" Cinema display last year which seems a bargain to me at $2000. Compare this to the eight computers I have used for CAD in the same period and you will see why I consider the monitor s important.

Some prefer two displays which can provide a bit more display area for a little less money, but I have found that working with two displays is annoying and takes up too much desk space. I generally keep my PowerBook closed when I am at my desk since the Cinema display is so large. It's kind of strange to me since the "spare" 17" display in the PowerBook is something I would have dreamed to have as my primary screen just a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

I have a G-5, dual 2 GHz. With panther and 8.1 i find archicad very fast. also i use av works for rendering. Speed is not an issue any more for me. Also, th whole setup is stable as a rock. I really can't remember the last time i had a crash.

donald mac donald