Considering switching from Mac to PC

[polaris20]

PT's user group has a good thread on builds for PC's:

i7 Builds - Specs and Results - Avid Audio Forums

Really long thread, but might be helpful for what you're looking to do. I can't say I blame you, you can build a pretty amazing PC with quality components for well under a grand.

As for how it is, I can't speak directly because I'm on Mac/Studio One/Logic, but my friend's a big PT nut on Windows, and he's quite happy with it.

[Breaks Dude]

I am a cross platform producer. I have owned Macs on and off for years...last one was in 2003. Been PC ever since. I built a price no object i7 PC tower last year and bought one of the new 2012 15" MacBooks in September of this year. I am going to keep my tower and turn it into a Hackintosh and run Windows in Parallels...best of both worlds. If you buy quality PC parts, you should have a bangin, pretty reliable Mac clone that's more powerful than a current gen Mac Pro and cheaper than the new iMacs.

[gussyg2007]

build a hack ! You'll never go back !

[Alfonso Muchacho]

Originally Posted by Paul in SoCal

Computers are tools, not objects of worship or fashion accessories. Get the best tools your money can buy.

Someone is talking sense on the internet, the Mayans were right!

[Mighty_Zoltan]

Yeah im interested in the hackintosh angle too. Just didn't know how reliable it was. Maybe I'll put in a extra hackintosh hdd. I have a MacBook pro / iPad / iPhone etc so I'll still have access to apple apps etc if needed. I was actually planning on doing this build and then also getting a Mac mini to plug into the same monitor.

[kojo]

Originally Posted by Mighty_Zoltan

Yeah im interested in the hackintosh angle too. Just didn't know how reliable it was. Maybe I'll put in a extra hackintosh hdd. I have a MacBook pro / iPad / iPhone etc so I'll still have access to apple apps etc if needed. I was actually planning on doing this build and then also getting a Mac mini to plug into the same monitor.

I built one a few years ago for PT. I still use it but im about to give it to my brother and get a macbook pro. Personally I would either build a PC and put windows on it or buy one of those core i7 Mac minis as you mentioned. The hackintosh can be a pain to get all the kexts/accessories working and you never know what apple updates can do down the line. it could be litttle things like the screen failing to come back from sleep if left on too long or the Ethernet not working but if you're going to build a PC it won't hurt to buy the right parts for a hackintosh anyway. Insanelymac.com has a ton of articles out there. Last I checked they now have gigabyte mobos with thunderbolt so you may want to check into that if you want to use it for the next three to five years or so.

[carlosedp]

I like Macs a lot but what is really important for me is their build quality and the O.S. OsX is a fantastic operating system and I cannot see myself going back to Windows as I do other stuff besides audio (development). I currently have a 2011 13` MBP and a 2009 iMac.

If i was on the market for a new laptop, I would get a retina Macbook Pro 13'' or 15''. There are no match for them, even HP Elitebooks (i had one in a previous company).

But to replace the iMac I'm really thinking about building a hackintosh. With little money you can get a fantastic machine and very upgradeable.

Take a look on the suggestions here: tonymacx86 Blog: CustoMac

[Bill@WelcomeHome]

Originally Posted by Mighty_Zoltan

Have any pro tools users out there switched from MAc to PC? How do you feel about the transition? I've used it on a PC before and it felt pretty much the same...

I'm not a PT user, but like you, I see little difference between the PC and the Mac. Even Mix mentioned that recently, stating that since they're pretty much made with the same parts... anyway, there seem to be cults around the OSes, but I spend my time in the application, almost never pissing around with any OS, so it makes no difference to me which platform I use so long as my DAW runs.

[skira]

Going from MAC to PC | Gearslutz

Users who have switched from Mac to PC | Gearslutz

[Breaks Dude]

Originally Posted by Mighty_Zoltan

Yeah im interested in the hackintosh angle too. Just didn't know how reliable it was. Maybe I'll put in a extra hackintosh hdd. I have a MacBook pro / iPad / iPhone etc so I'll still have access to apple apps etc if needed. I was actually planning on doing this build and then also getting a Mac mini to plug into the same monitor.

What I plan on doing is just removing my current Win 7/64 SSD and replacing with a fresh SSD and going from there with OSX.

Worst case I can pop the old drive back in like it never happened. I've even bounced around the idea of trying it with an older mechanical HDD and cloning that to a new SSD if I get it to work.

[Joe Porto]

I am running PT10 w/ an Mbox3 on my mobile rig. I have both OSX and Win7 on that computer, and have PT10 and mbox drivers loaded on both partitions. There is absolutely no difference between the two OS as far as PT10 performance.

The only performance issue I've experienced is with Cubase 6, which requires about double the buffer size/latency when running on OSX, which is why I initially installed Win7.