The $999 PC that out-gunned the Mac Pro
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The Velocity Micro Edge Z5
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)We'd already acquired the Velocity Micro Edge Z5 for review purposes prior to the release of Apple's updated Mac Pro desktops, but it sure made a handy comparison even before we finished writing it up. The Edge Z5 is the desktop we used earlier this week to show that while the Mac Pro is a great digital content creation tool, and even a decent gaming system, its relative value as a gaming box falls flat compared with the stalwarts of the PC gaming world. After giving the Edge Z5 the full review treatment, we've also determined that it's a gaming star among its Windows-based peers.
You can read the full review of the Velocity Micro Edge Z5 here. The short version is that it's the fastest gaming desktop we've seen for less than $1,000. Interestingly, despite the Edge Z5's overclocked Core 2 Quad Q9400 CPU, it's application test scores fell behind a $999 system from Dell with a Core i7 CPU on some cases. Even with overclocking that's perhaps to be expected given the Dell's more up-to-date Intel chip, but Velocity Micro also lists the Edge Z5 explicitly as a gaming box on its Web site. For that task the Edge Z5 is the clear winner.
Read our review of the Velocity Micro Edge Z5.
Rich Brown reviews desktops and various other components and peripherals for CNET. E-mail Rich. 
and gives them more respect !
hey I'm sorry to say but according to Microsoft yr just a PC{tool}
enjoy you harassment -:)
Of course, the obvious question is: who is velocity micro, how do I get the computer, how do I get it repaired, how long will it's overclocked parts last, and how much will it be worth in trade when I want a new one? Sure, nobody wants to ask those niggling questions, but they are valid.
They seem like a good company. But let's look at their support site. If you have a problem, well, figure out who to call:
"This page is a listing of the various manufacturers whose products are used in Velocity Micro systems. Contacting the manufacturer of a specific product might provide you with more specific and detailed help than a technical service call. Additionally, you can find detailed product information and software updates. Technical information is usually located in a website's "Products" or "Support" area."
In other words, unlike that silly Mapple, or Dell or HP or whatever, when you can't get stuff to work anymore, well, VMs people can only help so much. You really need to talk to the companies that make each part, and hope they don't blame it on the "other guy."
I'm sure VM makes good systems. I'm just not sure they are right for everybody. :)
I'm not really interested in playing games, so the gaming machine wouldn't be for me. I'm sure it would be useful for other tasks and if I could downclock it then I'm sure it would last longer.
and its a gaming pc, the next few generations of games will prolly outdate it before it has time to break
They aren't in the consumer lineup though
do the math, if OSX is worth the premium, go for it,,,
the rest of us will take the thousand $ PC and use it for about 5yrs...
btw, ever heard of Linux? I hear it works on them PC's to make em FLY!
BINGO! Give that man a cigar!
Some of us would rather be using a computer that nobody is attacking. It's totally irrelevant WHY it's safe!!
"outdated low performance"
Which company is the only one with the new Intel chips? Uh, er....
also the mac pro will just get owned when the 6-core P2 based Opteron's come out, now, what's 6x8 again? ooh 48 cores eh? add hyperthreading and that goes up to 96 logical cores, all running at 2.8ghz vs the 16 logical at 2.66ghz of the Nehalem Pro. add 512gb of ddr3 ram since this is a server board then add a nice powerful 5870 X2 and I think your Nehalem Pro will have lost the battle, both as a workstation and gaming PC.
uhhh, Opty's don't have hyperthreading
Two Quad-Core intel Xeon at 2.93ghz with Hyperthreading 8MB of level3 cache
16 GB of ram DDR 3 1066 Mhz
640 GB hard drive( this is a bonus item to me , i have plenty of 1.5 TBs to go around).
Quad-Channel 4GB Fibre Channel Pcie Card
Two Superdrives.
Work applications include Aperture , CS3, Maya and a few others. Mostly everything is runs at the same time so STABILITY is a REQUIRED thing.
Any ideas welcome as to which machine gets the same characteristics would be most welcome.
BTW, how is a 640gb drive plus two dvd drives anything to brag about?
All that would cost about $6-7000, so why would I buy a mac for $500 more than a PC which would completely own it?
Mac and cheese?
awwwwww is somebody having a bad PC day? I am laughing so hard at this comment I can't see through the tears. Suck it up dude, Mac just WORK. That's what they are good at. What they are NOT good at is crashing, freezing, asking you if you're stupid every time you ask it to do something, and being a piece of swiss cheese for hackers to play with.
I was on my daughter's Dell laptop last weekend. Every time I wanted to install something or change something it asked me if I was "sure" I wanted to do that. What use would I have for a computer that can't protect itself... and then calls ME stupid?... NONE. Keep it. It will make a nice paperweight some day while my Mac is still surfing the web and doing high end graphics.
Still laughing.
- by CandidCam October 17, 2009 7:50 AM PDT
- VM is one of the best PC brands in America. The've been around for years - get your head out of your cheeks.
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