I would say go for your self-built Linux system if you don't have the  
funds to invest in a pre-built machine. The benefits of a Mac Pro (or  
any other complete system) is that you're going to be sure the  
hardware works well and you don't have to spend much time building it.  
I know out of experience that when building your own sometimes even if  
the parts manufacturer says stuff works together, sometimes it still  
doesn't.

The costs for a Mac Pro are about the same as Dell or other companies  
selling similar machines, if you're with an educational institution  
you can get discounts on the hardware with most vendors. I wouldn't  
recommend getting a standard desktop-grade Core i7 since they don't  
have ECC RAM. Especially with large amounts of RAM and important  
studies, error correction might become beneficial. Also, some desktop  
motherboards won't support large amounts of RAM (maybe not the amount  
you need right away but maybe in the future you'll want to upgrade). I  
usually recommend at least 1-2G/core or 8-16G so that you can load the  
machine without swapping too much.

Also with the Mac Pro you'll get not only the ability to run a Unix- 
based system (almost all Linux apps run on Mac) but you'll also get  
the ability to run Mac-specific software like OsiriX (powerful DICOM  
tool) and of course the support and warranty if something goes wrong.  
There's also a lot more people in any given institution that can work  
with Mac than that are used to work with Linux.

I would prefer going the Linux route myself especially for my home  
desktop but for business I really prefer the warm and fuzzy feeling of  
being able to make a call to somebody who engineered the computer  
system I work on.

Evi Vanoost
[log in to unmask]
(585) 275-4549



On Jun 3, 2009, at 5:41 PM, Murat Bagci wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> We have large number of MRI volumes to be segmented using FAST
> (256x256 slices). We are deciding on a new computer for this purpose.
> We are considering the following options:
>
> 1) Linux with single Xeon QuadCore processor (4 cores)
>
> 2) Linux with double Xeon QuadCore processors (8 cores)
>
> 3) Mac Pro
>
> We are leaning towards a Linux based system for cost efficiency. I
> have a few questions:
>
> - What is the benefit (processing time?) of running FAST on 8 cores
> rather than 4 cores?
> - Do we need to install other software to run FAST on multiple  
> processors?
> - How much RAM is recommended?
> - Is there an advantage to Mac Pro?
>
> Thank you in advance.
>
> --
> Murat Bagci
>