mac or PC for 3D

Hi
I am a multimedia designer and use countless pieces of software to produce the end result.
I prefer to use a pc due to the flexibility and multitasking capabilities it holds over a Mac.
However i spent most of this week over at our publishing department where it is all Mac based.
It always makes me laugh how possessive mac users are to their machines and will defend it to the death.
Anyway, i am now being told that not only is the mac far superior to PC's with the likes of Photoshop and Quark, it would also kick a PC's arse with 3D.
Now, i am not bothered either way, but it is always fun winding them up.
I admit the mac's may be faster with PS & Quark but i find it hard to believe that a mac could outperform a PC with 3D, especially considering that not too long ago, there were no decent 3D apps for the mac.

And Deker's comment in the thread 'best 3D app'

In "The One" they used poser and lightwave for the previs stuff. On Dual 867mhz G4s of course...

what's that all about then

The graphics world is "owned" by the Mac and has been for ages. I've been doing print graphics and typsetting since the late 80's and I have yet to see a PC workflow that could out perform a Mac workflow.

Color managment alone sets the mac apart from the PC.

Don't get me wrong, PCs have come a LONG way. I still remember standing in an electronic store one day and over hearing a clerk say : "Yes Ma'am, with this 8 meg of RAM you can set up a 4 Meg RAM "drive". I watched her face go blank, she had NO idea what he was talking about. I did, and remember thinking... "Yeah but try running Photoshop on that bastard." At the time we were running Macs with 64 Meg.

Anyway, in our graphics department now we have both PC and Mac sharing the same network. If I have to have a machine go down.
I PRAY it is a Mac.
Why?
Because in less than 10 minutes I can be up and running. A good scenario on a PC is 30 minutes to an hour. (more if you run into problems)

Traditionally PCs have been stronger than Macs for 3d work, if for no other reason just for the amount of software and support available. PCs also have more options available when it comes to 3d acceleration options (video cards). Macs are definitely coming on tho, with OSX and Maya available you've got some strong options (LightWave 7 is another). I'd say it's getting to the point where you could really go either way. Speed-wise I think it'd be competitive, I haven't seen any recent head-to-head tests to be able to say for sure.

Chris

"the new G4 (dual 877mhz) is 80% faster than the Intel 2ghz chip"
-Mac conference.

I have both a Mac and PC. I have a 333 mhz G3 Mac and it is so much faster than my 800mhz PC which i never use, but how and ever.... Oh and the ram is 128 on both systems. Maya for Mac OSX is going to be sweet but unless your going to set up the next Pixar (also partly owned by mac), go for smaller 3D apps. However, i am being very protective of my mac, as you said most people are, because you get so connected to them. Which is a good thing. I've never come across a Multimedia Company in Ireland that don't use Macs. If you're really serious about using Photoshop and Quark (sounds to me like you're doing magazine/brochure/printing work), get your macs right now. PC's and Windows are sitting on their asses doing nothing. Mac is where it's happening. Window's is in big trouble (especially with this new iMac and rumours of the G5 processor) *drool*. In the end it's up to you really. I know i wasn't too interested in Macs at the start. Most people have a huge rivalry with Macs, simply because they're used to Win 95,98,2K which all look the same. They actually despise them. I have experience with both. i loved my PC so much but when i got the Mac, my PC started to get dusty...

Aidan:D