The Xeon E5 in the Pro is faster and costs at least $100 more. I'm not sure how these motherboards compare in quality. The ECC memory memory in the Pro is faster and more reliable. This also doesn't have Thunderbolt, onboard WiFi, or Bluetooth 4.
Last, this is big, loud, and hideous.
If the point was, "you can build an equivalent computer for $1000 less," it misses the point, widely.
Why did you post this?
And it's in an ugly case.
With less useful hardware (Xeon vs i7, memory quality).
It's going to not have workstation level build quality. For instance, my older mac pro has literally 1 cable run inside the case (power to the gfx card). Everything else is slotted in, and done on board. No self-built system I have is built that well.
I doubt I can get applecare on this system. So when things go wrong, I have 15ish different supplies to go through RMAs with (for better or worse).
Basically this "article" makes zero sense. It's just a link to a bunch of parts. Is it just advertising / affiliate?
edit: also this thread is kinda pointless, because it should be well know that you can build the same machine for much less money when going by the raw specs.
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1522158
I have a Corsair Carbide, friend has a HAF 932. Loudest components are those not part of the case - PSU and GPU.
If you want good silence, do a little research - Seasonic PSU, Arctic Accelero cooler for GPU if you are gaming or crunching lots of data, SSDs (naturally), Noctua CPU fan. Far, far, far from loud.
Edit: NewEgg even has a search tool, over 1200 reviews on the Canadian site. Doing a search on "noise" brings back mostly results commending it on how quiet it is: http://bit.ly/16wK3Yr
The performance might not be any better, but the comparison would be.
