When you take a Mac Pro, with workstation-class Xeon processors and ECC memory, and compare it to a self-built PC with standard 'consumer-grade' processors and non-error correcting memory, the cost difference ends up being substantial because the difference between component costs is substantial.One 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon Nehalem"...Total: 2499$ Now let's build a PC with the following items: Total: 1100$~ YMMV
Xeons are expensive. ECC memory is expensive. Well-made aluminum cases are expensive. It's not as if the money disappears into thin air the component costs are just significantly higher. The Mac Pro actually compares pretty favorably to workstations manufactured by Dell, HP and others.