If you want to do visualisation then it may be best having a look into 3dSmax, theres not difference in what the softwares do its jus that as a rule of thumb, its more widely used in the archvis area due to its inclusion of vray and a few more specailised tweeks.
What machine you sue wont make a difference with maya as it runs on both, however Max is PC only.
"No pressure, no diamonds" Thomas Carlyle