Macbook Pro 15" fully loaded, or not?

[Nitrojan]

Looking to purchase a new MacBook Pro as mine is quite old now. I have read that the new retina machines are virtually un-upgradeable as everything is pretty much soldered directly to the logic board. As I will more than likely have this machine for the next 3-4 years, I have decided to go all out with the optional extras.

My question however, do you think the increase in CPU clock speed from 2.5Ghz (3.7Ghz boosted) to 2.8Ghz (4.0Ghz boosted) for £130 be worth the money long term?

Hopefully someone can offer their opinion on this.

Thanks,

Adam

 

[bees]

It's depend what do you want to use your macbook for, i prefer RAM and dedicated GPU over Processor speed.

 

[Nitrojan]

The 15" model I'm looking at has a 2GB dedicated Nvidia GPU and 16GB RAM. The other upgrade I'm doing is moving from a 512GB SSD to a 1TB as I need the additional space.

Just debating this CPU upgrade or not, before I order - it's literally the only additional 'allowable' upgrade on this model.

Uses will be music (I'm a club DJ, so this is the main use), video, general browsing, that kind of stuff, but also want it to be able to cope in the future as technology advances.

 

[Raymond Lin]

First - max the RAM out
Second - biggest SSD you can afford, or SSD for OS and all your data external HDD
Third - Best GFX, as since Mavericks, they are starting to offload more and more to the GFX from the CPU for graphic intensive work.

CPU is less important in the long run, I am still running a 2001 MBP with 2.5Ghz Core2Duo, 8G or RAM and 512G SSD. It is still quite nippy in boot up and general usage.

p.s. I maxed out my iMac at 32G of RAM It's all about the ram when it comes to photos and videos.

 

[shine]

I recently ordered the top spec rMBP - I upgraded the SSD to 1TB as I need the space but the processor bump was too small for the cost so I stuck with the stock CPU.

I use my rMBP to run multiple virtual machine and development work. I will keep the rMBP until it stops working I do not envisage I will ever wish I had I gone for the 2.8Ghz CPU.

 

[Nitrojan]

First - max the RAM out
Second - biggest SSD you can afford, or SSD for OS and all your data external HDD
Third - Best GFX, as since Mavericks, they are starting to offload more and more to the GFX from the CPU for graphic intensive work.

CPU is less important in the long run, I am still running a 2001 MBP with 2.5Ghz Core2Duo, 8G or RAM and 512G SSD. It is still quite nippy in boot up and general usage.

p.s. I maxed out my iMac at 32G of RAM It's all about the ram when it comes to photos and videos.

Thanks Raymond, yeah I've maxed everything out so far, and as I'm classed as a student the extra CPU upgrade will be £130 instead of £155 odd.

I recently ordered the top spec rMBP - I upgraded the SSD to 1TB as I need the space but the processor bump was too small for the cost so I stuck with the stock CPU.

I use my rMBP to run multiple virtual machine and development work. I will keep the rMBP until it stops working I do not envisage I will ever wish I had I gone for the 2.8Ghz CPU.

Interesting! A few people have said this... So I guess I'd only really notice the extra speed if I were heavy video editing or doing CAD work, and even then it'd only be marginal... a few seconds at best, am I right?

 

[squerble]

Thanks Raymond, yeah I've maxed everything out so far, and as I'm classed as a student the extra CPU upgrade will be £130 instead of £155 odd.



Interesting! A few people have said this... So I guess I'd only really notice the extra speed if I were heavy video editing or doing CAD work, and even then it'd only be marginal... a few seconds at best, am I right?

Yes, you're already a quad-core i7 at standard sepc so performance gains will be marginal. Max out RAM and storage and you'll be laughing. Lovely machines!

 

[Nitrojan]

Yes, you're already a quad-core i7 at standard sepc so performance gains will be marginal. Max out RAM and storage and you'll be laughing. Lovely machines!

I think I read somewhere that the speed increase is something like 9% based on Geekbench scores.

For £130, I think that's ridiculous