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64MB Or 128MB for pb? Waste of Money or Worthwhile Investement?

Sundance Kid

Sundance Kid

macrumors regular
Original poster
Well, I too am stuck between the 1.5Ghz model and the 1.67Ghz model with the 128 graphics card. I mean if i'm going to be playing games on it should i go for the more expensive model? I'm not going to be upgrading my computer for at least 3 or 4 years after i buy it (i might do the ram though). Since i live in Canada, it will cost me 500$ to upgrade from the 1.5Ghz pb to the 1.67Ghz pb with the 128mb card. Is it really worth it? I hear there is almost no difference between the 1.5Ghz model and the 1.67Ghz model (like 10%), but does the better graphics card actually improve the computer by half?


I'm worried that if I buy the pb with the 64mb card, that it will be way to slow to handle more heavier tasks 3 to 4 years from now.



Thanks for the help,

The Sundance Kid

P.S. I've read a whole whack load of the other pb reviews, but none of them seemed to adequately address the 128mb video card issue. Maybe this thread help some other potential pb buyers as well.
 
Yes, that 64 MB will make you happy. rolleyes: (I got the 128 Mb version but I don't know what the difference in gaming is between it and the 64 Mb version). Since you can't upgrade from 64 Mb to 128 Mb later, it makes me happy in that regard if I should need it later.

Hopefully someone will have the facts.
 
I don't do games, other than simple ones. I'd still love to have more Video RAM.

Get the 1.67 if you can swing it.
 
The G4 increase gives little, you can just notice it but the 128 Video future proofs the machine if you will. Since Apple has had problems in the CPU advancement area from both Moto&IBM they are using video and other things to distinguish different models. If a non gamer i would say the 64 should be fine but as the video and cpu cant be touched the 128 future proofs it. It would be hard for me to invest in any new machine with 64 video unless i was all work and no play..
 
I have the 128 in my PB 1.5. I'm so happy i spent the extra $50 to upgrade from the 64. I do a lot of gaming, so i knew i would need it. It's definatly worth it if you can afford it.
 
Sorry, I'm a bit of a dummy when it comes to graphic related stuff. Obviously i don't use any hardcore graphics programs, so is it really worth getting the 128MB just to 'future proof'. I suppose what i'm trying to say is in the future will normal apps require 128MB to function to their full potential?

I'm wanting to get the 1.67 15" anyway, but i can't decide whether or not to upgrade the graph card. Thanks in advance!
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YAY!!! No longer a Newbie 😀
 
when i read the title i thought you were referring to system ram.. hahah.. i was so ready to say "dont waste your time, get a 256 or 512 chip addition"
 
I would get the 128,all of the eye candy in Tiger will rely mostly on the graphics card...You will also have a much better resale value if/when you want to upgrade.
 
max_altitude said:
Sorry, I'm a bit of a dummy when it comes to graphic related stuff. Obviously i don't use any hardcore graphics programs, so is it really worth getting the 128MB just to 'future proof'. I suppose what i'm trying to say is in the future will normal apps require 128MB to function to their full potential?

I'm wanting to get the 1.67 15" anyway, but i can't decide whether or not to upgrade the graph card. Thanks in advance!
===================================
YAY!!! No longer a Newbie 😀
Click to expand...
Well i thought my Cube was near-future proof when i got it 6 years ago. (i think?) It has 16megs of video ram. It will probably not run Tiger. If so, badly.... Things are getting crazy now-a-days.

kyle
 
At this point, the extra VRAM makes almost NO difference!

When this option came out a year ago for the PB lineup, Barefeats and many others did benchmarks on the new machines. The bottom line is that most of yesterdays, and many of todays, games do not push the GPU hard enough for the extra VRAM to be used. Barefeats study (which is still online), showed that the extra VRAM was most beneficial in high resolution settings, but even then it was only a gain of a few frames per second.

Ironically, they did notice an almost 7% overall speed increase if you BTO'd for the 5400rpm hard drive over the stock 4200rpm one. I believe the 5400rpm drive is stock now on all PB models.

Get the extra VRAM. If you are going to keep the machine for 3 years go big and get as much machine as you can (purchasing extra RAM third party of course). You are future proofing your machine, and just because 64 MB of VRAM may be ok for you now doesn't mean it will be next year.

If you don't get it, the time will come when you hit a wall as far as your system limitations go, and you will be pissed that you didn't do it back in the day. Just my opinion of course.

Also, don't forget if you are a student to use the Apple Canada Educational Store.

Cheers!

James
 
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