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Would upgrade would you rather have? 2.93 or 128 SSD?
- Thread starter PsyD4Me
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ViciousShadow21
macrumors 68020
ummmm YES!! no one is going to care about a 270mhz speed difference. go for the SSD
Well it depends on what your goal is...
If you are looking for immediate overall system speed I would go with the SSD.
If you are looking for long term system usage (4+ years) I would go with the faster chip and upgrade to an SSD in a year or two. The SSD technology will continue improving so you can only benefit from waiting on that front.
I am not really sure how much of a benefit the faster processor will provide even in the long run, so you might be better off taking neither for now - but if you have the means I would take the chip and install an SSD later.
If you are looking for immediate overall system speed I would go with the SSD.
If you are looking for long term system usage (4+ years) I would go with the faster chip and upgrade to an SSD in a year or two. The SSD technology will continue improving so you can only benefit from waiting on that front.
I am not really sure how much of a benefit the faster processor will provide even in the long run, so you might be better off taking neither for now - but if you have the means I would take the chip and install an SSD later.
A year from now you will not be able to drop a 2.93 GHZ processor into your machine, whereas you will probably be able to drop a 128 SSD in there for a fraction of the current price.
you'll lose significantly more value with the SSD than the processor 12 months from now.
you'll lose significantly more value with the SSD than the processor 12 months from now.
ViciousShadow21
macrumors 68020
if you have the money now put the ssd in. if you can put it off its probably a good idea with the advancements they are going to make on them its worth the wait.
My 2.4 with 120Gb OCZ Vertex UMBP goes from turned off to ready to go in 16 seconds. Apps launch instantaneously. My laptop is freakishly silent - it really seems like it is turned off and should not be working. Here's my Xbench disk results and I haven't upgraded my firmware yet for increased performance:
System Info: Xbench Version 1.3 System Version:10.5.6 (9G55)
Physical RAM: 2048 MB Model: MacBookPro5,1
Drive Type:OCZ VERTEX 00.PT1
Disk Test 225.65
Sequential 181.01
Uncached Write 252.21 154.85 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 172.37 97.53 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 101.71 29.76 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 400.19 201.13 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 299.51
Uncached Write 120.00 12.70 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 310.27 99.33 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1721.93 12.20 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 821.19 152.38 MB/sec [256K blocks]
It only took a few minutes to install and now I'm hooked. I may upgrade to a MBP w/ a faster processor, but, I will definitely be running OS X off an SSD.
System Info: Xbench Version 1.3 System Version:10.5.6 (9G55)
Physical RAM: 2048 MB Model: MacBookPro5,1
Drive Type:OCZ VERTEX 00.PT1
Disk Test 225.65
Sequential 181.01
Uncached Write 252.21 154.85 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 172.37 97.53 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 101.71 29.76 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 400.19 201.13 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 299.51
Uncached Write 120.00 12.70 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 310.27 99.33 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1721.93 12.20 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 821.19 152.38 MB/sec [256K blocks]
It only took a few minutes to install and now I'm hooked. I may upgrade to a MBP w/ a faster processor, but, I will definitely be running OS X off an SSD.
ViciousShadow21
macrumors 68020
128 would be too low for me. If I was getting an SSD, I would get the 256. 128 might be fine for you though. Make sure you consider that. Also, prices on SSD will come down in the future.
so the logic board or other components are still under warranty?
I was under the impression that if you open up any notebook the seal is broken and your warranty is voided.
You open the latching mechanism that exposes the battery and you expose the hard drive, unscrew it, put a new one in, close the back and you have a new hard drive.
Reference page 38 of the owner's manual
angemon89
macrumors 68000
The hard drive in the new MacBook Pro is right under the battery cover. They did that so the hard drive can be easily replaced by the user. You will not void the warranty if you change the HD and it's really easy to do now.
ViciousShadow21
macrumors 68020
drew0020
macrumors 68020
The Intel SSD will impact your computer more than a small processor speed bump. I added a SSD and it is a night and day difference.
You have to credit Intel and AMD though because it seems like so many buyers pay a premium for their processors that offer such a negligible difference in speed. Gotta love marketing!
You have to credit Intel and AMD though because it seems like so many buyers pay a premium for their processors that offer such a negligible difference in speed. Gotta love marketing!
I went for the 2.93 and maybe in the fall or winter this year, I'll look into SSD since prices will probably be coming down. I thought about this a lot before I made my purchase and thought it was the smart thing to do to go that route.