cMBP-15in w/ High-Res Anti-Glare-2.3 512 or 2.6 1gb?

[ovation802]

Hello All-
I had previously posted this in the macbook pro area, but realized my follow up question may be more appropriate here...

I am upgrading from a white macbook (2009) and and i know anything will be a huge improvement. I have it narrowed down to the 15in cMBP with high-res anti glare, but I am waffling between the 2.3ghz and 2.6ghz processor. I will use mostly for work (Word/Excel), and photo editing in iPhoto and maybe Aperture. Also movie editing on iMovie. I would like to stream ripped movies to my ATV (I have an apple extreme). Also maybe some light gaming (Simcity 5, steam games) I have explored the forums and googled my face off, but specifically if i am not using Final Cut or Photoshop- will i notice any difference with a 2.6ghz processor? More precisely - will I notice improvements with the 1GB vram over the 512?
I can use the education store (staff, not student), so this upgrade is only $120. After reading other forums where in the past an upgrade of these specs was up to $400 dollars- is this a no brainer? Go for the 2.6ghz with 1gig and feel good about it?

Thanks for any advice/insight - much appreciated!

 

[Spink10]

Considering what you will be doing on the cMBP I would say - no

Consider the upgrade costs only $120 I would say - YES (if you can afford it)

 

[ovation802]

thanks- i guess i will go for it. I like to keep my computers for 4-5 years so i guess it will be worth it.

 

[Kevzaz]

thanks- i guess i will go for it. I like to keep my computers for 4-5 years so i guess it will be worth it.

I say go for it. I'm thinking of going this route as well. Why did you choose this over the retina macbook pro?

 

[Santabean2000]

thanks- i guess i will go for it. I like to keep my computers for 4-5 years so i guess it will be worth it.

Yep. Do it. Not a big price jump to remove the "I wonder if..." moments later on.

 

[thekev]

thanks- i guess i will go for it. I like to keep my computers for 4-5 years so i guess it will be worth it.

I'll point out what I've mentioned before. Some applications contain features that can utilize OpenCL or CUDA. In those cases for those specific things, vram can be a spec requirement where under a certain amount, the gpu cannot be used to run such a function. 2.3 and 2.6 ghz is a minor difference here in long term value. The two are likely to be indistinguishable unless you're timing renders or time to execute a cpu bound filter on an image of relatively high resolution.

 

[ovation802]

I say go for it. I'm thinking of going this route as well. Why did you choose this over the retina macbook pro?

I couldn't really justify the price for the retina. Also, I like the option to upgrade hard drive and ram since I do keep my computers rather than sell/upgrade every year or two. The retina is nice, but the regular display looks great. I figure the high def is worth 100 and I can upgrade in a few years to a better hard drive. I guess also I am a little old fashion (at 33) and I want a dvd/cd drive and more connection options.

What is making you want to go that route?