15" rMBP Configuration

[Boomsdog]

Hello, I've just registered, and was wondering what you think would be the best configuration for my Mac.

I've never had a Mac before, but after spending several hours in my (not so) local Apple Store, Have decided upon the new 15" MacBook Pro.

Money isn't too much of a problem, but I'd prefer to miss out on things I do not need.

I'd be using it for a bit of gaming, such as Assassins Creed and Civilization V, and also some not-very-serious photo editing. I'd also be doing some 1080p video editing, for clips of up to 20 mins long, for YouTube.

Anyway, I'm not really sure if the discrete GPU is useful for this, and am wondering if the upgrade from 2.0 to 2.3 or 2.6GHz are worth my money.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Benk3350]

If you're planning on playing AC and Civ5, the 750M will be an improvement for sure.

I'd also recommend getting at least the 2.3 if you plan on video editing.

If you can afford it, I'd say max it out because its harder and in some cases impossible to upgrade later.

 

[AlecMyrddyn]

Check out the reviews on the tech sites to understand the impact of the dGPU on gaming performance.

The long-and-short of it is that if you care more about video performance when gaming than you do about battery life, the NVidia GT 750M in the higher-end 15" is probably worth the money for the performance gains it provides over the Iris Pro in the base model. OTOH, if you care more about battery life, and gaming performance isn't your top priority, it seems that the base model Iris Pro might be a good plan.

The only way to get the GT 750M dGPU is to start with the better base model (2.3/16/513). If you start with the lower-end base model and upgrade the CPU, it doesn't add the 750M.

 

[Boomsdog]

Thanks a lot guys, I'll certainly consider the higher-end model. I'm just not sure about how the 2.6GHz processor would perform... Would it do more harm than good with the extra heat production?