2.53 vs 2.4

[tom burns]

I'm planning to buy a new MBP in maybe a week from now.
Do you guys know if the difference between the 2,4 and the 2.53 is so big in terms of performance?
My main concern is the GPU which goes from 256MB to 512MB...
They have 200 pounds difference (education discount) so i don't know if it's worth it...
I use it for graphic design purposes (illiustrator, photoshop, final cut)...
Thanx guys!

 

[iSpoody 1243]

cpu wise, there is not much of a difference, gpu wise, the 512mb video card might give a bit of noticeable performance gain when playing with big photoshop files.
the 2.53 is for bragging rights more than anything,
its completely up to you
your the one that has to justify the increased price to performance gain ratio.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

The 2.53 has 2x the cache and that is the big difference. It's true we are talking a matter of 5,6,7 seconds between the two but if you are doing a lot Photoshop work those seconds add up very quickly.

I bought the 2.4, but I'm more of a business user with just occasional CS3 use. I leave my video editing to my Mac Pro. The thing about buying laptops, as I'm sure you painfully know, is that once you buy you are done. There is no upgrade path like a Mac Pro where you can alway drop in a new video card or compatible processor. So you might want to get to the store and play with each model before you buy.

Here is an early benchmark. Maybe that can help you decide:

http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/2008/10/macbook-and-macbook-pro-performance-october-2008/

 

[tom burns]

Thank you very much guys!
Indeed what concerns me the most is how future-proof the machine will be...
Especially with the upcoming GPU-hungry applications...

 

[sarah3585]

So the GPU is an advantage for cs3/cs4? (photoshop, illustrator, flash, after effects.) I was struggling to come up with a reason to buy the mbp over the mb as I thought the GPU would only benefited working with video or for gamers.