2.66 ghz vs 2.8 ghz

[akke]

hi, i am about to buy a macbook pro but i am in a bit of a dilemma to choose between the 2.66 ghz version and the 2.8 ghz...

1) i thought about upgrading the hdd in either models to 500 gb 7200 rpm.
is this worth the extra 50 euro for the rpm, will i notice much difference?

2) a part from the 0.14 ghz more, does 6 mb l2 cache make a big difference on performance?

3) does a change to 7200 rpm and/or 6mb l2 cache give more vibrations or heaten up te macbook pro much?

and my overall question: when i would upgrade both models to the 7200 rpm hdd, the price difference would be 175 euro, is this worth a
-256 mb graphicscard update
-0.14 ghz processor update
-3mb l2 cache update

i am studying audio-engineer(for film) and would like to use this computer for another 5 years.
my graphicscard has to be good, but i wont be doing hardcore video-edditing.
i'lle just be watching this video ande eddit/reccord the audio.

greets

 

[MacAndy74]

1) Go for the 7200 HDD upgrade, it's a small cost for easily noticeable performance upgrade.

2) No, not really.

3) No, if anything once of our users actually said the 7200 HDD ran cooler!

 

[lukasck]

You're buying an expensive computer in the first place, so I don't think that 175 euro will make any difference to you wallet. I'm suggesting you to buy the more expensive one.
1) Yes, 7200rpm will make difference, it will make such tasks as expanding archives, booting, copying files noticebly faster.
2) I don't know how much of performance increase cache gives, but 0.14 processor speed increase would be very hard to notice.
3) There should not be any heat increse, but 7200rpm will make it a bit noisier and battery life could decrease a bit. But it's hard to notice.
However, the thing that is worth your 175 euro the most is additional 256mb of video memmory, because if you are willing to use this computer for 3 and more years, it will make difference in the future.

 

[Hellhammer]

1. Yes, you'll notice a big difference

2. Not, really. It's ain't worth it.

3. Faster HD can cause more heat but that's more HD specific (depends about drive)

If you'll playing games, extra VRAM would help but otherwise it don't. 2.66GHz is enough

BTW, welcome to MacRumors!