Anybody Wanna Help Me Out?

[teejusb]

So After About 5 Months of Waiting the New MacBook Pros Are HERE!!
So I've been set on a 15" since it's a balance between portability and power.
Now i just need YOUR help on helping me to customize on for my needs

Now looking through the new specs, i need some help deciding on what to get.


15"

2.2 Ghz Quad i7 (What are the reasons to get/not get the 2.3?)
4 GB Ram (Should I upgrade to 8?)
500 GB HDD @ 7200 RPM (Should I upgrade to an SSD or not? If yes which one?)
Display - Haven't decided between Hi-Res Glossy or Hi-Res Matte but I'll check out the apple store and go with personal preference, cool?
Intel HD Graphics 3000
AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1 GB DDR5 (how does this fare with gaming?)


-Now I don't exactly have a price limit but I would like to get a Macbook that satisfies my needs
-I want this mac to last a LONG time, maybe 4-5 years at least
-Well I'm a College Student and this will be my primary laptop (as im FINALLY letting go of my 4 year old Toshiba A305 which has served me well)
-I plan on Double Booting with boot camp(Triple with ubuntu, maybe)

a. Windows 7 will be used for Gaming​

b. Mac OS X will be used for video editing, photoshop, etc.​

-I'm a Computer Engineering and Software Engineering major so ill need this laptop for it
-I do game, although not as much. But i do love gaming. I don't need games to run on very high settings but i'd say 30 FPS on medium/high is acceptable for me (more the merrier)
-Do you think i should wait it out until the next year for the supposed redesign or buy now?

This is my first mac and I want it do be perfect Thanks for any and all the help

 

[teejusb]

Anybody?

 

[TheHoff]

The biggest difference you can make to any computer right now is going from HDD to SSD. Forget the RAM, forget the CPU... get an SSD. Apple's price for the 128 isn't bad if that fits everything you need. I have 250GB of raw photos and 50GB of iTunes so one that small doesn't work for me unless I also have a secondary HDD data drive but that is up to what you need to store. But whatever you do, make sure you get an SSD as your main drive.

After that, I'd get the RAM upgrade from Newegg. You can do this at anytime but most likely 4GB would be fine for now.

Don't even bother with the processor. You'd never notice it unless you're timing your Handbrake conversions to the second.

I have the 17" 2.2 with the same video; I've only messed around with a few games so far but it is incredibly smooth. The combo of CPU and GPU actually makes it as much of a gaming laptop as it is a workhorse.

 

[lesyork]

Some gaming benchmarks are here if you're interested: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1102639/

As people have been saying regarding the 2.2->2.3GHz processor bump, it isn't going to save an awful lot of time even in tasks where it'd be deemed more appropriate (video encoding etc) - people are estimating a 5% increase in performance, not worth the price IMHO.

If you do upgrade the RAM, which is never a bad idea based on what you'll be doing, don't do it through Apple - any 3rd party vendor will be cheaper, and it's easy to do yourself.

Display, as you say, is personal preference.

Personally, I think it's stupid to wait now if you're buying the 15"+ - they are very nice, quick machines now.

And I won't say anything about the SSD - either read people's opinions on them vs HDDs or hybrids or wait for someone else

I think that's about everything.

 

[HBOC]

let me add something here...

My 4,1 MBP (2.5GHZ 4GB RAM 512 VCARD) ran A3, CS4, AE CS4 all pretty well. I ran VMware to play NBA 2K11 I bought off of steam, and it couldn't really render that well. Perhaps because it was in virtual mode, or because it was older..

That said, the 2.2 GHZ Quad will so smoke it in every which way! 8GB of RAM is A HUUGE PLUS for me. It will make my 1Ds RAW files fly when working on them, plus getting an SSD or even a 7200RPM drive will be even better. And I can play NBA 2K11!!

So I wouldn't worry about these things, as they both will run equally better. If I had the choice of a 2.3 quad or what you are wanting, I'd be on the fence as well . Probably get an SSD and 8 GB of RAM..You can always sell the stock RAM and HDD to help pay for the upgrade..

 

[TheHoff]

let me add something here...

My 4,1 MBP (2.5GHZ 4GB RAM 512 VCARD) ran A3, CS4, AE CS4 all pretty well. I ran VMware to play NBA 2K11 I bought off of steam, and it couldn't really render that well. Perhaps because it was in virtual mode, or because it was older..

That said, the 2.2 GHZ Quad will so smoke it in every which way! 8GB of RAM is A HUUGE PLUS for me. It will make my 1Ds RAW files fly when working on them, plus getting an SSD or even a 7200RPM drive will be even better. And I can play NBA 2K11!!

So I wouldn't worry about these things, as they both will run equally better. If I had the choice of a 2.3 quad or what you are wanting, I'd be on the fence as well . Probably get an SSD and 8 GB of RAM..You can always sell the stock RAM and HDD to help pay for the upgrade..

I shoot 1DS2's -- are you using 3s? Do you keep your LR caches on an SSD yet? If you don't....