Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Can current 15" MB Pro base model handle Photoshop CS4?

T

TBONE72

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 25, 2007
188
11
Hello,

I have a friend who is looking to buy a new MB Pro 15". Can the base 15" model w/ the integrated NVIDIA video handle Photoshop, or should she go the next step up with the dedicated video card? I am not a Photoshop user, so I don't feel I could give her a credible recommendation. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
depending on what they use photoshop for, yes it will work pretty well, for very heavy image work though he would be better off maxing the ram out and throwing an SSD in for performance ;)
 
The only applications that will benefit from the dedicated video card are 3d rendering and games (the latter running in some flavor of Windows). I am a light Photoshop and heavy Lightroom user, and the base model MBP15 is just fine for my needs.
 
Thanks all! I had a feeling the the NVIDIA could handle the load, but wanted to make sure.
 
My wife is a professional graphic designer and her main tools are PS and Ai. Since she is doing snowboard size print files at 300 dpis, her typical file is 300M - 500M, multiple layers.

She works for different clients all the time, so the MBP is surprisingly her primary tool. She is not happy with read/write speed however, she does not complain much about the PS or Ai performance. Slow, of course but not awfully slow. Well, keep in mind the files she is dealing with.

She has mid 2008 MPB, 2.5Ghz with 4G RAM. Famous 8600 Nvidia.

P.S. Get matte screen - glossy with MBP for PS is a no go.
 
PS mainly utilizes RAM and the processor. If you get the new Extended version, that can also work with 3D models and 3D painting. If you were going to do extensive work in that then a dedicated GPU would be better in the long run. Aside from that, PS CS4 has some GPU accelerated features by default (I'm not sure if it's just for the 3D aspects, or if it can offload some other tasks to the GPU to speed up overall rendering or whatever).

If you don't plan on doing that in PS, then you could get away with a MB, however, if you plan on doing it professionally, the faster computer and more money you spend now will help greatly in productivity over a period of time.

For the non-student non-pro middleman the base 15 MBP is a great start.
 
Again, thanks for the excellent responses! I appreciate it! It sounds like the NVIDIA card will be fine. I asked her what her Photoshop needs will be and she expressed that she will be learning it and hopes to be able to use it well within the next few years. So, I recommended the base model, which comes with 4GB of RAM.

Guy, that is a very nice rig you got there!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back