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Choosing best processor for new 13"MBPr

Retroglide08

Retroglide08

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 4, 2013
114
73
Decided to go for 16GB RAM what ever happens. It's just choosing the best processor. Obviously looking for best bang for buck with an essence of longevity.
Main uses are
Web browsing
YouTube
iPhoto and Lightroom
Netflix
Some doc editing.

Processors I'm torn between are as follows

2.8GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz
Or
3.0GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
I dont think for your usage you will see any difference between the 2, but might as well go with the i7 for future proofing.
 
Retroglide08 said:
Decided to go for 16GB RAM what ever happens. It's just choosing the best processor. Obviously looking for best bang for buck with an essence of longevity.
Main uses are
Web browsing
YouTube
iPhoto and Lightroom
Netflix
Some doc editing.

Processors I'm torn between are as follows

2.8GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz
Or
3.0GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

There is almost zero difference between both of them.
 
I'm not sure what machine you're coming from, but my friend got the base 13" rMBP last week. Even though it Geekbenches a lot lower etc, it exported a Motion project with over 100 layers to Pro Res 422 HQ faster than my 2.2 GHz quad-core i7. It also encoded video at around the same speed.

This is probably due to the much quicker write speeds of the SSD, however I was very surprised that in real world usage a 2.3 GHz dual-core i5 was as fast as my current MBP.
 
Skika said:
Well there is hyper threading on the i7 and a bigger smart cache.
Click to expand...

There is no real world difference between them unless your apps are pegging both cores at about 15%, the 1MB extra cache is similarly useless in most use cases.

OP having looked at your use case you could do it on a $100 tablet. Any mac will be fine for your use you need no upgrades other than storage if you have lot of files you like to keep with you. 16gb of RAM is pointless for you, your use case would run on 2gb if you do only a few things at a time, and the standard 8GB will never be an issue with this use case.
 
yjchua95 said:
Nope, the dual core i5s and i7s both have hyper threading.

Only desktop quad core i5s don't have HT.

Check your facts before posting.
Click to expand...

Even so, many real world usage, the typical consumer may not even notice HT, i.e., it does not have much of an impact when surfing the web, office apps etc.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. So I can pretty much assume I'm safe choosing an i5 processor. Apologies for my lack if knowledge. Just trying to get the best from my budget.
Much appreciated #
 
Retroglide08 said:
Thanks for the replies everyone. So I can pretty much assume I'm safe choosing an i5 processor. Apologies for my lack if knowledge. Just trying to get the best from my budget.
Much appreciated ��
Click to expand...
I disagree. Definitely go for a fully maxed macbook.
Everybody knows that youtube uses as many cores as it can get.
So get all the cpu upgrades you can for future proofing.

If you can, wait for broadwell, because they might introduce a 32gb RAM option.
16gb is barely enough for your usage now.

In a couple of years netflix, email and webbrowsing will require 32gb to operate properly.
 
Meister said:
I disagree. Definitely go for a fully maxed macbook.
Everybody knows that youtube uses as many cores as it can get.
So get all the cpu upgrades you can for future proofing.

If you can, wait for broadwell, because they might introduce a 32gb RAM option.
16gb is barely enough for your usage now.

In a couple of years netflix, email and webbrowsing will require 32gb to operate properly.
Click to expand...

lookout everybody, we've got a badass over here.
 
The i7 processor. But it seems like apple doesn't want to give you a I7 because look at the maxed out 13" and it doesn't even have an I7. But i would get it if i were you
 
Worst advice here

Natzoo said:
The i7 processor. But it seems like apple doesn't want to give you a I7 because look at the maxed out 13" and it doesn't even have an I7. But i would get it if i were you
Click to expand...

Natzoo there is practically no difference between the i7 and the i5 in the 13 inch, they are both dual core with hyperthreading. A very minor speed bump and extra 1MB of cache has very little impact at all. With the OP's use case they would never notice the difference.
 
Natzoo said:
The i7 processor. But it seems like apple doesn't want to give you a I7 because look at the maxed out 13" and it doesn't even have an I7. But i would get it if i were you
Click to expand...

You don't seem to know much about Macs, after having seen a lot of your posts.

The maxed-out 13" has a dual core i7 as a BTO option, but then, since it's dual core, it isn't any faster than a dual core i5.
 
Natzoo said:
The i7 processor. But it seems like apple doesn't want to give you a I7 because look at the maxed out 13" and it doesn't even have an I7. But i would get it if i were you
Click to expand...
I agree, the 1 mb lcache is incremental for future proofing the rising demands of webbrowsers.
But then the OP might as well go with the 15" and upgrade the quadcore there.

----------
Samuelsan2001 said:
Natzoo there is practically no difference between the i7 and the i5 in the 13 inch, they are both dual core with hyperthreading.
Click to expand...
With the 15" i7 he would get 8 virtual cores. That would really speed up his word processing.
 
Retroglide08 said:
2.8GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz
Or
3.0GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

That's some nice budget you got there. Since you're already in the $1,999 range just go all out and spend that extra $200 for the 3.0 i7 lol!
 
yjchua95 said:
I see what you did there :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
You mean I aquired :apple: shares?

Think about it: You cannot upgrade later, so get the ram and cpu upgrade now!
I mean the base 13" rmbp can barely handle webbrowsing. Now imagine you want to multitask safari with a dozend tabs open and work on a heavy word file.
You wish you would've gone for that quadcore and those 32gb RAM then.
 
Retroglide08 said:
Decided to go for 16GB RAM what ever happens. It's just choosing the best processor. Obviously looking for best bang for buck with an essence of longevity.
Main uses are
Web browsing
YouTube
iPhoto and Lightroom
Netflix
Some doc editing.

Processors I'm torn between are as follows

2.8GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz
Or
3.0GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...


The base model would be more than enough for your needs, seriously. The only question you ought to ask yourself is how much space you think you are going to need. That's all.
 
Meister finally lost it

Meister said:
With the 15" i7 he would get 8 virtual cores. That would really speed up his word processing.
Click to expand...

Ha ha ha Meister I see your patience with the idiocy of overspeccing for simple needs on this forum has finally evaporated, took long enough!!!
 
Meister said:
You mean I aquired :apple: shares?

Think about it: You cannot upgrade later, so get the ram and cpu upgrade now!
I mean the base 13" rmbp can barely handle webbrowsing. Now imagine you want to multitask safari with a dozend tabs open and work on a heavy word file.
You wish you would've gone for that quadcore and those 32gb RAM then.
Click to expand...

This made my night :D
 
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