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cMBP 2012 512MB vs 1 GB VRAM

G

getwellsoon

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 19, 2012
13
3
Hey together,
i am still not sure which of those two models i should order. With apple on campus i can get the highres version base line model for 1740€ and the 1GB VRAM one for 2090€ (also as highres).
I want to use the book for at least five years and i am pretty casual internet, youtube, email user most of the time. In addition i want to do some molecular modelling calculation and virtual screenings... and a little bit of gaming. So my 5 year old macbook white can still handle WoW, but its not much fun any more (laggy on low settings). D3 is not working at all. It would be great if my new macbook pro could handle games without high performance graphics (like wow and d3) in 5 years still well. Not on high settings, but it should be playable and maybe a little bit better than my macbook white is perfoming now.
I dont play games much at all in the last time and i guess it will be even less in the next years. But if there would be something like a new WoW in the next 3 or 4 years, i want it to be playable on everage (to low) settings on my new machine. Would the 512MB VRAM model be enough for that? Its still a very expensive machine and it would like to use it for at least 5 years, but if the VRAM would be a bottle neck, i dont want to regret that i havent spent 350 € more for the bigger model.

What do you think?


Still not sure if i should take high res glare or antiglare :/
 
VRAM is not massively important, but 512MB is still a relatively small amount of video RAM these days. Personally I would spring for the 1GB VRAM model.

I would also seriously consider the antiglare option. I really disliked the amount of glare on my old unibody 13/15" Pros, it made it very difficult to work next to a window with the sun shining in or outdoors.
 
Get the lower cost model. Sell in a year. Buy new. You won't spend anymore $ than if you kept the high end model for 5 years (struggling that final year).

Think of the value of your MBP as an hour glass, depreciating in regular movements. You can either recapture some of that value at the top, or let it all run down to the bottom. But ultimately, your out of pocket cost is going to be the same, so might as well always have a new machine and pay a little out of pocket every year vs. paying a huge lump sum every 5 years.
 
At the apple hotline they said that the small one would be enough for me. 1740€ are a very good price and 2090 € is a very big difference. I only need the VRAM upgrade and nothing else. Very hard decision.
Selling the notebook after 1 year is not an option me. maybe you are right and it would be the best thing to do from financial point of view.
but i buy thinks, they belong to me and i try to keep them as long as possible ;)

Is VRAM really that important? Is the 512MB card of the new books better or equal to the 1GB card of the 2011 books?

Damn, thats so hard to decide. I dont wanna waste 350 € for things i dont need, on the ohter hand i dont want to regret it in 4 years when i cant run a game which i would like to play.
 
Another question:
Are there big differences in colors between glare and antiglare?
If you are not working outside is the glossy screen still a problem?
 
For all intents and purposes a 1440x900 panel does not need more than 512MB of frame buffer. Even with a 2560x1440 panel the 1.5GB cards in my desktop never run out of memory with games that have all settings turned to max and 8x AA enabled.
 
Thanks for your answer!
And what about the highres screen? I want to take that option for sure.
 
the only thing is you CAN"T upgrade VRAM, I'd always recommend going for more rather than less, that way if your needs ever change you are at least some what prepared.

EDIT: also if you get the glossy you can always get an Anti-Glare screen protector if you want to switch, but if you get the AG then you're stuck with it
 
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