Faster than my current setup? 2011 MBP vs. 2013 MBP or 2013 iMac

[mikesjo]

Current setup:
2011 15" MBP 2.0 i7 8GB RAM 128GB SSD + 750GD HD

Would either of the below be significantly faster with Lightroom?

2013 15" rMBP 2.4 i7 8GB RAM 256GB SSD GeForceGT 650m
2013 27" iMac 3.2 i5 16GB RAM 1TB HD GeForceGT 755M - I would most likely add an external USB 3 SSD for the boot drive to this.

Is the rMBP faster or the iMac because of the i5 vs i7? Thanks!

 

[keysofanxiety]

Current setup:
2011 15" MBP 2.0 i7 8GB RAM 128GB SSD + 750GD HD

Would either of the below be significantly faster with Lightroom?

2013 15" rMBP 2.4 i7 8GB RAM 256GB SSD GeForceGT 650m
2013 27" iMac 3.2 i5 16GB RAM 1TB HD GeForceGT 755M - I would most likely add an external USB 3 SSD for the boot drive to this.

Is the rMBP faster or the iMac because of the i5 vs i7? Thanks!

15" rMBP has a CPU passmark of 6632 (i7-3635QM)
27" iMac has a CPU passmark of 7050 (i5-4570)

Your 15" MBP has a CPU passmark of 5779 (i7-2635QM)

iMac will be slower however due to the HDD rather than SSD.

IMHO the CPU performance jump isn't going to be enough to justify sinking the money to upgrade. I'd go for the 2014/2015 rMBP or the new one (hopefully if they release next month at WWDC). Current benchmarks for the CPU in the latest rMBP is between 9000-10,000 (depending on which model you get)

EDIT: Ironically the 2012 MacBook Pro (non-Retina) has a CPU passmark of 7342, which is more powerful than the 2013 Retina 2.4. You might be able to pick this up even cheaper, and if you max out the RAM (2x8GB DDR3 1600MHz SODIMM) and throw an SSD in there, I think you'll be happy with the performance.

 

[mikesjo]

Thanks for the insight! The CPU plays a big role in exporting my images? That and the SSD speed?

Are those passmark scores based on 32 or 64bit?

 

[phrehdd]

If you consider the iMac, then the 16 gigs RAM does come into play under certain conditions and if the iMac has TB port, you can exploit an external SSD (even a USB3 would work well).

I admit iMacs are not the best fit for me but I have several friends who find them to be ideal for their needs.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Thanks for the insight! The CPU plays a big role in exporting my images? That and the SSD speed?

Are those passmark scores based on 32 or 64bit?

Apologies for my belated reply.

Those Passmark scores are just the CPU 'performance' scores, not sure if it's calculated on 32 or 64 bit. I got the information from http://www.cpubenchmark.net.

CPU would play a role in speeding up image exports, SSD will be the main one though as decreased access times & increased read/write speeds when compared to conventional HDD would help copy/export files quicker.

I'd suggest it's not worth upgrading, however if you can pick up a 2012 cMBP for cheaper than the other ones and maxed the RAM/threw an SSD in there, that would probably be the best for you.

At any rate I'd wait until WWDC next month to see what they'll be updating or repricing before making a decision.