Help! Looking to upgrade from Late 2008 MBP 15", advice needed

[lhlee96]

I'm ordering my new MBP 15" online, and hope to get some advice on my choices so far:

Right now, I'm planning on getting the 2.3 GHz processor, as well as 8GB RAM. I'm stuck on the hard drive choices, though. Should I get the 500GB @7200rpm or should I get the 512GB SSD? I have heard that there were some problems with the 512GB SSD?

Is the 7200rpm HD faster or the 512GB SSD for gaming? Also, will the 2.3 GHz processor speed up my computer significantly, as well as reducing battery life? Please help!

 

[alust2013]

I'd pass on the 512GB SSD. That's an absurd amount of money, and the only thing it would do for gaming is shorten load times, not improve performance. The 2.3GHz won't make a whole lot of difference in most performance or battery aspects.

 

[lhlee96]

Thanks for the advice!
However, will 8GB RAM improve gaming performance by a significant amount?

 

[NZed]

Thanks for the advice!
However, will 8GB RAM improve gaming performance by a significant amount?

Yes it will but... WOAH! Are you sure you want the upgrade to 8gb ram choice??? you could buy 8gb of ram a hell lot cheaper from 3rd party dealers!

OWC sell nice rams
and also Crucial Rams

 

[alust2013]

Yes it will but... WOAH! Are you sure you want the upgrade to 8gb ram choice??? you could buy 8gb of ram a hell lot cheaper from 3rd party dealers!

OWC sell nice rams
and also Crucial Rams

8GB probably won't do a whole lot for gaming. Most games are 32-bit, meaning they can't take advantage of more than 4GB anyhow. My gaming performance wasn't any better when I went from 2GB to 4GB

 

[zwodubber]

I went from a 2007 15" MBP for my daily work computer to a 2011 13" core i5 and am glad I went with the 13". Perfect size for being on the go and when I get home I plug into a 25" LCD.

I currently have 4GB of RAM and will upgrade to 8 soon. Not sure about gaming as I primarily use Fluke and Dranetz software on the windows partition and Adobe PS, ID, AI on the mac partition.