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

Help! new macboo pro 2011 2.2ghz 4gb RAM vs 2011 2.0GHz 8GB RAM

M

monaro

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 15, 2011
4
0
Hi,

i'm planning to get a macbook and its going to be my first and i'm not sure whether i should get a new macboo pro 2011 2.2ghz 4gb RAM vs 2011 2.0GHz 8GB RAM.

I'll be using it mainly for word processing, simple games (Nothing extensive like COD), video editing, watching and writing dvds and for music producing/mixing software like Ableton Live for DJ'ing

Anyone have any recommendations or views that could help me out?

thanks
 
Higher CPU lower ram model. I can't foresee you needing 8gb ram for any of that stuff. :)
 
Go with the 2.2. It has the faster processor and the better GPU. If you find yourself needing the larger RAM down the road, upgrade on your own using aftermarket and save a bundle (can be had for around $70 currently and will only get cheaper as time goes on). The CPU and GPU can't be upgraded later on.
 
Price matter ? If not, go for 2,2 GHz because of the more powerful GPU. If you need 8 GB, you can add them later but you can not replace the 2.0 GHz's Radeon HD 6470 with the 6750...
 
Thanks guys

the price between a macboo pro 2011 2.2ghz 4gb RAM vs 2011 2.0GHz 8GB RAM is not that big a difference so i just wasn't sure if the extra ram would help instead of a higher speed processor. Obviously i'm quite a noob.
 
squeakr said:
Go with the 2.2. It has the faster processor and the better GPU. If you find yourself needing the larger RAM down the road, upgrade on your own using aftermarket and save a bundle (can be had for around $70 currently and will only get cheaper as time goes on). The CPU and GPU can't be upgraded later on.
Click to expand...

If you have any long term concerns at all, do this. Otherwise, just get the lower spec'd model. It should suit your needs just fine.
 
Don't get the upgrade RAM from Apple as it is overpriced and can be sourced from elsewhere for way less. The installation instructions are in the manual and it isn't a procedure that voids the warranty. It is a user recognized procedure from Apple (although they recommend a professional perform the install). Spend the money you were going to spend on the RAM upgrade on the system upgrade. In the long run it is the wiser choice.
 
I say neither. Get the 2GHz with 4GB RAM and upgrade the RAM to 8GB yourself for 90 bucks more.

Then use the other $310 you saved to buy a 120GB SSD.
 
get the lowest CPU and lowest RAM.

if you decide you want 8GB of RAM, you can get it in the aftermarket (Amazon, Newegg) for about $75 USD.
 
I agree with Skiltrip. That is what I am doing. Will never use the high end 6750 card so I am taking the extra $400 and applying it towards the extra 4 gb of RAM and then a SSD.
 
sbbluewater said:
I agree with Skiltrip. That is what I am doing. Will never use the high end 6750 card so I am taking the extra $400 and applying it towards the extra 4 gb of RAM and then a SSD.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty good plan. I keep hearing about these SSDs but are they really that good or Do they have a really long lifespan?

I think the Apple protection plan itself is pretty expensive and i intend on only applying for it close to the 1 year mark after buying the MBP. (if that's even possible)
 
monaro said:
That's a pretty good plan. I keep hearing about these SSDs but are they really that good or Do they have a really long lifespan?

I think the Apple protection plan itself is pretty expensive and i intend on only applying for it close to the 1 year mark after buying the MBP. (if that's even possible)
Click to expand...

The way things are moving towards are more solid state storage/flash based memory storage for much faster access and speed increases overall.
Considering the hard drive is the primary bottleneck in any computer having an SSD will greatly improve the overall experience.
While the size might be low theres a reason for that...for more storage space you have a few options as far as an Optibay or firewire powered external drives.

Id highly recommend an SSD for the content you work with, especially music production and live work.

I think the base config should do fine, just note that if you end up doing alot of video work the base model only has 256MB of VRAM (video memory) and if that gets eaten up by alot of video content it will dip into the system memory so you can never have too much memory and its pretty cheap to get 8GB aftermarket.
 
AppleNewton said:
T
I think the base config should do fine, just note that if you end up doing alot of video work the base model only has 256MB of VRAM (video memory) and if that gets eaten up by alot of video content it will dip into the system memory so you can never have too much memory and its pretty cheap to get 8GB aftermarket.
Click to expand...

So true, but the system memory is really slow compared to the video memory. If one is using that much memory, they are also probably using lots of GPU power being off loaded from the CPU, which the better GPU of the upgraded model would help tremendously with. Just food for thought, as lots more of the heavy video processing programs are harnessing the GPU specific power over the CPU power.
 
AppleNewton said:
I think the base config should do fine, just note that if you end up doing alot of video work the base model only has 256MB of VRAM (video memory) and if that gets eaten up by alot of video content it will dip into the system memory so you can never have too much memory and its pretty cheap to get 8GB aftermarket.
Click to expand...

Video RAM is much faster than system RAM
 
First, I apologize for being off topic, but I didn't want to start a thread for it. Since you guys were talking VRAM, I interjected.

If the Playstation 3 has 256MB of DDR3 VRAM, why is base 15inch (same VRAM specs) frowned upon as far as gaming goes? Should'nt it be able to run modern games fine? I really don't want to spend the extra $400 if I don't have to?

I know that I could game on my PS3, but I'd just like the option of laptop gaming too. Thanks! :)
 
Last edited:
It is not the same. You are comparing a dedicated and specialized machine to an all around system. The graphics are dedicated for the PS3 and the games written specifically to utilize those graphics. It is like asking why a DVD game disc (not BR, as not supported by Mac) can't be played in my MBP as it is just a DVD and a DVD is a DVD correct (just using this as an example and not trying to insult your intelligence)? The code is written specifically for the device. The same thing with why IOS runs efficiently on the iPhone but has issues on other devices it is not written for even though they have equivalent or better specs than the iPhone. You can game on the base model, but will eventually find it's limitations, the higher spec'd model will just handle more, but it's limitations will also be realized and reached (again it can just handle more). The differences come in the handling of 3D orientations, shading, latency, and other things that make the graphics sharp and quick. Also the MBP has DDR5 and not DDR3 (didn't check if that is actually what the PS3 has) as you stated, so there is a big difference there as well. Sorry to others for getting off topic. Back to the regularly scheduled program. :)
 
squeakr said:
It is not the same. You are comparing a dedicated and specialized machine to an all around system. The graphics are dedicated for the PS3 and the games written specifically to utilize those graphics. It is like asking why a DVD game disc (not BR, as not supported by Mac) can't be played in my MBP as it is just a DVD and a DVD is a DVD correct (just using this as an example and not trying to insult your intelligence)? The code is written specifically for the device. The same thing with why IOS runs efficiently on the iPhone but has issues on other devices it is not written for even though they have equivalent or better specs than the iPhone. You can game on the base model, but will eventually find it's limitations, the higher spec'd model will just handle more, but it's limitations will also be realized and reached (again it can just handle more). The differences come in the handling of 3D orientations, shading, latency, and other things that make the graphics sharp and quick. Also the MBP has DDR5 and not DDR3 (didn't check if that is actually what the PS3 has) as you stated, so there is a big difference there as well. Sorry to others for getting off topic. Back to the regularly scheduled program. :)
Click to expand...

Thank you good sir! It's appreciated.
 
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