Hi Res vs. non hi res

[teknikal90]

Hi all,

Was here a few weeks back about buying a refurb Macbook....
The purchase didn't happen! As I was about to pull the trigger, Macbook Pro rumours came along lol.
And now there's a speed bump, I think I'm finally ready.
Few questions.

Hi Res vs. non Hi res?
I just bought Battlefield 3 and will be playing that on it. I'm concerned that if I get the high res screen, the 6770m graphics card will choke, forcing me to lower the res (non native = ugly?)

2.4ghz vs. 2.5ghz?
Concerned not by the clockspeed but by the 6mb vs. 8mb L3 cache.
I will use this mac mainly for live on stage music use (Logic, Mainstage). Those are the two most demanding softwares I use, aside from the occasional BF3.

I would rather get one or the other. ie. if I get the high res, i won't get the CPU upgrade. If I get the CPU, I won't get the hi-res.

What would you guys recommend?


Thanks in advance!

 

[ntrigue]

If I bought a MacBook Pro tomorrow I would not hesitate to get the matte hi-res.

 

[alphaod]

I like the my 2.3GHz upgrade, but I honestly couldn't tell you if it really makes a difference. Especially now that the standard high-end configuration is 2.4GHz, I don't think you need the upgrade. What makes a difference was importing photos to a library on a my SSD compared to one on a HDD, so maybe save that $250 and get yourself a SSD (or a bigger one).

BF3 works on my 6750 at 1680x1050; just don't get greedy and keep the settings at auto.

The antiglare is a must for me and I imagine it would be important to you for stage use without glare from lights and whatnot. Anyways the only reason I have the 2.3GHz option is because the Apple Stores (retail) only carry the 2.3/antiglare display option together.

So my recommendation is (assuming you can only choose one), get the display upgrade.
If you want an order of upgrades:
1) Display;
2) SSD;
3) Memory;
4) Convert optical drive to HDD;
5) CPU

Obviously CPU must be chosen at time of purchase, so that's my way of saying only get it if you have already bought the others.

Happy buying!

 

[Prodo123]

Hi all,

Was here a few weeks back about buying a refurb Macbook....
The purchase didn't happen! As I was about to pull the trigger, Macbook Pro rumours came along lol.
And now there's a speed bump, I think I'm finally ready.
Few questions.

Hi Res vs. non Hi res?
I just bought Battlefield 3 and will be playing that on it. I'm concerned that if I get the high res screen, the 6770m graphics card will choke, forcing me to lower the res (non native = ugly?)

2.4ghz vs. 2.5ghz?
Concerned not by the clockspeed but by the 6mb vs. 8mb L3 cache.
I will use this mac mainly for live on stage music use (Logic, Mainstage). Those are the two most demanding softwares I use, aside from the occasional BF3.

I would rather get one or the other. ie. if I get the high res, i won't get the CPU upgrade. If I get the CPU, I won't get the hi-res.

What would you guys recommend?


Thanks in advance!

Considering that the 2.3Ghz with 16GB 1600Mhz RAM got a 11623 on Geekbench, and the fact that my MBP gets 11000, the 2.4Ghz and 2.5Ghz will not have much of a performance boost as you might expect. Apple often offers a silly 0.1Ghz upgrade that people might want to spend ridiculous amounts of money on for little performance gains.

Don't get the CPU upgrade, but go for a glossy/antiglare Hi-res. The choice between glass and matte si up to you; it's your personal taste. I like glossy better, but many people prefer the matte.

 

[Kendo]

Hi all,

Was here a few weeks back about buying a refurb Macbook....
The purchase didn't happen! As I was about to pull the trigger, Macbook Pro rumours came along lol.
And now there's a speed bump, I think I'm finally ready.
Few questions.

Hi Res vs. non Hi res?
I just bought Battlefield 3 and will be playing that on it. I'm concerned that if I get the high res screen, the 6770m graphics card will choke, forcing me to lower the res (non native = ugly?)

2.4ghz vs. 2.5ghz?
Concerned not by the clockspeed but by the 6mb vs. 8mb L3 cache.
I will use this mac mainly for live on stage music use (Logic, Mainstage). Those are the two most demanding softwares I use, aside from the occasional BF3.

I would rather get one or the other. ie. if I get the high res, i won't get the CPU upgrade. If I get the CPU, I won't get the hi-res.

What would you guys recommend?

Thanks in advance!

If you ever have to compromise or list gaming as a concern for a MacBook Pro, this is not the notebook for you.

The CPU upgrade is throwing money away. In a few years when even entry level computers are more powerful than the 2011 MacBook Pro, that extra .1GHz (4%) won't do anything for you.

 

[teknikal90]

thanks all!

I think this will be my config:

2.4ghz
4gb ram --> after market 8gb OWC ram
750gb 7200rpm upgrade --> with SSD upgrade later down the road as 6gb/s SATA drives get more stable/reliable and cheaper
hi-res upgrade - glossy (probs not a good idea to get glossy for stage use, but i like the look lol)

What kind of fps do you get on BF3 alphaod? If i down-res it to play at 1440x900 what sort of fps can I expect if i leave it on auto?

Thank you all!!! solved my dilemma in a day...

I just looked around the forums some more, most people swear by the hi-res displays, they must be good.


Thanks.

 

[teknikal90]

If you ever have to compromise or list gaming as a concern for a MacBook Pro, this is not the notebook for you.

The CPU upgrade is throwing money away. In a few years when even entry level computers are more powerful than the 2011 MacBook Pro, that extra .1GHz (4%) won't do anything for you.

what do you mean compromise??