How Much Faster? Moving from mbp SR 2.4 to 17" umbp

[Cloud9]

I am thinking of upgrading to either the new 2.8 ghz 17" umbp or a refurb 2.93 ghz

My current config is: 2.4ghz SR mbp, 6gb ram, 256 vid, dual mlc 128 ssd's in raid0 config.

How much faster would a 17" mbp 2.8 or 2.93 be? I would transplant the ssd raid into it and hopefully see a speed increase there because of the 3gb/s transfer of the sataII . How about the other parts processor, ram, video card etc?

I work my machines hard. No video or anything, but lots and lots of photo editing, plus I just got a 5dmkII so potentially larger files I am not working with also.

Thanks

 

[alphaod]

I wouldn't upgrade if I was in your circumstance; those specs are very good for today; sure you may shave a few seconds here and there, but overall it's boils down to, do you get more by leaving the money in the bank or buying the computer?

You might benefit from the multitouch trackpad however if you use those things in Photoshop or something; of course if you do do a lot of photo editing work you should probably have a tablet I would think. 8GB of RAM would be handy to have, but considering Photoshop and such are still 32-bit you won't benefit as much; seeing you already have the SSDs; you have practically eliminated the potential bottlenecks in that machine.

Maybe wait for the next revision?

 

[Cloud9]

I guess that is what I needed to hear.

I want a quadcore in a laptop!

I dont seem to hit the 6gb ceiling, I tend to linger in the 3-5gb range for usage. I do want faster processing but I guess I wont be able to get that with out quadcores. The nice thing though is that the new screens, even though they are glossy seem to render color better then my laptops screen, and then there is the client presentation aspect.

 

[clyde2801]

Sounds like you got a pretty bitcin' setup there in the first place. Does it do what you need it to do? If so, keep using it until it no longer does, then get the newest, sweetest hotness that apple has to offer then. At least wait to see if they offer quads in a year or so.

If you're using this machine to make a living, figure out how much your time is worth, and then try to estimate how much extra time the system you're looking at will save you. You'll then have an estimate about how long it will take your new rig to pay for itself. Admittedly, this will be tougher to do due to your current system being so tricked out.

Maybe you could to to barefeats and compare your stock system compared to the latest one and extrapolate from there.