I PROMISE the last macbook pro buying question i have!!

[Gamedevpro]

Well i was about to buy the base model i5 macbook pro with a hi res screen upgrade but then he said that 256mb of ram is kinda low for game development and i should get the i7 without the hi res option since i don't have the money to do so. this is not going to be my main machine for my game dev but it will be more powerful then my current rig which is pushing the 3 yr mark. i will be playing games on it too like starcraft 2 diablo 3 and aion. so should i get the base i5 with hi res screen or the i7 without the hi res screen but it will have 512mb of vram.

the software that i will primarly use is blender i am at the apple store as of RIGHT NOW and plz need a answer typing this on my phone. i can't trust theses sharks of geniuses.

 

[Jaxdialation]

The correct answer is leave the store and do more research.

So what did you buy?

 

[ccashman92]

Well i was about to buy the base model i5 macbook pro with a hi res screen upgrade but then he said that 256mb of ram is kinda low for game development and i should get the i7 without the hi res option since i don't have the money to do so. this is not going to be my main machine for my game dev but it will be more powerful then my current rig which is pushing the 3 yr mark. i will be playing games on it too like starcraft 2 diablo 3 and aion. so should i get the base i5 with hi res screen or the i7 without the hi res screen but it will have 512mb of vram.

the software that i will primarly use is blender i am at the apple store as of RIGHT NOW and plz need a answer typing this on my phone. i can't trust theses sharks of geniuses.

If you are doing game dev, you want a DESKTOP. NOT A LAPTOP. iMac will work but you would most likely want a Mac Pro.

 

[Constantine1337]

go for the i5 high res and 512MB GFX. I have i5 2.53 and in WoW I can barely see the difference to my old 2.4 unibody core2duo. Really, performance gain is not so big and not worth the money imho. And the 17" one is one heavy pack to take with you around.

 

[rmbrown09]

Well i was about to buy the base model i5 macbook pro with a hi res screen upgrade but then he said that 256mb of ram is kinda low for game development and i should get the i7 without the hi res option since i don't have the money to do so. this is not going to be my main machine for my game dev but it will be more powerful then my current rig which is pushing the 3 yr mark. i will be playing games on it too like starcraft 2 diablo 3 and aion. so should i get the base i5 with hi res screen or the i7 without the hi res screen but it will have 512mb of vram.

the software that i will primarly use is blender i am at the apple store as of RIGHT NOW and plz need a answer typing this on my phone. i can't trust theses sharks of geniuses.

256 vram will only really kill you if you are pumping out res'z over 1920x1080. There is a whole article on it. That is why game FPS wise, the i7's and i5's are 95% the same in performance.

 

[Rithem]

If you are doing game dev, you want a DESKTOP. NOT A LAPTOP. iMac will work but you would most likely want a Mac Pro.

This. If you're doing game dev it'll be a lot more taxing on your laptop than a desktop.

 

[Gamedevpro]

This. If you're doing game dev it'll be a lot more taxing on your laptop than a desktop.

i already have a desktop so why should i buy another one? plus i need a mobile for school.

plus like i said this isn't going to be my main computer me and my friends are putting together computers for the job and already have the parts.

 

[TopHatPlus]

hmmm interesting argument >_< have you considered the macbook pro 15" with the 512 mb? that is the graphics card i am going to own and play starcraft 2 and diablo 3 on.

its a an odd situation usually you would be fine but being a game developer the games you make/ play will only get bigger, so if you invest in the bigger graphics now you may really enjoy it!!! later