Interesting Speed Comparison

Discussion in 'Buying Tips and Advice' started by mBurns, Mar 19, 2009.

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  1. mBurns, Mar 19, 2009

    mBurns macrumors 6502

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    #1
    Hi guys. I have had my MacBook Pro Core Duo 2.16 Ghz for almost 3 years. My AppleCare is coming up soon. I am debating purchasing one of the new white MacBooks. I absolutely love the design. One of the major questions I had was how the two compare performance wise? Will the white MacBook run circles around my MacBook Pro? What about gaming? How does the NVIDIA integrated graphic card compare to the Ati in my MacBook Pro? Which one is a better gaming machine (obviously both are not incredible)! I was thinking the base MacBook. I was wondering how much RAM the machine can handle too...

    I would also love some tips on which version is faster.. the 2.2 GHZ MacBook previous gen I believe with 4 MB cache or the new NVIDIA MacBook with 3 MB of cache. From my research, I understand the older 2.1 Ghz MacBook is slower due to the graphics change then the NVIDIA.

    EDIT: Will it be a major shocker quality-wise going from even a 3 year old pro to a new MacBook? Will I be disappointed after having a 3 year taste of the pro? I do love my machine, I just NEED more ram! I currently have the max 2 gigs... though with all the apps I am running at once and virtualization, it can slow up due to swapping...
     
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  2. svndmvn, Mar 20, 2009

    svndmvn Guest

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    #2
    If you're a serious gamer, any integrated Graphics will suck, for occasional games any of the current Macs should do..
    The official limit of Ram is 4GB of 667MHz DDR2, it's been confirmed you can put 800MHz in there as well, I'm not sure but it is possible the limit is 6GB or even 8GB(it kind of was on the last generation)
    The biggest issue you'd have would be the screen, I believe, not just because of the size. I'd consider the aluminum ones, especially if refurbished, a better value for your money, but if you need firewire it's a no-go.
     
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  3. gnasher729, Mar 20, 2009

    gnasher729 macrumors P6

    gnasher729

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    #3
    Normally there wouldn't be much difference at all in performance. The major difference is that it will be a lot, lot easier to add a big hard drive to a MacBook, and it will be possible to add a lot more RAM to a new Mac than to an almost three year old one.

    If you use a virtual machine, then RAM will be a problem. If your Mac has 2 GB, and you start a VM with 1 GB, then your speed will be as if you had a Mac with (2 GB minus 1 GB) = 1 GB, and a PC with 1 GB. That is one of the biggest reasons to have more RAM. If that is your problem, buying a new MacBook will help.

    All new MacBooks can handle a 500 GB hard drive and 4 GB very cheap memory, or 6 GB relatively expensive memory. And RAM and hard drive are very easy to change yourself. Also have a look at a difference in size. The MacBooks are 13 inch. You will love the small size when you carry it. :D You will hate the small size when you use the screen. :eek:
     
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  4. mBurns, Mar 20, 2009

    mBurns thread starter macrumors 6502

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    #4
    I appreciate the responses so far.

    Two more questions:

    A) How does the NVIDIA integrated graphics card and the Ati X1600 256 VRAM card compare? Are they about on par? I heard the NVIDIA is a fairly nice integrated graphics card...

    B) Other then the RAM deal, am I going to notice a major difference between a Core Duo and a Penryn (sp?) Core 2 Duo? Or.. is this difference going to be more noticeable once Snow Leopard arrives?
     
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