Ivy 13" cMBP vs Sandy 15" cMBP

[Gizmo22]

Profound circumstances allowed me to track down a 2012 13" cMBP with the 2.5 chip for what I considered dirt cheap.

Hours after getting it, I then see someone on Craigslist with an October 2011 15" base system that they want to trade for a 13".


I've browed various sites for synthetic and virtual benchmarks compared different chips, but am looking for any feedback from others on what you think on the 3210M vs a 2675QM.

My personal opinion is that either would be overkill. I am trying to stay away from my Steam collection of games, but even then, the HD4000 is sufficient at 1280x800. If the 15" were 1680x1050, I would jump all over it. Since it is 1440x900 though, I am more hesitant.

Anyone want to comment on what would be a reasonable amount for me to add to the 13" on the cash side of things to make it fair, as well as if it is a considerable performance jump for me to have it?

 

[Gizmo22]

Anyone willing to weigh in on this? May be making a trade today and curious if it is a wise move from the financial perspective.

Anybody?

 

[KPOM]

Anyone willing to weigh in on this? May be making a trade today and curious if it is a wise move from the financial perspective.

Anybody?

I would suggest looking at the prices of refurbished or used Macs at the Apple Online store or a site like Powermax that sells used Macs.

The quad-core Sandy Bridge will be faster than the dual core Ivy Bridge. Ivy Bridge brought modest CPU improvements (in the 5-10% range). It was more about improving GPU performance and shrinking the die (which brought some power improvements).

I have the 3210M on my rMBP, and it is roughly as fast as the 2.0GHz ULV i7 (3667) chips at peak usage (though I suspect that for sustained CPU-intensive tasks the 3210M would have a slight advantage). Remember that the 3210M is essentially Intel's base i5 "mainstream" CPU.

 

[comper]

Profound circumstances allowed me to track down a 2012 13" cMBP with the 2.5 chip for what I considered dirt cheap.

Hours after getting it, I then see someone on Craigslist with an October 2011 15" base system that they want to trade for a 13".


I've browed various sites for synthetic and virtual benchmarks compared different chips, but am looking for any feedback from others on what you think on the 3210M vs a 2675QM.

My personal opinion is that either would be overkill. I am trying to stay away from my Steam collection of games, but even then, the HD4000 is sufficient at 1280x800. If the 15" were 1680x1050, I would jump all over it. Since it is 1440x900 though, I am more hesitant.

Anyone want to comment on what would be a reasonable amount for me to add to the 13" on the cash side of things to make it fair, as well as if it is a considerable performance jump for me to have it?

You didn't give us any other information other than that you want to get away from playing games. Your opinion is that either would be overkill, but for what?

The late 2011 15" is considerably more powerful than the 2012 13" in the CPU department and even moreso in the GPU department. So if you bought the laptop for web browsing, email, schoolwork, etc., then the 15" is unnecessary from a power standpoint. I personally have a 15" retina just because it makes my job a lot easier with all of the extra screen real estate compared to the 13" and the extra 2" in general makes a noticeable difference. I don't necessarily need all of the power it offers, but because I do have the option, I do play some games on it from time to time which I couldn't do on the 13".

So you just need to decide what you intend your usage will be for your laptop and decide if you want the extra power and screen real estate of the 15" or if you want the extra portability of the 13".

If you do decide to take the 15" trade, I would personally take advantage of the fact that someone is SEEKING to trade their 15" for a 13". You can probably do the trade while adding a minimal cash value on top because they are trying to make a trade to suit their needs right now. I'd say offer $200 on top.

 

[Freyqq]

Profound circumstances allowed me to track down a 2012 13" cMBP with the 2.5 chip for what I considered dirt cheap.

Hours after getting it, I then see someone on Craigslist with an October 2011 15" base system that they want to trade for a 13".


I've browed various sites for synthetic and virtual benchmarks compared different chips, but am looking for any feedback from others on what you think on the 3210M vs a 2675QM.

My personal opinion is that either would be overkill. I am trying to stay away from my Steam collection of games, but even then, the HD4000 is sufficient at 1280x800. If the 15" were 1680x1050, I would jump all over it. Since it is 1440x900 though, I am more hesitant.

Anyone want to comment on what would be a reasonable amount for me to add to the 13" on the cash side of things to make it fair, as well as if it is a considerable performance jump for me to have it?

the 15" would be much faster than the 13". But, keep in mind that the 2012 models have usb 3 and the size/weight difference of each.