Just got my base Retina MBP, have questions

[Arcadia310]

I ended up finding a base 15 inch Retina MBP at a local Best Buy store. Ironically none of the Apple stores had them in stock, but I feel like they were lying.:roll eyes:

Anyhow, this machine comes with the Intel HD4000 and an Nvidia GPU correct? When I go to about this mac it only shows the Intel GPU and not the Nvidia. Does the Nvidia GPU kick in when the power is needed? I've never owned a machine that had 2 different GPUs so I'm a little curious about this.

The base model only has 8GB of RAM which has me a little worried. I do a lot of video work in FCP X and am wondering if the 8GB is enough. I'm not going to do a whole lot of multitasking between programs like Photoshop, FCP X, Apeture, etc. I just want to make sure that in operation and exporting the machine is fast. My iMac is slow as hell because it has a hard drive in it but with the SSD the RMBP should be quite a bit faster.

 

[panzer06]

I ended up finding a base 15 inch Retina MBP at a local Best Buy store. Ironically none of the Apple stores had them in stock, but I feel like they were lying.:roll eyes:

Anyhow, this machine comes with the Intel HD4000 and an Nvidia GPU correct? When I go to about this mac it only shows the Intel GPU and not the Nvidia. Does the Nvidia GPU kick in when the power is needed? I've never owned a machine that had 2 different GPUs so I'm a little curious about this.

The base model only has 8GB of RAM which has me a little worried. I do a lot of video work in FCP X and am wondering if the 8GB is enough. I'm not going to do a whole lot of multitasking between programs like Photoshop, FCP X, Apeture, etc. I just want to make sure that in operation and exporting the machine is fast. My iMac is slow as hell because it has a hard drive in it but with the SSD the RMBP should be quite a bit faster.

Yes it has the nvidia and if you tell it to always use performance it will stay on the nvidia gpu.

As to the RAM, if there is any reason you believe you will need 16GB and you plan on keeping this more than 2 years return it and order the 16GB version because RAM cannot be upgraded.

Cheers,

 

[ugp]

What area do you live in and did the Best Buy get quite a few of them in? I've been waiting for Best Buy to get them in stock since I don't live near an Apple Store.

 

[Arcadia310]

Yes it has the nvidia and if you tell it to always use performance it will stay on the nvidia gpu.

As to the RAM, if there is any reason you believe you will need 16GB and you plan on keeping this more than 2 years return it and order the 16GB version because RAM cannot be upgraded.

Cheers,

How do you tell it to stay on performance?

@ugp I live in SoCal and the Best Buy I went to only had 2 base models in stock.

 

[TheMacBookPro]

I ended up finding a base 15 inch Retina MBP at a local Best Buy store. Ironically none of the Apple stores had them in stock, but I feel like they were lying.:roll eyes:

Haha what would their incentive to not sell the computer be?

 

[stevedusa]

How do you tell it to stay on performance?

@ugp I live in SoCal and the Best Buy I went to only had 2 base models in stock.

Arcadia huh? ;P Pasadena here.

PS as for your RAM I'd not worry too much about it. Remember the new RMBPs has two very fast buses: USB 3.0 and ThunderBolt.

What I suggest you to do is have a large scratch disk on hand for your FCP (PS I can't stand X, I'm still sticking with 7 and using Premiere Pro a bit more). RAM is not too critical here for editing footage. However if you are rendering... again, have a big external storage, even on the go is better.

Depends on what type of editor you are, on-the-go & location or in the studio with your assets easily accessible. Bottom line I'd get a 1TB portable USB 3 hard drive and carry that around if you really need the space.

PS I'm waiting for my base RMBP to be delivered by Monday.