Macbook Pro 15" help.

[PVisitors]

Hi.

I have been looking at the 15" MBP's, however at first I was pretty sure I would just get the cheapest 15" with education discount for £1330 but today I've had a bit of a "wobble" over the GPU chip. I only have a vague idea of benchmarks and the complex comparisons between GPUs so, I need a little help with how some things will run.

Firstly the main use of the computer is to replace my desktop while I am at Uni. Mainly to do trivial things like watching movies, listening to music etc. I am reasonably confident that the lower GPU would be able to do this with ease. (Although I'm not sure about watching HD).

However, I will be doing a bit of 'gaming', but nothing intensive. Do you think the lower model of the MBP will be suitable for running games like WoW, the latest Civ Rev and SWTOR (boot camp)? Or should I try find the extra £300 to upgrade to the higher model?

I only ever really play MMORPG games and RTS games on my computer, the rest I have a games console for, like any sane person really.

My desktop has an ATI Radeon HD4870 and my old, now broken laptop had a ATI Radeon HD4500/5100. How far ahead is the cheaper macbook pro GPU in comparison to these older series for speed etc?

Final question: Is there likely to be any more hardware refreshes before the new MBP 2012 launch?

 

[Epic Xbox Revie]

Civ Rev plays fine on the low end 13", and even better on my 15" (details in sig). As far as the other games, I would assume they have similar strains on the computer and should be fine.

Also, there won't be a MBP refresh until 2012. It would have came with Lion if it were coming. I'd assume.

Final summation, the low end will be fine, getting 8GB RAM from a 3rd party would make it that much better. Enjoy.

 

[PVisitors]

Civ Rev plays fine on the low end 13", and even better on my 15" (details in sig). As far as the other games, I would assume they have similar strains on the computer and should be fine.

Also, there won't be a MBP refresh until 2012. It would have came with Lion if it were coming. I'd assume.

Final summation, the low end will be fine, getting 8GB RAM from a 3rd party would make it that much better. Enjoy.

Yeah I was planning to get 8gb as soon I had enough money after purchasing the Mac.

Thanks for your help .

 

[randomrazr]

Hi.

I have been looking at the 15" MBP's, however at first I was pretty sure I would just get the cheapest 15" with education discount for £1330 but today I've had a bit of a "wobble" over the GPU chip. I only have a vague idea of benchmarks and the complex comparisons between GPUs so, I need a little help with how some things will run.

Firstly the main use of the computer is to replace my desktop while I am at Uni. Mainly to do trivial things like watching movies, listening to music etc. I am reasonably confident that the lower GPU would be able to do this with ease. (Although I'm not sure about watching HD).

However, I will be doing a bit of 'gaming', but nothing intensive. Do you think the lower model of the MBP will be suitable for running games like WoW, the latest Civ Rev and SWTOR (boot camp)? Or should I try find the extra £300 to upgrade to the higher model?

I only ever really play MMORPG games and RTS games on my computer, the rest I have a games console for, like any sane person really.

My desktop has an ATI Radeon HD4870 and my old, now broken laptop had a ATI Radeon HD4500/5100. How far ahead is the cheaper macbook pro GPU in comparison to these older series for speed etc?

Final question: Is there likely to be any more hardware refreshes before the new MBP 2012 launch?

i went through that dilmenna too and decided to stick witht he 2.0ghz thanks to all the posts in my thread.

point is, theres no point of buying a computer with higher specs if u arent gonna take advantage of them. its wasting money. for what ur doing, save 400 bucks and get the base model as it is more than enough for your needs. granted the GPU isnt a huge 1gb, but its a GDDR5 which is a very top of the line model and will play ur games and ur tasks perfectly fine.

hope this helps!

 

[PVisitors]

i went through that dilmenna too and decided to stick witht he 2.0ghz thanks to all the posts in my thread.

point is, theres no point of buying a computer with higher specs if u arent gonna take advantage of them. its wasting money. for what ur doing, save 400 bucks and get the base model as it is more than enough for your needs. granted the GPU isnt a huge 1gb, but its a GDDR5 which is a very top of the line model and will play ur games and ur tasks perfectly fine.

hope this helps!

Yeah. I just needed the clarification whether the games I'll be playing will be okay on the basic model.

In regards to the RAM upgrades, anybody know a good UK supplier so I don't have to import OWC RAM from their website?