MacBook Pro performance?

[Drownthecity]

Alright, so I creep this site a lot but would like some opinions from those with experience. I sold my 06 MacBook finally in need of an upgrade (for $700 ). I'm planning on using my new MBP for college courses but I also plan on playing Counterstrike Source and a little WoW. My question is would a 13" with SSD and 3rd party 8gb RAM upgrade handle these games decently?

 

[Eradik]

Alright, so I creep this site a lot but would like some opinions from those with experience. I sold my 06 MacBook finally in need of an upgrade (for $700 ). I'm planning on using my new MBP for college courses but I also plan on playing Counterstrike Source and a little WoW. My question is would a 13" with SSD and 3rd party 8gb RAM upgrade handle these games decently?

Yes. Not decently, amazingly.

The biggest question is, what kind of college courses and are you planning on any additional games? This point is moot if you can afford a larger SSD, but most of us keep to 128-256gb SSD drives which might leave you with limited space.

I think WoW takes up quite a bit of space now that theres so many expansions, and if your schooling is in like graphic design or something you might find yourself short on space.

Other than that, a SSD and 8gb of ram would make your computer FLY! I highly recommend 8gb since I upgraded and SSDs and hybrid SSDs are amazing upgrades!

Also, make sure you buy your SSD third party too. Don't pay Apple prices for SSDs or ram, not worth it at all IMO

 

[Drownthecity]

I'm actually in the computer science department so I won't do very hardware intensive program. I'm not looking to be a hardcore gamer, I'm just trying to kill some time, especially in class when my professor rambles on about code I already know

Also I have a media server set up on a Mac mini that I use remotely so storage isn't an issue in the least bit.

 

[Dwalls90]

Alright, so I creep this site a lot but would like some opinions from those with experience. I sold my 06 MacBook finally in need of an upgrade (for $700 ). I'm planning on using my new MBP for college courses but I also plan on playing Counterstrike Source and a little WoW. My question is would a 13" with SSD and 3rd party 8gb RAM upgrade handle these games decently?

Wow, kudos to you! I sold my 2006 Black Macbook for like $400! (Though it was a bit banged up).

If you want a GREAT gaming upgrade, go for the 15" - it will feel AMAZINGLY different, that's what I did. The 13" MBP still has integrated graphics which is kinda sucky, but still a minor upgrade to the MB you had before at least.

 

[lifeinhd]

You might even consider the 13" Air. Really the only con of the Air is you can't get 8GB RAM, only 4. But everything else is the same or better-- better resolution, same graphics card, thinner and lighter, SSD standard, not as glossy, still has an SD card reader, backlit keyboard, still dual core, same battery life... in fact 8GB RAM is really the only reason for the 13" Pro to exist IMHO.

 

[randomrazr]

all out on quad core 15inch with anti glare display

 

[Eradik]

If you want a GREAT gaming upgrade, go for the 15" - it will feel AMAZINGLY different, that's what I did. The 13" MBP still has integrated graphics which is kinda sucky, but still a minor upgrade to the MB you had before at least.

Good catch! I didn't catch that it was 13" rather than the 15". You're absolutely right, the 15" will be much better performance wise for games over the 13".

 

[Drownthecity]

Well I definitely still want an SSD and 8gb of RAM no matter what. But would the price difference really make up for itself between the 13" and 15"?

 

[Dwalls90]

Well I definitely still want an SSD and 8gb of RAM no matter what. But would the price difference really make up for itself between the 13" and 15"?

In short, yes.

Think of it like this, to go from the Higher end 13" MBP to the Lower end 15" MBP you get:

- Quad-Core 2.0Ghz i7 instead of Dual-Core i7
- Larger display, higher resolution
- Discreet (MUCH better) GPU

For $300 (less if you have a student discount), it's definitely a "worth-it" upgrade.

As said above, I completely agree that if you're looking into the 13" MBP, you really might as well get an Air. It IS true that you are limited to 4Gb of RAM, which is still a solid amount, and your storage options are limited, but it's basically a great alternative.

 

[Adamantoise]

In short, yes.

Think of it like this, to go from the Higher end 13" MBP to the Lower end 15" MBP you get:

- Quad-Core 2.0Ghz i7 instead of Dual-Core i7
- Larger display, higher resolution
- Discreet (MUCH better) GPU

For $300 (less if you have a student discount), it's definitely a "worth-it" upgrade.

As said above, I completely agree that if you're looking into the 13" MBP, you really might as well get an Air. It IS true that you are limited to 4Gb of RAM, which is still a solid amount, and your storage options are limited, but it's basically a great alternative.

Yeah the 15" is definitely an upgrade.

However, there's just something 'ideal' about the size of the 13" Macbook Pro.

 

[h00ligan]

If they just offered it with 1440 screen it would be a freaking no brainer!

 

[Naimfan]

You might even consider the 13" Air. Really the only con of the Air is you can't get 8GB RAM, only 4. But everything else is the same or better-- better resolution, same graphics card, thinner and lighter, SSD standard, not as glossy, still has an SD card reader, backlit keyboard, still dual core, same battery life... in fact 8GB RAM is really the only reason for the 13" Pro to exist IMHO.

Great advice if you want to have to replace your laptop in a year or two . . .

Let's see--the only thing the Air offers is a massive performance and upgradeability hit in exchange for . . . oh, right: a LOT more money.

 

[Adamantoise]

Great advice if you want to have to replace your laptop in a year or two . . .

Let's see--the only thing the Air offers is a massive performance and upgradeability hit in exchange for . . . oh, right: a LOT more money.

Haha honestly I never understood people that fell in love with the Air.

The only reason to get an Air is if you cannot put up with the weight of a 13" MBP (That's it! There's no advantage of the Air over the MBP ... People will say 1440 resolution but that's no reason to compromise everything else).

And if you cannot put up with the weight of a 13" MBP then you have more serious problems than deciding what computer to buy.

 

[PAPO]

I'd say get the 15" if you want to do any gaming, the dedicated gfx will be a gig help, I have the better 15" and CS:S will run at full settings, it's a true joy

 

[lifeinhd]

Haha honestly I never understood people that fell in love with the Air.

The only reason to get an Air is if you cannot put up with the weight of a 13" MBP (That's it! There's no advantage of the Air over the MBP ... People will say 1440 resolution but that's no reason to compromise everything else).

And if you cannot put up with the weight of a 13" MBP then you have more serious problems than deciding what computer to buy.

Not quite sure what you're on about. Your "compromise everything else" argument might hold true if we were talking about 2008's MacBook Air, but we're not. Bear in mind the 2011 Air out-performs the 2010 MacBook Pro. It's no slouch. And most people don't even need 8GB RAM really (though obviously it's good for future-proofing). My 2006 MBP tops out at 3GB, and I'm just starting to suffer performance issues.

Notice I listed all the ways the Air is better than the Pro in my post above-- might want to reread that

And to the OP: I would argue that even the higher resolution alone is reason enough to get the Air. You're getting the resolution of the 15" Pro with the form factor of the Air, meaning even if you get the high-end Air, you're still saving $200 over the baseline 15" Pro.

 

[Naimfan]

Not quite sure what you're on about. Your "compromise everything else" argument might hold true if we were talking about 2008's MacBook Air, but we're not. Bear in mind the 2011 Air out-performs the 2010 MacBook Pro. It's no slouch. And most people don't even need 8GB RAM really (though obviously it's good for future-proofing). My 2006 MBP tops out at 3GB, and I'm just starting to suffer performance issues.

Notice I listed all the ways the Air is better than the Pro in my post above-- might want to reread that

And to the OP: I would argue that even the higher resolution alone is reason enough to get the Air. You're getting the resolution of the 15" Pro with the form factor of the Air, meaning even if you get the high-end Air, you're still saving $200 over the baseline 15" Pro.

So let's review:

The current Air has less storage space, is not upgradeable/expandable, has inferior color gamut and accuracy, is still quite a bit slower than the base 13" MBP (let alone the quad core 15"), has no optical drive, no ethernet, and will require you to replace the entire machine when you need to upgrade. And, as a matter of opinion, it is not as good looking as the MBP--I prefer the uniformity of the MBPs body.

In exchange for giving up all that, the Air is lighter. Oh, and substantially more expensive then the base 13", which can be had for $999. And don't forget that to even approach the 13" MBP on synthetic benchmarks means adding $100 to get a BTO machine with the 1.8 GHz ULV CPU.