MBP 15 Late 2013 or Early 2013?

[topmaverick]

Hello people,

I am getting a Mac for the first time! I've been using Dell&HP 17'' laptops all the time, so downgrading to 15'' screen size is not a big deal, because I'll output to a 22'' screen, when needed.
Im an architect, I use ArchiCAD, AutoCAD and Maxwell. I am not a heavy user of Maxwell for rendering.

I am thinking to go with refurbished Macbook Pro Retina.
But should I go with the Early 2013, or Late 2013 models? I am confused because I cant find a right answer, I've heard many opinions, some saying Hasewell is good/bad, Iris 5200 is good/bad, etc.
So this new Macbook Pro Retina, will be my machine for next 2 years(maybe 3).

So here are specs of my choices-
Early 2013 (February)
2.4Ghz i7 3630QM / 8GB ram/ GT 650M 1GB
OR
Late 2013 (October)
2.0Ghz i7 4750HQ / 8GB ram/ Iris Pro 5200

...Or should I go with the (June 2012) 2.6 i7 3720QM/ 8GB ram/ GT 650M

Thank you!

 

[thekev]

Maxwell has to be one of the buggiest pieces of software in existence. I would call gpu use trivial there. I don't remember what framework it uses, but it only leverages the gpu in preview rendering. Look up the others. I suspect they have some OpenGL requirements, in which case the 650m should be faster. OpenCL is a non-issue for these applications in case anyone mentions that. It might apply in the case of Maxwell Fire, but that is just a preview renderer. The issue with maxwell lies in its time consuming nature on final renders.