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MBP 17" i5 vs i7 for dual operating systems(boot camp)

S

Stingd21

macrumors newbie
Original poster
So I am in the market for a MBP 17" and am wondering... if my intentions are to run both windows and the mac OS via Boot Camp, will the i5 be able to handle it (with lets say 8GB ram). Or would I need to get the i7 instead?

Any feedback is appreciated 🙂

Dustin
 
Stingd21 said:
So I am in the market for a MBP 17" and am wondering... if my intentions are to run both windows and the mac OS via Boot Camp, will the i5 be able to handle it (with lets say 8GB ram). Or would I need to get the i7 instead?

Any feedback is appreciated 🙂

Dustin
Click to expand...

actually, i5 with 8GB is enough to runing bootcamp or parallel deskop.
but, if you need more extra speed like rendering videos or something like that, u may will need i7 quadcore and maybe 16GB ram will be better.
 
lagisibuk said:
actually, i5 with 8GB is enough to runing bootcamp or parallel deskop.
but, if you need more extra speed like rendering videos or something like that, u may will need i7 quadcore and maybe 16GB ram will be better.
Click to expand...

Okay, that is good to know. What will have more of an effect on the how slow she runs i5 vs i7, or having 16GB ram within an i5? (while running Boot Camp that is).
 
Stingd21 said:
Okay, that is good to know. What will have more of an effect on the how slow she runs i5 vs i7, or having 16GB ram within an i5? (while running Boot Camp that is).
Click to expand...

Depends on what you will be doing within the OS.

The fact that you are running OSX and Windows via bootcamp does not in itself put an extra load on the computer. When you boot into Windows you are only running Windows just like as if it were a laptop that came with Windows. When you boot to OSX it's only running OSX as if you didn't even have Windows installed.

The extra RAM or faster CPU would only be needed if your workload within OSX or within Windows called for those.
 
Stetrain said:
Depends on what you will be doing within the OS.

The fact that you are running OSX and Windows via bootcamp does not in itself put an extra load on the computer. When you boot into Windows you are only running Windows just like as if it were a laptop that came with Windows. When you boot to OSX it's only running OSX as if you didn't even have Windows installed.

The extra RAM or faster CPU would only be needed if your workload within OSX or within Windows called for those.
Click to expand...

Okay, when you install Windows as a second operating system, where does it save to? Or should I ask where is the best place to save it to? (for some reason I though it was saved to the RAM)

I was just reading about RAM upgrades and now completely understand what RAM ACTUALLY does, ha! (faceplam)
 
Stingd21 said:
Okay, when you install Windows as a second operating system, where does it save to? Or should I ask where is the best place to save it to? (for some reason I though it was saved to the RAM)

I was just reading about RAM upgrades and now completely understand what RAM ACTUALLY does, ha! (faceplam)
Click to expand...

To use bootcamp you have to set aside part of your hard drive to install Windows. I think 20GB is about the minimum but more would be needed if you wanted to install a lot of apps/games.

RAM would be most important if you wanted to run Windows and OSX at the same time using virtual machine software like Parallels or VMWare Fusion.
 
In a 17", I can think of no reason not to have the most powerful setup you can put your hands on.
 
Stetrain said:
To use bootcamp you have to set aside part of your hard drive to install Windows. I think 20GB is about the minimum but more would be needed if you wanted to install a lot of apps/games.

RAM would be most important if you wanted to run Windows and OSX at the same time using virtual machine software like Parallels or VMWare Fusion.
Click to expand...
Okay that's what I wanted to know. I would definitely rather use BootCamp than use a virtual machine software. The virtual machines are kind of a pain in the a$$. Thanks for the info! 🙂
old-wiz said:
you do realize that the 17" MBP has been discontinued, right?
Click to expand...
Yes, I don't see a problem?
Doward said:
In a 17", I can think of no reason not to have the most powerful setup you can put your hands on.
Click to expand...
I completely agree with you! haha I'd eventually like to have a powerhouse MBP 17" so I never have to worry about anything. I am into webdesign, DJing, gaming, etc. Plus I need the Windows portion for work! I'm ready to not be handicapped with anything lol Plus I like my $**** to open in seconds, not minutes! haha
rabidz7 said:
Get an i7, 16GB of RAM, and dual 512GB OCZ vectors!
Click to expand...
I'm looking at 2010 i7 2.8 right now with a 120 SSD upgrade and 8GB ram (for around $2,000), but OCZ=Sick SSD, but dual? Huh? Can you explain? 🙂
 
Stingd21 said:
I'm looking at 2010 i7 2.8 right now with a 120 SSD upgrade and 8GB ram (for around $2,000), but OCZ=Sick SSD, but dual? Huh? Can you explain? 🙂
Click to expand...

One in the hard drive bay, the other in the optical bay with the optical drive removed.
 
I can't remember the 17" being offered in core i5 configuration. Was it? Seems like there were only two proc choices each release. The latest, 2011-- early in the year the 2.2/2.3 and in October/November the 2.4/2.5 options. The higher clocks also had a larger cache if I remember right.

IOW...you don't have to worry about the i5 🙂
We have a pair of 2011s. The 2.3 and 2.4. Both with Samsung SSDs. The 830 and 840pro. Both with 16GB of RAM. We stripped the OD from one and put the 750GB stock drive in its place. The other we've kept the OD for different reasons, namely burning discs for clients on site that still prefer a 'physical' copy...not on a thumb drive. You can get some excellent deals on those models. $1300-1600. Just be careful and If possible see if you can still buy refurb from Apple. Those are essentially new machines for nearly a thousand dollar discount.

J
 
Stingd21 said:
Ahhh I got ya now! Are there any disadvantages of replacing the Optical Drive with a 512 SSD?
Click to expand...

Well, when my FileVault 2 borked, I had to boot from the Install CD to wipe the HDD and fix things 😉

If you really wanted a second HDD in the MBP, I'd recommend putting the SuperDrive in a USB enclosure just for those occasions you need optical media again!
 
akdj said:
I can't remember the 17" being offered in core i5 configuration. Was it? Seems like there were only two proc choices each release. The latest, 2011-- early in the year the 2.2/2.3 and in October/November the 2.4/2.5 options. The higher clocks also had a larger cache if I remember right.

IOW...you don't have to worry about the i5 🙂
We have a pair of 2011s. The 2.3 and 2.4. Both with Samsung SSDs. The 830 and 840pro. Both with 16GB of RAM. We stripped the OD from one and put the 750GB stock drive in its place. The other we've kept the OD for different reasons, namely burning discs for clients on site that still prefer a 'physical' copy...not on a thumb drive. You can get some excellent deals on those models. $1300-1600. Just be careful and If possible see if you can still buy refurb from Apple. Those are essentially new machines for nearly a thousand dollar discount.

J
Click to expand...
Sweet, good to know. Right now I am looking at a MBP with the following specs:
-17"
-i5 2.53
-8GB RAM
-500gb HD
-512mb Nvidia Geforce gt 330M Graphics card

Do you think that if my goal is to run BootCamp with both Windows and OSX, and also use most Adobe programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, etc and maybe do a little gaming (nothing extreme); that it will be fast enough to handle everything? I usually like my laptop to be pretty "zippy". Right now I am thinking that it would be bogged down a little (maybe not even noticeable). If this is the case, I was thinking I would then just upgrade the memory to 16GB RAM, and upgrade the HD to a SSD (not sure what size yet)... What do you think?


Doward said:
Well, when my FileVault 2 borked, I had to boot from the Install CD to wipe the HDD and fix things 😉

If you really wanted a second HDD in the MBP, I'd recommend putting the SuperDrive in a USB enclosure just for those occasions you need optical media again!
Click to expand...
Okay, I had a feeling this was the case ha. When it comes to the enclosure, is this what I am looking at : http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/VLSS9TOPTU2/
I was browsing around on the OWC site and found that 🙂 (just want to make sure that it is what ill need eventually)
 
Last edited:
the nVidia chipsets had a hard time being reliable. I might suggest you move forward to an AMD based setup.
 
Stingd21 said:
I'm a bit un-clear, are you still referring to the enclosure for the superdrive?
Click to expand...

Ah, no, sorry, referring to the specific 17" MBP you listed that you were looking at. The nVidia 330M wasn't quite as bad as the 9400, but it wasn't nearly as solid as the AMD/ATI solution found in the 2011s.

Not trying to dissuade you, just want you to be aware is all 🙂
 
Doward said:
Ah, no, sorry, referring to the specific 17" MBP you listed that you were looking at. The nVidia 330M wasn't quite as bad as the 9400, but it wasn't nearly as solid as the AMD/ATI solution found in the 2011s.

Not trying to dissuade you, just want you to be aware is all 🙂
Click to expand...

Ohhh okay now I understand haha. Okay I will keep that in mind. Do you think that it will be enough to handle what I had talked about above?
 
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