refurb 15" graphic card question

[ibenjamin]

Hi Guys - i'm really tempted by this refurb - http://store.apple.com/uk/product/G0M18B/A#overview

I want a matt display, and the 2.3 quad core i7 will be a big upgrade from my old white macbook. I don't know much about graphics cards, but this one has 1gig of graphic memory (Intel HD Graphics 30005 and AMD Radeon HD 6750M with automatic graphics switching. 1GB GDDR5 graphics memory.) It's £1389.

BUT - the new low end MBP ivy bridge 2.3 ghz model is only £1499 (£1579 with the matt display)..however, the graphics card only has 512MB of GDDR5 memory. The saving of £200 on the refurb is not that significant.

The new high end with the matt display and 1gig of NVIDIA is £1879...so
My question is...is the new NVIDIA with 512mb equal to the old AMD with 1gig (or vice versa). basically, should I buy this refurb...or the low end ivy bridge MBP.

Saving £500 is pretty significant...so I'm very tempted by the refurb.

I use AutoCad, Cinema 4D, and photoshop...but no gaming.

Thanks!

 

[Zwikker]

The programs u listed above will run a lot better with a 1gb of Vram. So I would say go with the refurb one it's a great computer.

 

[striker33]

The newer model has the far better GPU, but as Zwikker said, the RAM will be more beneficial for you.

If you can afford it though, and dont want to upgrade for years to come, go for the high end Ivy Bridge one with 1GB vRAM, you wont regret it

 

[TheMacBookPro]

The GT650M will perform noticeably better than the 6750M in most scenarios, but the applications you use do benefit from additional VRAM.

Depending on which Photoshop plug-ins you use, you may see a large difference due to the CUDA acceleration of the NVIDIA GPU though.
It's not like Premiere where the entire application benefits from CUDA but it depends entirely on which plug-ins you use.