Refurb 2011 MacBook pro or 2012 MacBook for gaming

Well, you're comparing a Radeon 6750M to a Nvidia Geforce GT 650M. The 650M will be much much faster, but it's also $1799 compared to $1359 ($440 difference).

You can see the benchmarks for different games for each card here:

6750M:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6750M.43958.0.html

650M:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-650M.71887.0.html

So it's just a personal question of whether you want to spend $440 on:
-newer, faster Ivy bridge CPU's
-newer, faster RAM (1600 Mhz in the 2012 vs 1333 in the 2011)
-much better discrete video card in the 2012 (plus better integrated gfx)
-USB 3.0 in the 2012, vs USB 2.0 in the 2011

I would probably spend the $440 for the 2012 model. Seems worth it for near flawless current and future games performance - considering you cannot upgrade later.

 

As the poster above me said its up to you whether or not the features in th 2012 are worth the extra money. I just bought the 2011 refurb, not solely for gaming but that was definitely a consideration. I play Diablo and WoW primarily. Both run well and this is the first time in a long time that my computer has been above the recommended specs for the games (which is exciting for me).

I mostly decided to go with the 2011 because it fits my current needs (with room to grow) and the $440 I saved can go towards Applecare and a RAM upgrade.

 

It will most likely be able to support games for as long as the 2012 models as it the same architecture.

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It will most likely be able to support games for as long as the 2012 models as it the same architecture.


Get the 2011 model and save the $440 for your next upgrade cycle.

 

What do you mean same architecture? The graphics is a completely different architecture. The 2012 and 2011 have completely different strengths in gaming.

Review the links. They have all the relevant benchmarks.

 

2011 is Sandy Bridge.
2012 is Ivy Bridge.

Graphic card is up to 60% better but it still the same architecture as Ivy Bridge is a refinement of Sandy Bridge.

 

I'm well aware of the relationship between the CPU and integrated graphics architectures from 2011 and 2012. I think you misunderstand the comparison. Read the OP. He's looking at MBP's with discrete graphics.

2011 is ATI Radeon.
2012 is nVidia Geforce GT.

Totally different.

 

I think the reason people are hesitant to answer that question is because it's very subjective. I mean, what does "good enough" mean to you? Is it 30 fps? more than 30? more than 60 fps? At what resolution? At ultra high quality? or would you be OK with medium quality? Would you be willing to play the game at medium quality at 30 fps if it meant you saved $440? Would you spend $440 for high quality at high res for most games?

What does "in the future" mean? Does that mean 1 year? 2 years from now?

These questions are really only answerable by you. You know what you want in gaming speed and detail, you also know how much $440 means to your bank account.

As I said, if it were me, I'd go with the newer model because for $440, getting a better chip, faster RAM, USB 3 AND much better graphics is totally worth it.

Plus, the 2012 would keep its value for longer and if you think about it - if in three years you want to sell it and the 2012 model allows you to get another 150 or so bucks for your laptop when you sell it, then you've only really spent $290 more than the 2011 model for all of those benefits you've used in the time you've owned it.