Retina 13'', Same price: i7 128GB 2012 -or- i5 256GB 2013

[freeeman]

Hi there,

I ordered a 13'' i7 2.9ghz and after all i wonder ,if i want to spend roughly same price, should i go for a i7 2.9 ghz with 128gb SSD(cpu is a i7 3520m, launched last year) or go for the 256gb SSD i5 2.6 ghz (a i5 3230m which tough slower of course, was launched this year)

Thing is, i dont really care that much for the bigger ssd (though i heard same model 256gb ssd can be faster than a 128gb..) but i did thought
that a better CPU is always welcome as you REALLY can't change it (where ssd is imaginable) and considering the retina display etc.

BUT, then again, the i7 2.9 ghz is from last year and the i5 is from this year. What i wonder is for example between the 128 i7 2.9 ghz and the 256 i7 (too) 3.0 ghz which is also new option from this year, did intel actually changed ANYTHING or ONLY incremented the bus ration lol which means they are LITTERALY the same cpu just, so to say, one is slighlty 'overclocked' compared to the "older" one????

This benchmark also show even even less difference, not even 1000 points between 'new' i5 and older i7 : http://www.slashgear.com/retina-macbook-pro-benchmarks-show-minor-improvements-23270820/

But i dont know i also guess the 4m cache vs 3m cache can ACTUALLY be usefull on some task no matter the scores?


Thanks a lot

 

[vatter69]

Only you can answer that. 128G seems very little but many people have a NAS these days where all the media content is stored.

I am one of these users, still got the 256GB version and have everything installed i wanted (even crap like Diablo 3 and HalfLife2, for testing) and only used 90 GIG so far. I don't see myself adding much more in the future either.

The speed difference between the i5 and i7 are in the 15% range. It's certainly more future proof to have a faster CPU but again, if i had the choice between the 2.6 i5 /w 256 GB and 2.9 i7 with 128 i'd take the 2.6 every time.

 

[freeeman]

Only you can answer that. 128G seems very little but many people have a NAS these days where all the media content is stored.

I am one of these users, still got the 256GB version and have everything installed i wanted (even crap like Diablo 3 and HalfLife2, for testing) and only used 90 GIG so far. I don('t see myself adding much more in the future either.

The speed difference between the i5 and i7 are in the 15% range. It's certainly more future proof to have a faster CPU but again, if i had the choice between the 2.6 i5 /w 256 GB and 2.9 i7 with 128 i'd take the 2.6 every time.

I think I'll be ok with the 128 for a while.. but i was wondering if the i7 2013 3.0ghz (option available only with the 256gb macbook) and the i7 2.9ghz 2012 (option on the 128gb ssd macbook) are actually different in ANYTHING else than just the slightly faster speed?? I mean this seems to when I look at the benchmark of the link i provided..0.1 ghz improvement seems to have big impact

 

[vatter69]

The difference will be within 0% Seriously, 2.9 or 3.0 , thats 100 Mhz. Cache is the same. You will not notice a difference.

 

[altaneriu]

I have a similar choice to take, but perhaps easier. I can acquire the older rMPB 13" with the i7@2.9 or with the newer i5@2.6, both with a 256 drive, for the same price. Why the doubt, you ask? Heat, noise and run time. Does the older i7 have any known battery drainage, noise or heat issues?

Thank you.