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should i buy macbook pro or mac pro?

A

alex00100

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 17, 2011
469
1,227
Moscow, Russia
hi everyone!
im going to buy a new computer. my current laptop is a very buggy hackintosh.
im 3d and 2d animator. i use autodesk maya for 3d. does it run good on mbp? fast enough? what about rendering? ill use it for some web surfing too.
the reason i want a laptop is that i go to other location almost every week for 1 of 2(very occasionally) days. but here i have quite much free time for using it.
and what is resolution of "Hi-Res Glossy Widescreen Display" option in configuring it at online store? is it fullHD(1920x1200)?
im thinking about buying 6 core mac pro or 2011 15"(or should i buy 17"?) macbookpro 2.2GHz 8gb. and is 2.3GHz option big improvement? but i think i wont be able to find it in russia anyway).
what should i take? macbook pro or mac pro?
thanks.

i has also heard about freezing problems in 2011 mbps. what is it? will this happen when rendering? how fast will it be fixed?
 
I'd go for a 15" MBP given that it provides mobility and the benchmarks are extremely impressive.
 
The freezing is no longer an issue, it was a driver issue that got patched in 10.6.7. If you are comfortable inside of a laptop you can replace the thermal paste between the CPU and the heat sink for an even cooler laptop. Though they run cooler I haven't seen any benchmarks that show reducing the thermal paste actually increases the performance capabilities beyond just running cooler.

As for the MacBook Pro/MacPro question you're obviously going to get more performance out of a MacPro but they can get very expensive and the '11 quad-core MBPs are incredibly capable machines. The 17" 2.3GHz Quad with 8GB of RAM is going to be your best desktop replacement. Since you aren't traveling every day the added size of the 17 over the 15 shouldn't be a deterrent in anyway and the added screen space is more than welcome for what you'll be doing. The 17 also seems to run a little cooler and edges out a 15 with the same specs in the benchmarks. Also the ability to upgrade to 16GB of RAM in the future (when prices drop from $1,600) is a welcome plus. The MacPro with 8 and 12 cores is going to clearly be more powerful but they don't come cheap.
 
i have an external display at home (but not at my second work location i spend 1-2 days a week) so i dont need 17" most of the time.
and what is the resolution of "hi-res display"? and is 2.3GHz big improvement?
and what the difference between MP and MBP is like? is it big? will MBP be enough for me?
 
Is RAM amount an issue for you?

I use a MacPro at work. For my line of work RAM turns out to have an effect. When I had the base 3 gigs (my manager didn't think of ordering more when I started) my compiles took a long time. Double the RAM and reducing the thrashing on the disk and now my compiles are at most 20 minutes.

So with the MBP you are still limited to 8 gigs while with the desktops you can go up to 16 to 32 gigs depending on your configuration.
 
now im limited to 4gb. and its almost ok for me. i think 8gig would be ok.
also i heard about 16gigs somewhere. maybe i was just a rumor. anyway, i think 8 gigs is ok.
what other issues i can get by choosing a MBP?
 
cotak said:
So with the MBP you are still limited to 8 gigs while with the desktops you can go up to 16 to 32 gigs depending on your configuration.
Click to expand...

The MBP can use up to 16GB of ram, but such a configuration is...prohibitively expensive. (It costs nearly as much as the MBP itself at the moment)
 
alex00100 said:
and what is the resolution of "hi-res display"? and is 2.3GHz big improvement?
and what the difference between MP and MBP is like? is it big? will MBP be enough for me?
Click to expand...
15" hi-res display is 1680x1050 and the 17" is 1920x1200. Can you be more specific about exactly what differences you're referring to? I'm of the opinion that if you don't know how or why the specs of the MacPro surpass a MBP then you probably don't need a MacPro. Just get yourself a very capable quad-core MBP with 8GB of RAM and be happy with your purchase.

And 16GB of RAM in the '11 MBP is not a rumor. It's an aftermarket upgrade that is very very expensive even from the cheapest retailers.
 
16GB of RAM upgrade is currently about $1600 while an 8Gb ram upgrade is oly about $100. However, in a year or so prices will drop and when that happens you can give your MBP a nice boost for those intensive tasks. With quad core CPU's and 16gb ram potential is easy to justify an MBP as your only computer, especially if you need some mobility - even if that is just your couch.

The games is changing, especially with the latest and greatest MBP's.
 
so, is MBP good enough for 3d rendering? even for some big scenes?
and is 2.3GHz big improvement?
i think i will go with 2.2GHz(or 2.3 if it worth it), 15" hi-res and 8gb. and what is the best stand for it? is mStand a good one? so i will be able to use both MBP and external display comfortably.
i also want to know more opinions about the purchase. its quite an expensive so i want to know for sure.
 
Ideally for 3d rendering in Maya you want a workstation GPU like the Nvidia FX series. Sometimes gaming cards can be softmodded into these cards, but that's not always the case. In any event, you'll want as much power as is possible for rendering large 3d scenes. That's a Mac Pro's job, not a laptop's.
 
i dont have huge scenes anyway. i was just curious. but what are other opinions? and what about 2.3GHz?
so will it be good with hi-poly zbrush modeling and animating and other work in maya and rendering of course. its not a problem if it would take quite too long. but not TOO long. is MBP is good? very good mayby? :)
 
alex00100 said:
i dont have huge scenes anyway. i was just curious. but what are other opinions? and what about 2.3GHz?
so will it be good with hi-poly zbrush modeling and animating and other work in maya and rendering of course. its not a problem if it would take quite too long. but not TOO long. is MBP is good? very good mayby? :)
Click to expand...

If you get a MBP, just make sure you get the one with the AMD 6750 graphics chip with 1GB VRAM. The 1GB of VRAM will be critical for 3D rendering work.
 
im choosing a shop to buy from now. we dont have apple stores here, in russia. only resellers. so choosing is quite difficult.
im going to buy 17" glossy 2.2GHz 8gb AMD 6750 and mStand. good?
 
but when the application is opened is doesnt speed me up, right? but maybe fast booting every time saves a lot of time.
also i have only found one shop i can buy such configuration from. and they only have 256gb ssd. but its just over 600$ more then hdd model! while apple offers it for 1600$. but i havnt contacted them yet, maybe its just a mistake in the pricelist.
 
Well if you want it for performance than a mac pro. But you can always get a sony laptop with insane performance for half of what a macbook pro is.
 
i think i will still buy macbook pro. the only thing i would get mac pro is rendering that i dont do much. i can wait once a month/year/etc.
also there is quite a lot of shops that offer anti-glare models. i think i will need to go to the shop that has both screens and compare. i dont know which one to choose.
 
alex00100 said:
i think i will still buy macbook pro. the only thing i would get mac pro is rendering that i dont do much. i can wait once a month/year/etc.
also there is quite a lot of shops that offer anti-glare models. i think i will need to go to the shop that has both screens and compare. i dont know which one to choose.
Click to expand...

Anti-glare does better in sunlight and the colors are more accurate. Glare or glossy makes the colors "pop" as they are more saturated.
 
i couldnt find any shop i can see both screens at. but i dont usually sit near windows or something so i will go with glossy i think.
but im still not sure about the ssd. does it worth the money?
 
alex00100 said:
i couldnt find any shop i can see both screens at. but i dont usually sit near windows or something so i will go with glossy i think.
but im still not sure about the ssd. does it worth the money?
Click to expand...

It depends if you value quick bootup times, apps starting quickly and the like. If you move or work with large files, it could help too.
 
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