SSD or Processor

Processor as the SSD can and should be bought from Intel. The SSD apple uses is known to be inferior to the Intel X-25 G2.

 

Product MacBook Pro
Recommendation: Don't Buy - Updates soon
Last Release June 08, 2009
Days Since Update 254 (Avg = 200)

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#MacBook_Pro

 

I don't think anyone really responded to your question. Basically you're asking if you should get an MBP with a faster CPU and a standard hard disk or one with a standard CPU but an SSD hard disk? This really depends what you're planning to do. If your machine will be used mainly for video/audio rendering like converting video from one codec to another, then it might make sense to get a better CPU. But if you're more interested in getting your applications and documents to load faster then go for the SSD drive. I don't think photo/image editing is so CPU intensive, although lots of RAM will help.

 

If it were me and I could only choose between the faster CPU or Intel SSD, I'd take the Intel SSD any day of the week. The CPU speed increase isn't THAT dramatic that you would notice it except under very heavy load where you might save a few seconds here and there. The SSD however will give you an incredible 'snappiness' in all elements of day-to-day use that you will appreciate more (in my opinion) than a faster CPU.

The bottleneck of most modern computers is the hard drive and if you were to go for an SSD you'll really notice it.

 

That hardly answers the question. Not everyone cares to sit around scratching their ass waiting for an update.

Uhhh try post #2.

My thoughts exactly.

 

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half price for a crap ssd that apple uses isn't worth it, you may as well get the hard drive. Only a good ssd like the intel will give you the true ssd experiance

 

The intel is a first rate SSD - I had the first gen of the x25 and it ran well. The small size of the currently affordable x-25s was a problem for me - I like to have the whole kitchen sink and not haul around an external drive (I felt like I was always dealing with file management that way). I used it for about 6 months and got about 80% of the original cost back.

To answer your first question, I too think the processor is the better way to spend your money now because the HD is always upgradable.

 

SSD

I don't think the difference in the processors is that much. It's not like you're going to get a 900MHz Pentium 4 at the low end. Even the minimum processor speed is pretty good these days for Apple machines.

SSD can make it feel like a night and day difference.

 

I would also go for the ssd. Intel, Crucial, or the new OWC one.

 

While I am all for the SSD choice, this quote is simply false. Go to the apple store and compare an SSD machine to an HDD machine and see for yourself. The difference is crystal clear.

 

You may have already heard enough in response to your question, but here is yet another vote for SSD. The speed boost experienced through SSD will be vastly superior as compared to an incremental CPU upgrade.

 

Your applications will definitely load faster with an SSD & the processor speed increase will be negligible. However, if you do a lot of video & etc, the current SSDs (up to 256 GB, & only 160 GB with the best Intel SSD) offer limited storage. You may want to consider keeping your apps on the SSD & using an external drive for your video files, edits, etc. USB 2 (& to a certain extent Firewire-faster than USB 2) will limit how fast the files load. There are still some issues with the current SSDs out there (no TRIM support on Macs). I'd get the 7200 rpm HD (large as possible) & wait for the next generation of SSD (more memory and resolution of issue with speed decrease over time).

 

SSD will definitely have a more profound speed effect, but you cannot upgrade the processor later as you can with the HD...

 

Mercury Extreme Enterprise SSD

Greetings all...Just joined here today.

I think this might answer the question.

Here is the OWC's SSD vs HDD Shootout video. You guys make the call.
http://videos.macsales.com/podcasts/owctv/ssd-speed-test-feb-10.mov Any one install one yet? I'm wanting to try one out this week.

 

Agree with everyone here. I don't think you'll notice the minor speed bump as much as you'd notice the improved performance from the SSD.

From my experience however, the SSD did not help much with video work as I recall trying to compress a video file using a unibody 2.4ghz MacBook with SSD vs. a 2.8ghz iMac without SSD and the iMac was way faster. I'm not sure if this was due to the graphics card or the processor (or a combination of both) but the SSD in the MacBook certainly didn't help in that scenario.

 

You'll see a huge performance boost from an SSD (especially an Intel), not so much from the extra 260mhz.

 

I would go for the SSD. I know the current gen are much better etc but I was shocked the first time I used my MBA ssd.

I am waiting to see what the next gen will bring capacity/price wise and then take the plunge.

 

I put in a 50gb one, there is a post about them under the macbookpro/powerbook section

SSD is definately the better option for overall computing experiance, the HDD is the bottleneck for most things so adding a small boost to the speed really isn't going to get you anything

 

Also, if you are doing a lot of video encoding, isn't it possible to utilize the GPU more if the CPU is not as powerful? If that is possible, I would rather spend the money on a better SSD and borrow your GPU power to speed up your video editing.

 

Simply put, if the need for the SSD is not immediate, I'd go for the fast processor as that cannot be upgrade later on (and the HDD can be swapped for a SSD down the line).

 

Agreed. Also, like someone said earlier the SSD size is pretty small.