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What is the ideal setup/build(?) for a rMBP?

P

PJ-Graphix

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 24, 2012
10
0
  • 2.6GHz vs 2.7GHZ... i dont see too much of a difference to justify $250
  • 8GB vs 16GB... a no brainer as upgrading is impossible after, id go with the 16G
  • 512GB Flash Storage vs 768GB Flash Storage.... idk if its worth the $500. how important is the flash storage? is it necessary. will i regret not opting for it? are there alternatives.
  • USB SuperDrive... at this point i am highly considering it as i have software that require an optical drive to be installed to the computer....
  • ThunderBolt Display... while it would be nice, that pricetag is killing me. yes, i am a graphic artist and animator and a big screen would be nice, however i think i can do fine without a big screen until i upgrade to the 2012/13 imac... if it ever comes out.... :/
  • AppleCare... another given... i have horrible luck with machines... i cant afford to have something so expensive break on me...

So what is everybody's preference when it comes to how to order these? what is necessary and what is not? i will be using it for graphic design, 2d flash animations and hopefully creating flash games with actionscript 3.0, and hope to get into creating game apps for ipod/ipad/iphone.
 
PJ-Graphix said:
  • 2.6GHz vs 2.7GHZ... i dont see too much of a difference to justify $250
  • 8GB vs 16GB... a no brainer as upgrading is impossible after, id go with the 16G
  • 512GB Flash Storage vs 768GB Flash Storage.... idk if its worth the $500. how important is the flash storage? is it necessary. will i regret not opting for it? are there alternatives.
  • USB SuperDrive... at this point i am highly considering it as i have software that require an optical drive to be installed to the computer....
  • ThunderBolt Display... while it would be nice, that pricetag is killing me. yes, i am a graphic artist and animator and a big screen would be nice, however i think i can do fine without a big screen until i upgrade to the 2012/13 imac... if it ever comes out.... :/
  • AppleCare... another given... i have horrible luck with machines... i cant afford to have something so expensive break on me...

So what is everybody's preference when it comes to how to order these? what is necessary and what is not? i will be using it for graphic design, 2d flash animations and hopefully creating flash games with actionscript 3.0, and hope to get into creating game apps for ipod/ipad/iphone.
Click to expand...

You can buy an external optical drive for $20 off of amazon or newegg. The superdrive is not worth $80.
 
Geekbench shows:
2.6 GHz at 11660
2.7 GHz at 12225

And 2.3 at 10900 if you were interested.

See what your current setup ranks at and go from there.

Flash memory is a type of storage. It's like SSD but smaller, it is upgradeable but not as common as SSDs. So look on your computer see how much space you're taking and see if that's enough for a laptop. I'm on a 128 GB SSD always wishing I had more space :p.

To me it seems like you're actually qualified for the retina MBP since your job depends on looking at a screen. Most people here have it to go on Facebook. I'd suggest in getting the 512 GB flash memory and using the extra money for a USB 3.0 drive or the new thunderbolt hard drive adapter, if that's any good.
 
PJ-Graphix said:
  • 2.6GHz vs 2.7GHZ... i dont see too much of a difference to justify $250
  • 8GB vs 16GB... a no brainer as upgrading is impossible after, id go with the 16G
  • 512GB Flash Storage vs 768GB Flash Storage.... idk if its worth the $500. how important is the flash storage? is it necessary. will i regret not opting for it? are there alternatives.
  • USB SuperDrive... at this point i am highly considering it as i have software that require an optical drive to be installed to the computer....
  • ThunderBolt Display... while it would be nice, that pricetag is killing me. yes, i am a graphic artist and animator and a big screen would be nice, however i think i can do fine without a big screen until i upgrade to the 2012/13 imac... if it ever comes out.... :/
  • AppleCare... another given... i have horrible luck with machines... i cant afford to have something so expensive break on me...

So what is everybody's preference when it comes to how to order these? what is necessary and what is not? i will be using it for graphic design, 2d flash animations and hopefully creating flash games with actionscript 3.0, and hope to get into creating game apps for ipod/ipad/iphone.
Click to expand...


I choose 2.7GHz instead of 2.6GHz, because I need to run computing software on it. 16G is an obviously right choice. I didn't choose 768G because I have a NAS that gives me enough storage capacity (18,000G). In fact, the $500 difference between 512G and 768G allows you to buy a decent NAS. USB optical drive may be needed, but the reviews on the Super Drive were low. Will definitely buy a Thunderbolt display (maybe two). AppleCare is a no brainer too for a computer at this level.
 
PJ-Graphix said:
  • 2.6GHz vs 2.7GHZ... i dont see too much of a difference to justify $250
  • 8GB vs 16GB... a no brainer as upgrading is impossible after, id go with the 16G
  • 512GB Flash Storage vs 768GB Flash Storage.... idk if its worth the $500. how important is the flash storage? is it necessary. will i regret not opting for it? are there alternatives.

    I personally went with 512gb because I have several portable hard drives and a NAS. I don't mind carrying one around. Plus since it is a little smaller, it will encourage me to keep things backed up. With a large hard drive like 786gb, I don't backup as often as I should because it is so large. So if I were you I would choose 512gb and buy a cheap 1 or 2tb portable hard drive or a NAS. There are people who like to have the majority of there stuff all on their computer rather than having an external hard drive. So if you would rather do that then go with the 768gb. Like the previous poster said, a decent size NAS can be bought with the 500 you save by not getting the 768gb ssd.
  • USB SuperDrive... at this point i am highly considering it as i have software that require an optical drive to be installed to the computer....

    Do you have a mac or windows computer currently? If you do you can share their cd-drive over your network with your rMBP. As long as you are connected to your network, you can use their cd-drive as if they were built into the rMBP. Unless you need a cd-drive on the go, sharing over your network should work fine. If you do need one when you aren't around any of your other computers, go ahead and get the superdrive.
  • ThunderBolt Display... while it would be nice, that pricetag is killing me. yes, i am a graphic artist and animator and a big screen would be nice, however i think i can do fine without a big screen until i upgrade to the 2012/13 imac... if it ever comes out.... :/

    You could always get it later. The imacs are supposed to be updated soon in the next couple months supposedly. You could wait awhile and if they don't come out soon then go ahead and get the thunderbolt display.
  • AppleCare... another given... i have horrible luck with machines... i cant afford to have something so expensive break on me...

So what is everybody's preference when it comes to how to order these? what is necessary and what is not? i will be using it for graphic design, 2d flash animations and hopefully creating flash games with actionscript 3.0, and hope to get into creating game apps for ipod/ipad/iphone.
Click to expand...

The configuration I chose was 2.6ghz/16gb memory/512gb ssd with apple care. I didn't get a thunderbolt display or superdrive. I was considering the superdrive or a drive from amazon but remembered that you can share cd-drives so I went with that option and didn't buy one.
 
Last edited:
So much of what you should order has to do with what apps you are running, how much storage you need in the machine, and how long you plan to keep the rMBP. As a photographer I want max SSD to capture weeks of shots in the field. I want enough horsepower to edit using LR plus plugging. Also I want the machine to last at least through Apple Care. So my rMBP is ordered maxed out.

But 756GB is a joke for long term storage where I have TBs of photo files...etc. So once I get home with the photographs and edit them, they will be moved to LaCie Big6 (setup up as a 3TB RAID 1 pair) with backup up to 3TB Time Capsule.
 
Went all out with the 2.7/16/768

Need the large SSD for portability other than that its a bit over kill but whatever.

The most sensible set-up is probably the 2.6/16/512
 
I went with the base model, because the higher CPU speeds are not really increasing the performance that much. The price that apple charges for the 512gb SSD is ridiculously expensive and I can wait until OWC offers a SSD upgrade for the rMBP. I did go for the 16gb of ram, since its hardwired.

This imo, is the ideal setup. Not over paying for a higher clock rate CPU that doesn't really give you much of a bump in speed and not paying through the nose for the SSD upgrade.
 
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