Which contributes the most to overall speed?

[Merkava_4]

I was comparing my current 2007 MBP to a used 2011 MBP on eBay. Which of the specifications in the two columns contribute the most to speed; and do you think that there would be that much of a difference in speed between the 2007 MBP and the 2011 MBP that I have listed below?

Processor Speed: 2.2GHz
Product Family: MacBook Pro
Memory: 2GB
Release Year: 2007
Storage Type: HDD (Hard Disc Drive)
Hard Drive Capacity: 120GB
Screen Size: 15.4"
Operating System: El Capitan
Processor Type: Intel Core 2 Duo

Processor Speed: 2.00GHz
Product Family: MacBook Pro
Memory: 16GB
Release Year: 2011
Storage Type: SSHD (Solid State Hybrid Drive)
Hard Drive Capacity: 1TB
Screen Size: 15.4"
Operating System: Sierra
Processor Type: Intel Core i7 2nd Gen.

 

[Pangalactic]

The difference would be insane!
1) SSHD instead of HDD means all boot processes, application opening and file loading will get cut in half at least
2) Core i7 is vastly superior to Core 2 Duo. I honestly can't remember the last time I've seen the latter
3) I would say 4GB of RAM is necessary for a decent performance, 16 will allow you to run a lot of applications at once and do video editing without any lag.
4) El Capitan ~ Sierra - eh, not much of a difference

If I would rank them in term of priority, it would be Core i7 > Memory (at least 4GB) > SSHD > Memory (8-16GB)

 

[Merkava_4]

2) Core i7 is vastly superior to Core 2 Duo. I honestly can't remember the last time I've seen the latter

LOL!

 

[smallcoffee]

SSD > RAM >>>>>>>>>> Anything else

 

[killawat]

The 2011 will be superior in all respects. Beat down status. Now, you still have room for improvement on this, SSHD at the end of the day is still an HDD, just with some extra cache (and we don't really know how much since this configuration wasn't BTO available from Apple). SSD will blow the hinges off of classic HDD if you don't already know, so you can purchase a decent 256-512 GB SSD for not too many dollars (always good sales on the Samsung SSDs) and install it on your current machine which has the potential to feel more responsive then the 2011 machine with SSHD (based on workload). Of course, if you install the classic SSD in your 2011 you will also see incredible gains.

Extra bonus, the 2011 15" has Thunderbolt Gen 1 meaning you can use USB 3 devices if needed. The 2011 is a quality machine all around.

The point is, get an SSD.

 

[ctrlzone]

SSD by far
get rid of the "fusion drive"
don't even consider the 2007 model.

 

[ZapNZs]

Your 2007 will seem like a malfunctioning calculator compared to the 2011...especially if you get rid of the hybrid drive and purchase a true solid state drive.

 

[redheeler]

do you think that there would be that much of a difference in speed between the 2007 MBP and the 2011 MBP that I have listed below?

No doubt about it. Even putting the maximum 3 GB RAM and an SSD into your current 2007 would make a difference, but the 2011 is the way to go at this point I'd say.

Edit: 16 GB RAM instead of 3 GB, the ability to add an SSD which takes advantage of SATA III (on the 2007 you're stuck with SATA I), and of course a Core i7 is going to perform much better than a Core 2 Duo depending on how you use it.

 

[Sterkenburg]

The difference between those machines is like night and day. The i7 CPU, the large amount of RAM and the faster drive would all be huge improvements compared to your current Mac. And I completely second the suggestions to get a proper SSD, if you're used to an old spinning drive this upgrade alone will blow your mind away.

 

[0002378]

The point is, get an SSD.

I second this wholeheartedly. I just (today) replaced my old HDD with a new Samsung 850 EVO SSD and upgraded RAM from 4GB to 8GB (I also replaced my optical drive with a 2TB SSHD for all my movies/music/documents). The difference in user experience is like night/day ! Esp. wrt app loading ... thanks to the SSD. And, thanks to more RAM, I'm not disk swapping anymore when multitasking (Firefox and XCode are huge memory hogs), which also increases responsiveness.

But, the SSD is the single best upgrade possible for you, apart from the processor which cannot be upgraded without changing the motherboard.

 

[snaky69]

Speed at doing what, exactly?

If you're a heavy multitasker, chances are having more RAM is what'll contribute to speed.

If you're working with large amounts of data that needs reading and writing fast, a SSD will be what helps speed the most.

If you're pegging your CPU at 100%, 100% of the time, a better CPU will make the machine seem faster.

It all depends on what you're doing.

Since you have not listed what you actually do on a computer, nobody can say.

With that said, the 2011 machine is roughly 4X more powerful in raw computing power compared to the 2007 machine.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Do look at the 2012 non retina because the 2011 is still on USB 2 and that's shocking for transferring data and peripherals in this day and age.

 

[littlepud]

2011 15"? Stay the F away -- Radeongate.