Which NVIDIA version?

[Canuckistan]

Hello:

I am confused as to which MBP 15" model to buy... the base 2.4 GHz or the faster, more expensive 2.5 GHz.

I'm not a gamer and don't expect to be watching too many DVDs on the MBP, but I do hope to use Aperture and perhaps Photoshop to organize and edit digital photographs.

I do intend to upgrade to 4 GB of RAM and the 7200 rpm drive.

Now to the question...

Do I need the 512 MB NVIDIA of the 2.5 GHz MBP, or will the 256 MB NVIDIA of the 2.4 GHz version suffice?

I don't want to spend an extra $500 but I don't want to regret buying the less powerful version.

Many thanks.

 

[wgilles]

If you aren't going to be playing games go with the 256MB. There really isn't that huge of a difference anyway. It really only helps with the very demanding games.

 

[ChrisN]

The 2.4 and 256 should be fine for what your gonna do.

ChrisN

 

[Jiddick ExRex]

I read somewhere (can't remember where, so it would be nice if someone could confirm it) that most games generally don't utilize more than 256 VRAM anyway , so if this holds true, only morons buy the most expensive MBP

 

[willcodejavafor]

I read somewhere (can't remember where, so it would be nice if someone could confirm it) that most games generally don't utilize more than 256 VRAM anyway , so if this holds true, only morons buy the most expensive MBP

Pretty sure I've seen several posts here stating that the GPU in a MBP is not powerful to fully utilise the full 512 memory so that the difference in performance was minimal.

 

[alphaod]

You said you don't play games, so a video card is out of the equation. However you stressed PS and Aperture, so get a lots of RAM.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I don't want to spend an extra $500 but I don't want to regret buying the less powerful version.

Many thanks.

I think either model will work for you...my rule of thumb is to get the most powerful model I'm willing to pay for, since I tend to keep my computers for 5 years or so.