Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Will I notice a huge difference with 2.9 and 460?

E

Elektrofone

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 5, 2010
1,203
588
I am thinking about getting a MacBook Pro 15", but I was curious if I would notice a huge difference (worth the cost) if I upgraded to the 2.9GHz CPU and 460 GPU.

I am a designer and animator and spend a lot of time working in Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator and some time working in Cinema 4D doing very basic 3D work.

If anyone has any first hand experiences I would love to hear them.
 
Just my opinion, but the only difference worth the price is the GPU.
300$ for 0.2 GHZ more is not so convenient.

Of course, this depends on how much you earn from you work, and consequently how much is important for you to save time, even if a little bit.
:)

PS: May I see your website?
 
  • Like
Reactions: archi_130w1
Depends. Will you notice a difference? Probably, but how much is that difference worth to you?

I can tell you my thoughts and experiences. I ordered a few variants, but was always thinking of what the performance boost would have been like. in the end, I just maxed out and went for a 2.9 / 460 / 1TB.

The spec I got in the end cost more, but I was not left thinking 'what if', and the overall price difference for the entire machine was negligible.

Just my thinking; if you have to ask, just max out.
 
I use my 2.9 / 460 for CAD & 3D work. Basic solid modeling is fine but it doesn't take a whole lot to make the machine hang up a bit. I'd recommend highest spec.

It doesn't have any issues in photoshop & illustrator, but then again, neither did my Air.
 
You'll notice the 460 for sure. 2.9, not as much but it'll certainly help exports and whatnot by a few seconds. If you're not strained by the upgrade, the 2.9/460 is going to be a great combo.
 
Last edited:
I always look look at how I long I typically keep a computer and amortize the cost over that time. Then I consider how much more I will be able to sell it for later and consider how much easier it is to sell the higher spec system. When I get done with that, it becomes clear to me that being the higher spec unit is the way to go.
 
fs454 said:
You'll notice the 460 for sure. 2.9, not as much but it'll certainly help exports and whatnot by a few seconds. If you're not strained by the upgrade, the 2.9/460 is going to be a great combo.
Click to expand...
Fireball Dragon said:
Depends. Will you notice a difference? Probably, but how much is that difference worth to you?

I can tell you my thoughts and experiences. I ordered a few variants, but was always thinking of what the performance boost would have been like. in the end, I just maxed out and went for a 2.9 / 460 / 1TB.

The spec I got in the end cost more, but I was not left thinking 'what if', and the overall price difference for the entire machine was negligible.

Just my thinking; if you have to ask, just max out.
Click to expand...

Do you think I will notice a difference between my 2.3GHz 15" Late 2013 MacBook Pro?
 
stringerhye said:
Do you think I will notice a difference between my 2.3GHz 15" Late 2013 MacBook Pro?
Click to expand...


That's what I upgraded from too. To be honest, the difference is not night and day, but After Effects will for sure see a bit of a benefit with the much beefier GPU. Adobe's CC 2017 apps are not nearly optimized for the hardware like, say, FCPX is - but I expect them to make improvements here soon. If you're looking to upgrade for raw performance gains, this isn't quite the big jump people expect for the cost, but it's pretty much the state of the art from Intel and AMD unless you're down to carry a larger, heavier, and clunkier Windows-only notebook with a GTX 1060 or higher.

The 2.9ghz Skylake CPU is roughly on par with the Late 2013 15" 2.3ghz CPU in terms of raw performance. Maybe 8-10% better at most. Where it shines is under sustained loads, it can maintain full speed for a lot longer before throttling to maintain the thermal envelope. So longer exports, renders, and RAM previews will work more consistently, and aided by the better GPU there should be a decent boost in export times and timeline performance. The GPU is the killer app, and since gains are much smaller nowadays between chip generations, I think that it is more important than ever to get the best possible specs. Since I bought it over the holidays, I haven't been able to truly stress the machine with PP/AE as much as I usually do, so its hard to definitively say. I'm getting back into the swing of it now though.


All that said, I really am enjoying the complete package of the new machine. I love the new keyboard, huge trackpad, more contrasty and colorful display, 3000MB/sec SSD, insane build quality and possibility of for power/4K output/data in one cable - all things that pushed me over the edge to keep it.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back