Greetings, folks. Wanted to get a reality check on an opinion of mine. If I decide to get a refurb after the new Airs arrive this week, will there be much of a difference for the performance between a maxed-out 13" versus a maxed-out 11"? I have a slight preference for the maximized mobility of the 11", but the 13" DOES have the 256 gig drive, so if the 2.13 processor has a noticeable advantage over the 1.4 or 1.6 I'll aim for getting that guy instead. The most intensive applications I plan to utilize are light video editing and WoW.
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2.13 13" vs. 1.6 11" for current MBAs?
- Thread starter Flagg
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Wow on a 1.6 wont be easy. I suggest the bigger one, unless all you want to do is farming.
Wow on a 1.6 wont be easy. I suggest the bigger one, unless all you want to do is farming.
Since you mentioned WoW, I would personally opt for the 13", which is exactly what I did. WoW seems to be more processor intensive instead of gpu intensive, so the extra performance would probably be pretty noticeable. And the larger drive helps since WoW is a massive download and even bigger when installed. The screen space is a nice perk too.
Unless you really need the 11" portability, I'd go for the 13".
Unless you really need the 11" portability, I'd go for the 13".
To be honest I'm pretty sure both rely on the SSD anyway. The only differences you'll really find is when converting files or media, and even then the difference will be minimal.
For what you need it for, either model will be fine. If you need to travel a lot with it, then the 11" is hands down the way to go.
Hm. Would it be better to just bite on the new Airs despite the HD3000, I wonder? Will just have to see how it works out. Thanks for the advice!
If you intend to play WoW natively in OSX, then I'd definitely wait for the new airs.
Very little difference between HD3000 and 320m performance on OSX.
I'd wait for the benchmarks to come in at least. The MBPs basically doubled their scores with the Sandy Bridge CPUs, so the MBA could be up for a similar jump.
I read the 320m is much better than the HD3000 in real world game testing. Maybe Intel has improved the drivers since those tests though.
As far as I know its only in Windows. Tbh, ultraportables arent for gaming anyway, so I wouldnt care too much, and the space limitations dont make it too viable anyway.
Apple manage the drivers for OSX side of things, not Intel btw
Which is why the HD3000 performs a lot better on OSX.Its still a new IGP though, so I expect the drivers to be a lot better in a years time.