Baseline 15" with 512GB SSD, or premium config with 2.6GHz and Radeon 560X?

[sbn]

Since I learned from you guys that bumping CPU, RAM and SSD to more than I need now would just be burning money, as it won't affect the resale price much, I've decided to just buy what I need now. Feeling very adult

My plan was then to go for the premium config (512 GB SSD, 2.6GHz i7, Radeon 560X) for 2800$

BUT - as I can see from a few benchmarks, the performance increase of going from 2.2 ghz i7-8750H to 2.6 ghz i7-8850H is almost non existing.

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/07/15/2018-macbook-pro-geekbench-benchmark-scores/
https://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/compare_cpu-intel_core_i7_8850h-850-vs-intel_core_i7_8750h-835

I really wonder why? I mean, the clock speed is 18% higher, the rest of the CPU specs are the same, but the performance is 2% better. And the retail price (according to wikipedia) is 395 USD for both CPUs?

So this makes me think if I should just buy the baseline model and bump the SSD to 512 GB, that'd be 2600$ - to save the extra bucks compared to the premium model.

But I don't know if I'll benefit from the extra graphics performance, it's only 100$ extra. I'm using the laptop for coding (web, backend and mobile apps) and for photo editing in lightroom.I might buy a 5K display later on, and connect it. Will I notice the GPU difference?

With the baseline + 512GB SSD + Radeon 560X it's 2500$, only 100$ less than the premium.

Is it worth 100$ to have the 2.6 ghz i7 instead of the 2.2 ghz? I'm confused

Another option would be to take the baseline and bump SSD (200$) and bump CPU to the 2.9 ghz i9 which has a noticeable performance increase (400$) and end up on a 3000$ price tag.

That's 200$ more than the premium model, but with a much faster CPU and a slower GPU...

 

[uecker87]

I was going to go with the 2.6/512/560X, but I actually ended up just going with the base 15" model. I have external drives and while it would be nice to have a larger SSD, I can offload stuff onto my network drive and an external drive that I have attached to my dock.

I have had it for about 24 hours - so far no complaints. I tried the 2016 model and hated it immediately, so definitely much better overall in my opinion at least.

The way I see it this 2.2GHz 6 core i7 is extremely more powerful than my late 2013 13" i5 MBP. I also have a desktop PC though with a 8700k and a 1070Ti, so I didn't feel the need for anything more for my mobile workstation.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[vipergts2207]

Regardless of which processor and storage you go with, it has always seemed silly to me to not opt for the cheap $100 GPU upgrade. It’s only a fraction of the $2400+ that’s being spent.

 

[sbn]

Regardless of which processor and storage you go with, it has always seemed silly to me to not opt for the cheap $100 GPU upgrade. It’s only a fraction of the $2400+ that’s being spent.

Which leaves me at the starting point. If I pay the 100$ for GPU upgrade, I could as well pay the 100$ for bumping the CPU to 2.6 ghz - but might not give me any noticeable extra performance, as far as I understand the benchmarks...

Well - I could also wait a couple of days for some real life benchmarks of the different models to see what I'd gain from bumping GPU and CPU. I'm not in desperate need of the laptop at the moment.

 

[vipergts2207]

Which leaves me at the starting point. If I pay the 100$ for GPU upgrade, I could as well pay the 100$ for bumping the CPU to 2.6 ghz - but might not give me any noticeable extra performance, as far as I understand the benchmarks...

Well - I could also wait a couple of days for some real life benchmarks of the different models to see what I'd gain from bumping GPU and CPU. I'm not in desperate need of the laptop at the moment.

The bump in GPU performance for your $100 is much larger than the CPU bump. If you were to only spend the money on one, GPU is the way to go.

 

[sbn]

The bump in GPU performance for your $100 is much larger than the CPU bump. If you were to only spend the money on one, GPU is the way to go.

Thanks - but how will I notice that GPU difference in my every day use (programming, browsing and Lightroom)?

 

[vipergts2207]

Thanks - but how will I notice that GPU difference in my every day use (programming, browsing and Lightroom)?

Programming and browsing probably none. Lightroom I would imagine you would, but I don’t personally use it, so I can’t say how?

 

[M.Rizk]

I was in the same dilemma. I have now decided to go for the second 15” configuration + 32 GB to future proof it.

I was first thinking of going for i9 but it feels like an overkill and will most likely thermal throttle more often.

I personally don’t see much of a difference between 555X and 560X but I also have a 1080 Ti anyways and can always get a Razer Core X later and plug it into the Mac if needed.

 

[sbn]

I have now decided to go for the second 15” configuration + 32 GB to future proof it.

I'm probably selling this machine in 2020 anyway - so if 32 GB is not a "must" in 2020 I guess those extra 400$ are just wasted, since it won't increase the resale value significantly.

Anyway, I also had these considerations about RAM and CPU - you can always get away with a slower CPU - just wait a little longer for the job to finish. But going for the i9 2.9 ghz instead of the i7 2.2 ghz will make a difference for you right away...

But if you run out of RAM, you're screwed. However, as long as you don't utilized more than the 16 GB RAM, you won't feel any improvement with 32 GB instead of 16. The same with storage space.

 

[jacklivehere]

I had similar challenge and went with 2.6ghz/512gb/560x configuration. 1 day so far, and feels good.
still getting used to keyboard.

 

[haruhiko]

256GB SSD is definitely not sufficient for me. I thought it would in 2012 but it was obviously not the case. 512 is the sweet spot.