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bigben334

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 30, 2005
102
0
im gettin a macbook pro for college....but should i upgrade to the 2.16 ghz processor for $300.....or should i upgrade to 2gb or ram for $300....i can decide..im thinking the processor is better to upgrade because the ram i can upgrade myself later....wat do u guys think?!
 
bigben334 said:
im gettin a macbook pro for college....but should i upgrade to the 2.16 ghz processor for $300.....or should i upgrade to 2gb or ram for $300....i can decide..im thinking the processor is better to upgrade because the ram i can upgrade myself later....wat do u guys think?!

id say ram, thats what i did, i went with the 1.5Ghz PB instead of 1.67 and upgraded the ram to 1.5GB
 
bigben334 said:
im gettin a macbook pro for college....but should i upgrade to the 2.16 ghz processor for $300.....or should i upgrade to 2gb or ram for $300....i can decide..im thinking the processor is better to upgrade because the ram i can upgrade myself later....wat do u guys think?!
If it's a trade off between an 8% faster CPU or 4x the RAM, go for the RAM. You won't notice much of a difference (if any) in performance with the faster CPU but having the extra RAM will fly.

On the other hand, look at getting 3rd party RAM. If you're a student, you'll get Apple RAM for $270 - can you beat that at, say, Crucial?

Or, if you can afford another $90, get the CPU upgrade and the 1GB RAM upgrade for $360.

(Edit: oops didn't realise 1GB was standard - I think 1GB is probably good enough to start with so if you really want to spend the extra, get the CPU upgrade)
 
RAM.

Buy two 1GB sticks form OWC - I have the same GB sticks in my 17" Intellimac, and they're great, and the total cost is under $250.

The 2.0->2.16 speed difference is something you'll never, ever notice, but the 2GB RAM will do wonders. By the time 2.0GHz is too slow, 2.16 GHz would also be too slow for you.
 
Assuming you are looking at the stock 2.0, get the 2.16 and since its for college make sure you get the student discount.

You can always get more ram later and for much cheaper than what Apple sells it for.
 
I agree with the previous posts, don't pay $300 for the processor upgrade. Get the stock 2.0 from Apple and buy a 1gb ram stick on your own for ~ $120.
 
Just so you know, the Apple Product Guide for the MacBook Pro says that RAM will be optimized if you have two chips of the same amount. Bigger is better in this case.
 
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