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Seriously need some buying advice
- Thread starter Stugotsv10
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looked like a mix bag of everything under the sun no rhyme or reason to any of it
I guess I'd do well to listen to the experts, grabbing that Referb off Apple Tomorrow when I get paid
I think im gonna BUY that and build a budget gaming PC for whatever cant be done on Apple through Vine and stuff. BUDGET like $500
i3 14100F
B series MB
RX 6600 GPU
Silicon or Patriot 16GB Ram
WD M.2 (500GB)
Thermaltake 500w PSU
Cooler master cheap old case
off the top of my head, Play all AAA games (maybe not on super high settings with that CPU being the bottle neck) can always spend $600 and pump the CPU and be able to get ALOT more FPS
i3 14100F
B series MB
RX 6600 GPU
Silicon or Patriot 16GB Ram
WD M.2 (500GB)
Thermaltake 500w PSU
Cooler master cheap old case
off the top of my head, Play all AAA games (maybe not on super high settings with that CPU being the bottle neck) can always spend $600 and pump the CPU and be able to get ALOT more FPS
If you have not used Mac for gaming, may be try with 2 week return policy. There will always be deals.
Buying your first Mac as a random deal on ebay seems to me like an almost passive-aggressive move. Like you want something to go wrong in the process.
I do alot of buying on ebay in general I guess I never really considered all that of being first Mac and all (since Virtual Mac does not count I assume not that I was very good at it anyway)
Hey OP, that machine is listed with the 10 core GPU like you said. Which means it's the M3 model. So. Kinda Meh in the GPU depertment TBH.
If you want to do a bit of gaming I'd personally be inclined to recommend getting a model with an M3 Pro Chip. that gets you 14-18 GPU cores depending on the chip.
There should be sales on them right now with Prime Day going on. Check out retailers for deals.
There are a few configs of apple silicon chips.
M3 - 8 CPU Cores. 4 performance, 4 efficiency. 8 or 10 GPU Cores.
M3 Pro chip has 2 versions.
11 CPU Cores, 5 perf cores, 6 efficiency cores. 14 GPU Cores.
12 CPU Cores , 6 Perf cores, 6 efficiency. 18 GPU Cores
with the M3 Pro chip you can get 18GB of RAM as standard, or 36 optioned up.
512 GB of storage is base.
Seems like you're aiming for 1500-1700 for your budget.
Apple MacBook Pro 14" Laptop M3 Pro chip Built for Apple Intelligence 18GB Memory 14-core GPU 512GB SSD Space Black MRX33LL/A - Best Buy
Shop Apple MacBook Pro 14" Laptop M3 Pro chip Built for Apple Intelligence 18GB Memory 14-core GPU 512GB SSD Space Black at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. Price Match Guarantee.
That one is $1699 brand new with 14 GPU Cores, 18GB of RAM.
I understand it's not 24GB of RAM but I don't think 6GB of RAM will make that much of a difference for you if you plan to also have a gaming desktop. Do you have other workloads that will need that 24 GB of RAM?
Edit: I guess alternatively, if you have gaming desktop and don't want to really game much on your laptop, then the other machine is fine, but not really sure what you'd be doing with 24GB of RAM then lol
I would be very hesitant to buy the machine. As others have stated, there's plenty of stories of people losing money on deals like this. For me, personally, I buy via something apple related (refurb, etc), or try to find in-person used on facebook marketplace or something like that. There's too many scenarios where it's listed as stolen, etc.
In person lets you check to make sure it's exactly what you want. I've had positive experiences there. I also strongly encourage looking for one that has applecare, as those tend to be sellers who take care of their stuff. Yes, it's less money, but as the saying goes, if it's too good to be true...it likely is.
In person lets you check to make sure it's exactly what you want. I've had positive experiences there. I also strongly encourage looking for one that has applecare, as those tend to be sellers who take care of their stuff. Yes, it's less money, but as the saying goes, if it's too good to be true...it likely is.
Apple's Refurbished gear is excellent. Impossible to distinguish from brand now, except the box it comes in is a little less flashy. Other than that, same warranty and everything. Always my first move if the Apple thing I want is available there.