EDIT: I went ahead and purchased a MacBook Pro similar to my first option. The one I purchased, however, has a full 1GB instead of 512MB as you all suggested. It's also slightly faster at 2.6Ghz, comes with the full 8GB RAM, and also a 750GB hard-drive. I thank you all very much for your support when helping me to choose a MacBook Pro right for me. Now, I just can't wait for it to arrive
Hello everyone,
First off, I'm new to MacRumors, so hello
I'm writing here today to compare two MacBook Pro notebooks that I am very interested in and there is a strong chance I will be purchasing within the next month or so.
About me: This is basically what I plan on doing on my future MacBook... I'm a student in high school (12th grade), so I'm also looking for a strong computer to last me through college (so Mac, right? ). I also have to get my gaming fix. Most of the games I play have their Mac equivalent, such as World of Warcraft. However, there are a few Windows only games, and also games such as Battlefield and the Call of Duty franchises that I would love to be able to play running Windows on Mac (I don't want to buy the Mac equivalents). I also do occasional programming (Java) and sometime down the road would like to break into the music field (music production, editing, etc.). So this will definitely be a multi-purpose Mac, and do plan on multitasking (many apps open at once), except when gaming.
Please note: The second one listed is approx. $50 more, but does come with Parallels Desktop 8 (to run Windows on a Mac).
First One I Was Looking At (I'll only be listing the key specs of both)
Processor: 2.3 GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz)
Cache: 6MB shared L3 cache
Memory: 4GB (2x2GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM; supports up to 8GB
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5 memory
Storage: 500GB Serial ATA, 5400 rpm
USB: 2 USB 3.0 ports
Second One I Was Looking At
Processor: 2.4GHz Intel Core i7 Quad-Core Sandy Bridge (Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz)
Cache: 6MB L3 cache
Memory: 4GB (2x2GB) of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; supports up to 8GB
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000 and AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 1GB GDDR5
Storage: 750GB 5400 rpm
USB: 2 USB 2.0 ports
Things That Are The Same
Almost everything else is the same. They are both 15" screens, Bluetooth, etc.
What I'm Concerned About
If I can think of anything else I would like to know, or if there is something you'd like me to mention, I'll add it
Any help is greatly appreciated
Hello everyone,
First off, I'm new to MacRumors, so hello
I'm writing here today to compare two MacBook Pro notebooks that I am very interested in and there is a strong chance I will be purchasing within the next month or so.
About me: This is basically what I plan on doing on my future MacBook... I'm a student in high school (12th grade), so I'm also looking for a strong computer to last me through college (so Mac, right? ). I also have to get my gaming fix. Most of the games I play have their Mac equivalent, such as World of Warcraft. However, there are a few Windows only games, and also games such as Battlefield and the Call of Duty franchises that I would love to be able to play running Windows on Mac (I don't want to buy the Mac equivalents). I also do occasional programming (Java) and sometime down the road would like to break into the music field (music production, editing, etc.). So this will definitely be a multi-purpose Mac, and do plan on multitasking (many apps open at once), except when gaming.
Please note: The second one listed is approx. $50 more, but does come with Parallels Desktop 8 (to run Windows on a Mac).
First One I Was Looking At (I'll only be listing the key specs of both)
Processor: 2.3 GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz)
Cache: 6MB shared L3 cache
Memory: 4GB (2x2GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM; supports up to 8GB
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5 memory
Storage: 500GB Serial ATA, 5400 rpm
USB: 2 USB 3.0 ports
Second One I Was Looking At
Processor: 2.4GHz Intel Core i7 Quad-Core Sandy Bridge (Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz)
Cache: 6MB L3 cache
Memory: 4GB (2x2GB) of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; supports up to 8GB
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000 and AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 1GB GDDR5
Storage: 750GB 5400 rpm
USB: 2 USB 2.0 ports
Things That Are The Same
Almost everything else is the same. They are both 15" screens, Bluetooth, etc.
What I'm Concerned About
- The first one has the Intel HD 4000 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with only 512MB of GDDR5 memory while the second has the worse Intel HD 3000 but AMD Radeon HD 6770M with twice as much GDDR5 memory (1GB). Which one is the BEST for gaming?
- I'm not too concerned about the storage (hard drives). 500GB should be plenty, but 750GB could never hurt. Either way, I could always upgrade the 500GB if I had to. I'm much more concerned about the non-upgradeable parts (down the road), such as graphics and processor.
- The first one has the 2.3GHz quad-core Intel i7 (Ivy Bridge I believe) while the second has the 2.4GHz quad-core Intel i7 (Sandy Bridge). I believe the 2.3GHz is newer, but is it better? How would it relate to gaming purposes?
- Is the USB 3.0 vs. 2.0 something to be worried about?
- The first one has a much higher speed of 1600MHz while the second only has 1333MHz. How would this affect gaming/intensive use of applications?
If I can think of anything else I would like to know, or if there is something you'd like me to mention, I'll add it
Any help is greatly appreciated
Last edited: