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FAT32 SHAMER
Aug 16, 2012



Okay dudes, I need some help picking out a computer. Now, I'm not going to be buying this until January, but I need to make a budget and know what I'm doing because I'm a sperg like that.

I recently got a job at the Apple Store, and since I'm dealing with the operating system all the time and there's a discount that makes the price competitive to Windows-based laptops, I decided to replace my four year old HP Pavilion dv6.



Now, since I'm getting a Mac and I finally have access to programmes such as Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro, Aperture, PhotoShop, GarageBand, etc etc, I'd like to make full use of them. The question is, what's the least amount of hardware that can I get away with and still use these applications without having the system bog down. I'm studying Computer Science, so I need a rather robust machine, but nothing absolutely crazy.

I'd also like to at least be able to have the option of gaming, just light-duty stuff like Minecraft, Kerbal Space Program, and like SimCity or something. Is the Intel Iris Pro pretty good compared to other on-board GPU's? Portability isn't as big of an issue since I've been carrying around this crazy heavy laptop for the last four years, so all of these models are significantly smaller and lighter than what I currently have.

Oh, and I plan on taking my photos, videos, and all 160GB of my music (a total of about 350GB of media) off of my gaming rig and putting it onto the MBP so I can take advantage of the Mac ecosystem, so I need at least 500GB of storage, though I really wish I could have a full terabyte.

As of the other day, there are a few options:

1.) The Cheap(er) Option: 13" MacBook Pro (w/o Retina) + [new gaming rig GPU] (list: $1599 + cost of GPU)
  • 2.9GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
  • 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
  • 1TB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
  • Optical Drive

2.) The Cheap(ish) Option: 13" MacBook Pro w/ Retina ; list price: $1999 to $2199, depending on
This is where things got hazy. Is the 2.6GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5 good for what I want to do or should I pony up for the 2.8GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7? I know the SSD will help boot times and make the system faster overall
  • 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
  • 512GB PCIe-based Flash Storage
  • No optical drive

3.) The notCheap Option:; list price: $2599
  • 2.3GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz (is $200 for the 2.6GHz even worth it?)
  • 16GB 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
  • 512GB PCIe-based Flash Storage
  • NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M with 2GB GDDR5 memory
  • No optical drive

I'm pretty sure the notCheap Option is a tad bit excessive, but I do run quite a bit at once (Chrome/Safari with 10+ tabs open, an IDE with environment emulation, or Aperture+Photoshop, Logic/GarageBand, etc). I could make the 13" MBP's work if I don't run as much at once, but to be honest I'm not quite sure how modern CPU's are compared to my Core 2 Duo or Phenom II Black (I don't care for either of my processors actually). If I go with one of the Cheap Options, I will probably get a new GPU for the gaming rig so I don't have any issues with BF4 and all that jazz. What do you guys think?

Yes I know there are cheaper solutions even with aforementioned discounts. I just need to know how well each one will perform compared to each other :v:

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FAT32 SHAMER
Aug 16, 2012



evol262 posted:

What locality are you in? A 13" rMBP with 8GB of memory is less than you list a non-Retina MBP for, not including whatever discount you get.

No, the "notCheap" option is not worth it. Unless you really need to play a gazillion games. But even then, the integrated graphics on Haswell are fast enough.

Modern CPUs have more IPC and lower power consumption. You probably won't otherwise notice a difference. The perceived difference you'll feel is the SSD.

I'm a software developer who works on virtualization. I have 40-70 tabs open in Firefox and 3 VMs with at least 1GB of memory each, a few tiny/micro Openstack instances building images, plus sometimes Pycharm running (if I'm not working remotely -- OSX is really terrible for this, though, and running Pycharm pretty much mandates running a Vagrant instance to do any sort of productive Python development). I'm ok with 8GB. Even if you were running every application you could find, you probably wouldn't use 8GB.

Realistically, you'll use Aperture/Photoshop and Logic/GarageBand less than you think you will. Especially as a CS student. If you were a graphic designer working with 3GB PSDs, it might be an issue. For your use case, it's not.

Don't get an i7. You probably don't need a 512GB SSD (and even if you run out of space on the 256GB, it'll be much cheaper to upgrade to a 512GB SSD in a year than pay another $300 now.

As a software dev, and especially as a student, don't sacrifice battery life and portability for "muh games". Play your games on a cheap gaming PC that doesn't go anywhere. You're getting a laptop for work on the go. And Haswell graphics will probably be fast enough to play NEWFPS3000!! at medium graphics for the next few years anyway.

13" rMBP, 8GB. $1499 list. Done.

I'm in Detroit, but with the HD update to the TB drive I think that's what made the non-Retina more :v: I assume the 2.4GHz is fine as well?

Thanks though, mate! This is exactly what I needed to know. It just occurred to me that most of my games are 1) on a disc and 2) for PC, so unless there's an OS X version on there as well, it's not worth it for the uber-MBP unless I'm doing Graphic design, like you say ;). The only thing about the Retina MBP's is that they're non upgradable since the RAM is soldered onto the MoBo/Logic Board. AFAIK, the same goes for the SSD but I'm not 100% sure.

I know it's not really the topic of the thread, but what CPU/GPU should I look at to replace my Phenom II x4 955 Black/MSI Radeon HD R6850 Cyclone?

FAT32 SHAMER
Aug 16, 2012



fookolt posted:

Wait, the new PCIe SSD drives in the Haswell rMBP are replaceable?

I was told by the Geniuses that we at the Apple Store were unable to do it with the Retina models... I'm sure the internet has found some way of voiding the warranty doing it, though :v:. I know with the non-Retinas, we're able to upgrade the RAM up to 8GB (the board itself can handle up to 16GB if you want to do it yourself) and the HDD can be swapped out with an SSD.

FAT32 SHAMER
Aug 16, 2012



I was reading the OP and I ran across something that may have changed since the OP was last updated: Haswell MBP w/Retina and MBA batteries ARE replaceable at The Apple Store, either under the basic 1 year warranty, AppleCare, or if you're out of warranty, you can pay to have it replaced. I do know that I usually see them being replaced by college girls who don't know that they shouldn't leave their computer plugged in whenever they're not using it or if they happen to be near an outlet.

This may have been mentioned elsewhere in the thread, but I didn't have the time to dig through such a large thread, and I don't want people to shy away from MacBooks because they think the battery will crap out on them in a year or two. They're rated for 1000 cycles, which if you're the average user, is something like five years IIRC.

The only thing that you can't technically do is swap the RAM; the RAM is soldered to the Logic Board. You're not supposed to swap out the SSD, however it's possible. It's a pain in the arse and it voids your warranty/AppleCare, but it is technically possible. I guess it's even possible to de-solder the RAM from the Logic Board, but I imagine there isn't much of a margin for error :v:

FAT32 SHAMER fucked around with this message at 08:23 on Jan 17, 2014

FAT32 SHAMER
Aug 16, 2012



Straker posted:

Okay, but that's actually the opposite of thing; other poster was saying to unplug it when you're not using it.

edit: come to think of it, if you are being a dick and leaving it plugged in all the time, you're not going to care when the battery loses life prematurely anyway :)

I was trying to convey, after a few too many tonics, that they never unplug the bloody thing, it would seem. If they're near an outlet they plug in.

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FAT32 SHAMER
Aug 16, 2012




My fiancee has the ASUS model and it is pretty nice.

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