MBP 15" 6490M or 6750M?

Joined
May 23, 2011
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Hello everybody. First of all, I hope I've posted this in right thread, second; sorry for my bad English.

I am about to buy my first Mac and I have this dilemma I can't figure out myself. I am thinking of using this Mac mainly to Photoshop, and 3D pictures in Photoshop. I cannot imagine that I'm going to use this Mac for games or 1080p video editing. Do I need the 6750M for Photoshop (and 3D pictures)? I want this Mac to work well in 3-5 years since I spend so much money on this product.

To ask easier: Will the 15" with 6490M work well for my use? I am not interested in using lots of money on something that is OK. I want it to work pretty nice. :)


Please come with arguments :)
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
The 6490m should be fine for your purposes. If you told me that you were a heavy gamer, I'd answer differently (although the 6490m works great for the games I've tried thus far).
 
OP
K
Joined
May 23, 2011
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
1
The 6490m should be fine for your purposes. If you told me that you were a heavy gamer, I'd answer differently (although the 6490m works great for the games I've tried thus far).

Thx for the quick respond. :) Then I have to ask you; have you got this Mac / tried out this graphic card? What do you use if for? I have to be guaranteed that this graphics card will be (more than) good enough for my Photoshop use.

I now have a Acer 5741G with 320M graphics, and it works out OK with 3D photos.

I believe it's true that I better go for SSD disk and 8GB of RAM, than better graphics card. Is that true? And also higher rezolution?

I would appreciate if many of you tell me your point of view!! :)
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
Yes, I have the 2GHz i7 model with the 6490m (i.e. the low-end 15" MacBook Pro). I did upgrade it to 8GB of RAM and also replaced the hard disk with a 7200rpm Hitachi 7k500.

You have to remember that Photoshop is primarily a 2D application. It will use the GPU to accelerate tasks, so it's a good idea to have a decent GPU (and the 6490 is not only very good, it's significantly better than the 320M in your Acer).

I would upgrade the RAM aftermarket. Personally, I don't feel that the performance difference is worth the added cost of the SSD. I'd rather have the greater storage capability of the traditional hard drive over the speed of the SSD, but that's just my personal opinion. I also think that SSDs will get consistently cheaper, while they get even faster and more reliable. So, I think it's prudent to hold off at the moment.
 
OP
K
Joined
May 23, 2011
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Ok, thank you for your answer :)

I think I will go for SSD (160GB OCZ Vertex 2 or 3), as I get it pretty cheap from my job :) My plan is to use an external 1T disk to store all my data.

As I said in my earlier post; everybody, come with tips and opinions!
 
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
Messages
301
Reaction score
4
Points
18
Location
Columbia SC
It really comes down to your personal choice based on what you do with your Mac.
$400 will get you +0.2 Ghz clock speed, + 250 GB 5400RPM HDD, + ~750 MB Dedicated VRAM.

My suggestion would be get the best Mac you can for what you can afford. You may not be into games or REALLY heavy video editing now, but you may be in a few months or a couple years. It cannot hurt (besides the bank account) to load up on specs.

To sum it all up, you have to ask yourself: is the upgrade between models worth my hard earned $400?

note: if you get the Education Discount, the difference is only $300.

additional note: You can always upgrade the Hard Drive and Ram, but you cannot upgrade the processor or video card (or at least it is extremely difficult)
 
OP
K
Joined
May 23, 2011
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
1
It really comes down to your personal choice based on what you do with your Mac.
$400 will get you +0.2 Ghz clock speed, + 250 GB 5400RPM HDD, + ~750 MB Dedicated VRAM.

My suggestion would be get the best Mac you can for what you can afford. You may not be into games or REALLY heavy video editing now, but you may be in a few months or a couple years. It cannot hurt (besides the bank account) to load up on specs.

To sum it all up, you have to ask yourself: is the upgrade between models worth my hard earned $400?

note: if you get the Education Discount, the difference is only $300.

additional note: You can always upgrade the Hard Drive and Ram, but you cannot upgrade the processor or video card (or at least it is extremely difficult)

Thx for the answer :)

Well, I CAN afford the 15" 2,2GHz, but I would really prefer to save those money for the high resolution screen and SSD-disk. I have a PC which I can use for gaming, and I don't think I am going to render heavy HD videos in the near future. So my main question will be; "will the 6490M handle Photoshop and 3D photo editing with good margin?" I can't imagin that Apple would make a MBP which cannot handle what I look for in terms of that it has a pretty expensive price.

Anyone who can try out 3D handling in Photoshop or anyone who has experienced it? :)
 
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
Messages
301
Reaction score
4
Points
18
Location
Columbia SC
I cannot say I have, but I have used PS for years and my latest MBP (15" 2.0 Ghz) runs super fast and very smooth.

It is not like the 6490M is a slouch by any means, it is 256 Dedicated Video ram but also has the Intel HD Graphics 3000 which shares an additional 384 MB of memory with the main memory.

Yes, it may not be up to standards in terms of HD rendering and gaming, but it should be more than adequate for photoshop.
 
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
Messages
301
Reaction score
4
Points
18
Location
Columbia SC
(sorry for the multiple posts)

To be honest, if going with the 2.0 ghz model makes you worry about whether the machine will be adequate for your tasks. I would recommend going with the higher-end model. As I alluded to before, you cannot upgrade the Processor or Video Card at a later time, so it might be in your best interest to bite the bullet and go with the higher end model.
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
I guess I don't understand what you mean by "3D photo editing". Photos are inherently 2D. As I mentioned before, Photoshop will certainly use the 3D acceleration to help with rendering and other heavy processing, but it's not like it will be as critical as it would be in a gaming rig, where true 3D rendering is being done constantly.
 
OP
K
Joined
May 23, 2011
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
1
(sorry for the multiple posts)

To be honest, if going with the 2.0 ghz model makes you worry about whether the machine will be adequate for your tasks. I would recommend going with the higher-end model. As I alluded to before, you cannot upgrade the Processor or Video Card at a later time, so it might be in your best interest to bite the bullet and go with the higher end model.

I know I can't upgrade CPU or GPU, but the difference in the price is a bit too big. My girlfriend will get the student discount, so I will save some money anyways, but the 3-400$ is pretty much for a person who don't have an insane amount of cash.


I guess I don't understand what you mean by "3D photo editing". Photos are inherently 2D. As I mentioned before, Photoshop will certainly use the 3D acceleration to help with rendering and other heavy processing, but it's not like it will be as critical as it would be in a gaming rig, where true 3D rendering is being done constantly.

In CS5 there is a 3D function where you for example can pase pictures on a cube which is in "3D". I haven't tried it out properly, but with my Acer with 320M it kind of lagged a bit. (I have to say that my Acer was extremely hot at the point, and may have caused some lags.)
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
Here's my take on it...

The 200MHz difference between the two processors is miniscule and won't be noticeable in normal conditions. If an extra 5 seconds in rendering time is critical, then it may be worth the extra money. But we're not talking about two different CPU architectures or bus speeds. These are the same chips with slightly different clock speeds, which doesn't amount to a whole hill of beans to me.

Now, there is a substantial difference between the 2 GPUs, as the higher end has 1GB of video RAM, which could prove useful in 3D applications. And as Ben said, you can't change it later, so you should buy the best you can afford in cases where you'll be doing a lot of 3D rendering. I'm not familiar with the Photoshop 3D manipulation that you mentioned, or whether there would be a significant difference in performance. But I can't imagine that rendering a relatively small 3D object (as opposed to an entire screen of a game running at 30+ FPS) would be all that noticeable.

Again, just my $0.02. I don't think you can go wrong either way, but I went with the lower end model because I thought it was better from a "bang for the buck" standpoint. If you're not on a strict budget, I wouldn't sweat it.
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
Well, I CAN afford the 15" 2,2GHz, but I would really prefer to save those money for the high resolution screen and SSD-disk.

There are always two rules to consider when buying a new computer (probably more rues as well):

1. Buy as much computer as you can afford. But when buying top end systems...you will always pay a BIG premium for only marginally better performance.
2. As "cwa107" mentioned..."Bang for your buck!" You also want to get the most for your money without over-spending on what you may not need or use.

Thus...if you got lots of money burning a hole in your pocket...get the top-end system. If you don't have "money to burn"...get the lower spec'ed system.

HTH,

- Nick
 
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Messages
1,291
Reaction score
43
Points
48
Location
Louisville, KY - USA
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 17" 2011, 2.3GHz Intel Quad-Core i7, 8GB RAM, MacMini 2011, 2.7GHz Intel Dual-Core i7, 8GB RAM
You can ALWAYS upgrade RAM and HDD after the purchase.

You can NEVER upgrade the CPU or VideoCard/VRAM after the purchase.

Disclaimer: Always and Never are generally over 95% as there are exceptions to every rule.
 
OP
K
Joined
May 23, 2011
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Thanks for answers!

Then I am pretty sure I will go for the 2.0 Ghz "low-end", unless somebody strongly don't reccomand me to do it because they have tried the "3D-part" with Photoshop and can claim that it doesn't work.

As you say; if the cash are burning a hole in my pocket, go for the expensive model, and if they're not, go for the cheap - Well, then I will go for high resolution and SSD + saving money for my trip to South-Amerika and Cuba this Christmas :)

But if you have tried Photoshop (3D) with the low-end model, please tell me folks! :)
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
You can ALWAYS upgrade RAM and HDD after the purchase.

You can NEVER upgrade the CPU or VideoCard/VRAM after the purchase.

Disclaimer: Always and Never are generally over 95% as there are exceptions to every rule.

This would probably be (at least) "Buying a new computer rule/words of wisdom #3"...added to the 2 "rules" I mentioned above.:)

- Nick

p.s. Assuming we are talking pretty much any Macintosh computer other than a Mac Pro.;)
 
Joined
Mar 17, 2008
Messages
6,879
Reaction score
191
Points
63
Location
Tucson, AZ
Your Mac's Specs
Way... way too many specs to list.
I'd try it, but I don't have Photoshop cs5 extended (thus no 3d support)
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top