Does Processor Speed Matter?

Hey all,

I'm new here, so first I'd like to say "hi."

I'm looking to buy a new Macbook Pro and was wondering whether or not I should get the one with the 2.53 GHz processor or spring for the 2.66 GHz processor.

I'm planning on using Logic on the machine and will probably upgrade to a larger HD and 8GB of RAM. Will I notice a difference if I take the 2.53 over the 2.66 or vice versa?

Thanks,

Eddie

Doubtful. You're talking a difference of 130MHz. That amounts to almost nothing in the real world. Now, if you were rendering 3D animation and an extra 15 seconds of rendering time was worth the price difference, that would be one thing, but for those of us that do every day computing, it's negligible at best.

When using Logic, your RAM will make a much bigger impact.

Note that 8GB of RAM is also going to be very expensive. You would probably be okay with less RAM but to be fair, I don't use Logic.

Thanks for the replies, guys. Really helpful.

Will RAM really be all that expensive? I realize that apple's charging 900, but they always charge too much. I could have sworn that I saw a pack of two 4GB RAM chips on new egg for around $90? Was I looking at the wrong thing?

shaps6 said:

Thanks for the replies, guys. Really helpful.

Will RAM really be all that expensive? I realize that apple's charging 900, but they always charge too much. I could have sworn that I saw a pack of two 4GB RAM chips on new egg for around $90? Was I looking at the wrong thing?

Click to expand...

From the prices here, I would say yeah you were looking at the wrong thing.

I have been using logic for a while, Logic Express that is. And as D3v1L80Y tells you RAM is the most important part for getting logic to run smoothly...

If I knew I was going to use the computer mainly for logic and I had to choose between the 2.53 GHz and2 the 2.66 one. Or choose RAM, I would have taken more RAM any day ...

shaps6 said:

Thanks for the replies, guys. Really helpful.

Will RAM really be all that expensive? I realize that apple's charging 900, but they always charge too much. I could have sworn that I saw a pack of two 4GB RAM chips on new egg for around $90? Was I looking at the wrong thing?

Click to expand...

I agree with CrimsonRequiem. According to Apple, the system requirements for Pro are 2GB of RAM. My take is that you should be fine with 4GB but as I said earlier, I don't use Logic.

shaps6 said:

Thanks for the replies, guys. Really helpful.

Will RAM really be all that expensive? I realize that apple's charging 900, but they always charge too much. I could have sworn that I saw a pack of two 4GB RAM chips on new egg for around $90? Was I looking at the wrong thing?

Click to expand...

Yep, you were. All the unibodies use DDR3, so you're looking at around $7-800 even 3rd party for 2 x 4GB.

I have friends that run logic pro on a 2.5GHz with 4GB (DDR2) without an issue. He uses it everyday for about 5 hours and it doesn't even blink.