Buying new MBP, whats more important, Processor speed or RAM?

[dennyc123]

I am about to but a new Macbook pro to replace my old one and I am not sure which is more important for the new purchase, processor and its speed or the RAM, here are the specs of the two I am looking at and I want to know which one you think would be the better performance

2.8GHz dual core i5 boosted to 3.3GHz with 8GB of RAM or
2.2GHz quad core i7 boosted to 3.3GHz with 16GB or RAM.

I know the boost is the same but the original clock speed of the second one is lower, will this make a difference or is the answer obviously the second one?

thanks for your help

 

[chscag]

2.2GHz quad core i7 boosted to 3.3GHz with 16GB or RAM.

This machine is faster than the other. You can't go by the clock speed of the CPU as the only attribute. The i7 as noted above is a quad core which faster than the dual core, and besides that, it has 16 GB of memory. The memory in both of these machine is not upgradeable so it makes sense to purchase the quad core.

 

[dennyc123]

Is this extra performance worth an extra £200 (get 2 extra inches of screen too...)

 

[vansmith]

The answer to this is "that's your call." The financial feasibility and utility of the extra power is only something you can determine. However, as a general rule of thumb, if you can afford it comfortably, buy as much machine as you can.

 

[McBie]

I would go for the RAM, a fast processor without sufficient RAM is a dead machine

Cheers ... McBIe

 

[pigoo3]

2.8GHz dual core i5 boosted to 3.3GHz with 8GB of RAM or
2.2GHz quad core i7 boosted to 3.3GHz with 16GB or RAM.

Unless these two computers are the same in every other way…you really need to provide more info.

- Is there an age difference between these two computers?
- You mentioned that the "i7" model had "2 extra inches of screen". This makes a BIG BIG difference (13" vs. 15").
- Dual core vs. quad core (15" is a quad-core).
- What's your budget?
- What is the price of each computer?
- Many 15" models have discrete graphics hardware. This makes a BIG BIG BIG difference when making comparisons. What does this 15" MBP have?

This is really not a simple matter of "processor speed" or "ram". I would suspect that if these two computers are similar in age…the 15" model is much more expensive.

- Nick

 

[19birel]

Unless your doing hardware intensive tasks, your not going to notice that big of a difference between the two. If you don't need the power of the quad core i7, and don't mind not having the retina display, I'd actually get the base 2.5Ghz 13" i5 without the Retina display. That option would give you the choice to upgrade your RAM down the road if need be and gives you more storage options. In day to day use, as long as your not a power user, the base machine will probably serve you just fine, heck I use mine for editing in Final Cut Pro X as well as Photoshop etc. and although it's 4 years old it performs those hardware intensive tasks well. if you want retina get the 2.6Ghz model with 8gb of RAM, but don't get hung up on processor speed, especially if you don't plan on utilizing it all.

 

[iHate Vista]

I am about to but a new Macbook pro to replace my old one and I am not sure which is more important for the new purchase, processor and its speed or the RAM, here are the specs of the two I am looking at and I want to know which one you think would be the better performance

2.8GHz dual core i5 boosted to 3.3GHz with 8GB of RAM or
2.2GHz quad core i7 boosted to 3.3GHz with 16GB or RAM.

I know the boost is the same but the original clock speed of the second one is lower, will this make a difference or is the answer obviously the second one?

thanks for your help

I would get both if you can afford it its like getting a nice car you want to get it better gas so it performs better if not then i would go with the better processor since it is easy to upgrade ram in most mbps the processor is a different story

 

[vansmith]

I would get both if you can afford it

...why? What would be a good reason to buy two machines?

 

[pigoo3]

I would get both if you can afford it...

OP is trying to choose between two different MacBook Pro stock configurations. Not deciding which to upgrade (CPU or ram).

I was a little confused at first…I thought the OP was choosing between two different used computers…then realized they were talking about two stock configs of new computers.

- Nick

 

[iHate Vista]

...why? What would be a good reason to buy two machines?

Sorry I was talking about getting more ram and the better cpu

 

[iHate Vista]

OP is trying to choose between two different MacBook Pro stock configurations. Not deciding which to upgrade (CPU or ram).

I was a little confused at first…I thought the OP was choosing between two different used computers…then realized they were talking about two stock configs of new computers.

- Nick

thats what i ment i would get the i7 with 16gb ram if he could afford it
he asked which was more important what I was trying to say is that they are both important

"I am about to but a new Macbook pro to replace my old one and I am not sure which is more important for the new purchase, processor and its speed or the RAM, here are the specs of the two I am looking at and I want to know which one you think would be the better performance

2.8GHz dual core i5 boosted to 3.3GHz with 8GB of RAM or
2.2GHz quad core i7 boosted to 3.3GHz with 16GB or RAM.

I know the boost is the same but the original clock speed of the second one is lower, will this make a difference or is the answer obviously the second one?

thanks for your help"

 

[chscag]

I know the boost is the same but the original clock speed of the second one is lower, will this make a difference or is the answer obviously the second one?

You need to understand the difference between an i5 dual core vs an i7 quad core. The CPU clock speed is lower but the quad core is going to be faster and will bench mark higher than the dual core. So yes, the second machine listed is the faster one, albeit more expensive.

 

[vansmith]

The CPU clock speed is lower but the quad core is going to be faster and will bench mark higher than the dual core.

The i7 also scales up to the same speed as the i5 if need be so, when you need the speed, you'll see a huge difference.

chscag is right - the i7 is the much better purchase here if you can swing it.

 

[Algus]

Answer is obviously the second one as others have said. If you're looking at a system for just office work and web browsing or whatever best to save your money though.

For me the second one would be a no brainer because I like to play games so I'd get plenty of use out of that extra juice. If you're using professional applications besides office programs, you'll enjoy the benefits of the second one as well.

If you're a power user, even if its just for home office tasks, i.e. you have music playing, video in a tab, tons of tabs, etc. you will probably like the second one.

i5 is a very good CPU. Sometimes I think we Mac users forget it because while it is low end for us, it is midrange to high end in the Windows world!