macbook pro: 2.53 ghz or 2.8 ghz?

[thefiremelted]

i'd like to get a macbook pro for recording. i plan on using vsts and plenty of tracks, so power is important. however, the upgrade from a 2.53 ghz processor to 2.8 ghz is $300... is the difference even worthwhile, you think? either way i'll have 4 gigs of ram.

[BenjaminWells]

I think the subtle differences in power are over-blown. When you're talking about two generations of processors, that's when you see a huge difference... but if $300 could buy you most of a huge external hard drive or more memory, I'd put the money there.

[Osumosan]

I always seem to max out my computer wishing I had just a bit more power, but sometimes the power is processor speed, sometimes it's disk speed. Often plug-ins use disk power (don't know why, but it's true). RAM is the most important. As far as hard drives go, if you've got something on the firewire bus like an interface that will take up a great deal of its bandwidth, so you might look into an E-SATA bus through the card slot.

[kingmetal]

a 300mhz difference is really not that much these days when you're talking about a same-generation processor.

That being said, if you're a crazy power user who is constantly maxing out your CPU it might be worth it - but you can always just use your power intelligently by rendering / freezing tracks if you really get low on juice.

I'd say spend the money on a control surface or a hard drive or something!