Mid 2012 Macbook Pro 650m 512mb vs 1 gig

Im looking at getting a classic mbp 15 and my question, is the 500 dollar upgrade worth the jump in vram?

A little info about my situation and needs, I am a gamer, but primarily console and my desktop. Im not going to go th bootcamp route, so the games ill play will be osx titles. I will be sticking with the 1440x900 resolution and I feel that 512 is more than enough for that resolution and 1 gig would be a waste and not fully utilized. Im thinking 2-5 fps decrease with the 512 in diablo 3 for example. The processor Im not concerned with as the base model is fine, the hard drive will be replaced immediate regardless of model, and ram is ~40 bucks for 8 gigs... not a big deal to replace. I dont mind cranking the settings down to medium.

 

The problem here is that when the gpu lacks the vram you could see some sudden low spikes.

See how vram intensive the games that you play are

 

I'm also in the same boat. I can't afford the 1gb vram model so if I need 1gb vram i might go with the late 2011 model that has the AMD 1gb vram 6770m.

 

Here's a thread that might help:
Known/suspected games to eat more than 1GB video memory at 1920x1200 - Overclockers UK Forums

That data is aimed at 1920x1200 resolution. The lower resolution/textures you go, the less vram will be used.

Additional information, but this time for 1440x900 resolution:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1388873

Most people are saying it's enough as long as you stick to that resolution.

 

I don't think the 512MB is going to cut it for 2012+

I think the extra 500$ is worth the future proofing, Just in case

 

I actually don't think its going to be that big of an issue since they don't want to buy this as a dedicated gaming notebook. Things would be different if that was the case but it sounds like they are going to do some casual gaming which the baseline 15" MBP should be able to handle just fine (even for the next few years) with 512MB of VRAM. By that time, the main issue is going to be with the GPU itself rather than the lack of VRAM that it offers (again, for casual gaming and nothing serious).

 

If the games are being run on OS X at 1440x900, the 512 MB GPU should be plenty.


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I wouldn't count on that, skyrim eats 800MB on a 630M @720p

 

Thanks for all the info, I just found out that I can get an education discount through my employer. 200 off the top end model and 100 off the low end model. So that gap just closed by 100 bucks. I may end up getting the top end model now, but its nice to know that the 512 model will work for me.

Anyone know know if the 650m on the classic has the same clocks as the retina? I want to say that they may have clocked the retina higher because of the extreme resolution and there would be no need for the overclock on the classic.

 

Thanks for the helpful links, repped!

 

Re-read the initial post:

 

the retina clocks are higher

 

Any source for that?

 

That seems odd, different clocks?

GPU-Z screenshot plz

 

just look at the various threads about the retina or non retina.

macrumors has some as well.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=673498

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1397557&highlight=650m

 

Unless you're hooking it up to an external monitor 512mb is perfectly fine for that resolution. I definitely wouldn't pay half a grand for another 512mb.

 

complete, 100% consensus.

 

Thats what I've always thought of the 1gig versus 2 gig threads for pc. The m14x to be precise, and the consensus always was "Unless you're playing games on an external monitor above 1080, 1 gig is more than enough for the resolution of the m14x"

I guess I'll go with the 512 version, although I have been eyeing the 13 inch air.

 

the problem here is 512mb. When you are in the 1gb area, there is nothing there to add the performance of a mid range card.

 

Big difference between a 1gb gt 650m in the alienware compared to the macbook. Having better cooling at the expense of weight and size allows much higher and stable overclocks. At 900p resolution the 1gb video card is more than plenty and comes as basic standard option for alienware

 

if by your argument the RMBP would have lower clocks than your m14x, which it doesnt. And from the OCs that I saw 1200 - 1300 core clocks is not only possible but a reality.

 

This thread is actually about the 512 MB vs 1 GB Nvidia 650m in the Macbook Pro.

 

I'm not concerned with overclocking, never have and never will on a laptop.