2.3 or 2.6 quad core MBP?

alright, getting the 15 inch MBP for christmas, I'll be upgrading the RAM and the HDD to an SSD in the months following, so the base specs aren't that important for me. the big question is: should i stick with the 2.3 or the 2.6 quad core? obviously I'd like the 2.6, but that's also 2 grand... I'll be running autodesk programs through bootcamp or parallels, like revit, 3dsmax, and maya, although not at the same time. I'll also be running CS5 programs, and ableton live 8. I'd imagine the most programs I'll ever have open at once would be revit, photoshop, firefox, itunes, and mail. will the 2.3 quad with 16 gigs ram and an SSD be able to run them well? obviously i'll only usually have revit and itunes up, but I don't want to be pushing my computer to the limit at all times, and if the 2.6 is going to be worth the $300 more, I'll do that. plus, that way I could put off the upgrading of RAM for a little longer since that MBP comes with 8 gigs standard.
i will need to do a lot of convincing to the mom though, since she's helping fund this, and I already had to convince her to bump up from the 2.9 ghz dual core 13inch to the 15 inch one for the quad core benefits.
thanks in advance.

not really...
i'm already paying for most of it, and it's acting as a christmas gift and graduation gift, and i'll be using it in grad school. i'm not swindling my mom out of 300 bucks. we're both viewing it as an investment, since i'll be using the programs i mentioned in school, and outside of school. i'm leaning towards the 2.3 simply because i don't want my mom to have to pay even more, and i'll be upgrading the ram and ssd anyway on my own, which will bost the performance noticeably. however, if it's going to make that much of a difference, i'd like to just go for it now, since i don't feel like replacing the motherboard.
however, after doing some more research, i've decided on the 2.3, since we don't feel like spending 2 grand on a computer, and the 2.3 will be sufficient. thanks for not at all answering my question vortex.

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Hey,
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Message was edited by: EZ Jim
Mac Pro Quad Core (Early09) 2.93Ghz OSX 10.9 24" LED Cinema Display
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MBP 15" i7 (Early'11) OSX 10.9 13" MBP (Mid'09) 2.26GHz OSX 10.9

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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2186
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2597
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Hi all,
I am going to be a college student this fall majoring in a science related field. My first question is what processor I should go with. I am looking at either a 13" MBP with a dual core i7 and 8 GB of RAM (750GB HD), 13" MBP w/ a dual core i5, 8GB RAM and 500GB HD, or a 15" quad core i7 with 8GB RAM and 500 GB HD. I plan on upgrading to a SSD once prices come down in a few years and would like to stick with the MBP without Retina Display so that I can upgrade RAM and HD later on.
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seanbrownie wrote:
Screen size set aside since I plan on using a TBD most of the time,
Then you want the more powerful graphics of the 15" with it's dedicated GPU to better/faster drive the external display as it's larger, and larger displays pumps more pixels so you also need the better cooling of the 15"
would adding more RAM solve the OS X upgrade issues over time?
Yes, but more RAM isn't a cure all, processors and graphics also has to be powerful to last longer.
RAM allows one to do more things at the same time, and gives a performance boot with programs with larger files it's working on (like large Photoshop and video files)
Plus, would upgrading the HD to SSD help in making the jump to say OS X 10.11, 10.12 down the road easier?
Not that much really, with the non-Retina 15" you can put in a 1TB SSD when the prices come down further
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100008120%2060041492 0&IsNodeId=1&name=513GB%20-%201TB
It would be nice to save a little on the screen size since I won't be able to utilize the 15" to its maximum potential when I'm working at my desk.
Your on the wrong platform if your looking to save money.
If you compare specs and performance of the hardware Apple offers for sale and equivilent i5/dual cores with Intel HD graphics, you'll find for $1500 buys a Mac and for $400 buys the same in a Windows PC.
Really the best value comes with the 15" as if your in that pro market for such a machine you might as well get OS X with it as PC's cost about the same in that range.
The really best value is a Windows 7 tower, that way it's parts are all upgradable and can last a decade or more on one Widnows OS version.
Several of my friends think I'm crazy spending $10,000 on Mac's in 10 years, they are still on their XP towers and haven't paid much more than $2000 over that same time.
Of course now XP is dead and they have to upgrade to Windows 7 towers, but they really get good value out of their boxes.
Mac's are not for those tight on a budget, I don't advise. A Windows machine will do the job for most people
Perhaps a Windows 3D gaming tower and a iPad?

2.3 or 2.6 quad core MBP?

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