2.4 ghz vs 2.7ghz MBP retina

Question

Hi,
I was wondering whether with the new MBP retina the upgrade from 2.4ghz i7 to 2.7ghz is really worth it ($100). I do use some relatively power hungry engineering programs in both linux and windows 8 virtualizations, however when i run the virtualizations i generally dont have many programs open on the mac half of the computer. I also use a couple programs like wolfram's mathematica for data analysis. I don't really do much photo and video editing aside from some minor touch ups to vacation photos.
Thanks
Vivek

Answer 1

For a $100, yes.  It would have been nice if that upgrade also got you some more cache on the CPU, but it doesn't.  But even so, 300 more MHz for $100 isn't too bad.
I always tell people that if the next component bump is within $175 to go ahead and do it (depending on what it is).  Mostly always concentrate on CPU speed/cache size increase, RAM amount, and HD speed (from 5400 to 7200).  In this case, you don't need to worry about the HD since it's an SSD.
I will say this.  If you had to pick that CPU upgrade or doubling your RAM but can't do both, then definitely double the RAM instead of the CPU.  More gain resource gain that way.