# lightroom 4 - macbookpro i5 vs. i7 ?



## vincent66 (Sep 1, 2012)

Hi there,

I'm new to the forum ; this is my first post.
I'm french, I live (work) in NYC, and I take pictures all the time.

My camera is a Ricoh GXR. I use it essentially with the A12 28mm module and I love this combo !

I need to get some advice from lightroom users on mac book pro.
As the mini doesn't seem to come, I decided to go for a mbp 13.

I will use this computer for my work, basically word processing, email, internet browsing, but also to process/sort my pictures with lightroom (raw files, approx. 20mb).

Here's how's I work :at home, with a external 23" display ;
outside, where the size factor of the 13" is a key.
​ I also have a 128mb crucialM4 SSD that I would like to use, instead of the stock HD (_possible ? not possible ? how to transfer the new system on it ?_) and use the stock HD as a back-up in a usb3 bed.


My question is about the choice of the CPU.
I know that word processing, browsing is not a problem for the i5
Would the i7 be a nice ugrade (as I already have the SSD) for picture processing (I already noticed some slowlyness when working on my wife's i5 iMac) ?


Thanks to you all in advance for your help.

Vincent.


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## ukbrown (Sep 1, 2012)

A faster CPU will always help LR to be as fast as it can be.


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## Kiwigeoff (Sep 1, 2012)

Processor and ram are both important IMHO, how much ram are you getting? I would max out the ram before upgrading the processor but preferably do both!!


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## vincent66 (Sep 2, 2012)

Thanks guys !



Kiwigeoff said:


> Processor and ram are both important IMHO, how much ram are you getting?



The i7 version comes with 8mb ; I think this is the max it can accept.
Do you guys think this enough ?


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## Kiwigeoff (Sep 2, 2012)

I have a 2012 i7 - 17" for which Apple state 8GB as max yet I know 16mb can go in from Crucial, etc!!! Check other suppliers as I wish I had known this before getting the 8GB from Apple.


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## vincent66 (Sep 2, 2012)

Thanks ! But actually, if I choose the i7, it comes stock with 8GB. And they pretend it's the maximum...
Would you say that a i5 with 16GB could be cheaper and work as fast as the i7 with 8GB ?


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## Kiwigeoff (Sep 2, 2012)

vincent66 said:


> Thanks ! But actually, if I choose the i7, it comes stock with 8GB. And they pretend it's the maximum...
> Would you say that a i5 with 16GB could be cheaper and work as fast as the i7 with 8GB ?


I don't know but I do know that my ram is used up a lot of the time while the processor only gets fully used on heavy tasks such as exporting, etc.


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## vincent66 (Sep 2, 2012)

Thanks ! But actually, if I choose the i7, it comes stock with 8GB. And they pretend it's the maximum...
ok ; very instructive. Thanks.


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## Kiwigeoff (Sep 2, 2012)

Google to find answers re the maximum ram. I'm on a slow connection at the moment, sorry!!


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## vincent66 (Sep 2, 2012)

Kiwigeoff said:


> Google to find answers re the maximum ram. I'm on a slow connection at the moment, sorry!!


Thanks. I found on the OWC site that it can run 16GB ;

So, the question is now : i5/16GB or i7/8GB ; because, if I buy the i7, I won't have no money left for extra ram...


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## pjamedia (Sep 2, 2012)

I saw a side by side comparison on youtube of two MBAs, one i5, one i7 - they were doing a video render in Final Cut Pro (so not LR unfortunately), but the difference in speed was actually negligible. The test suggested that the extra £100 for the i7 just wasn't worth it. They also compared the MBA with i5 and SSD with an older MBP with standard hard drive and Core2 Duo, and that was sooo sloow in comparison - it was staggering how things had improved in just 1 year!

Paul A


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## Victoria Bampton (Sep 3, 2012)

I'd say it depends on how many other programs you want running at the same time, and therefore whether you'd ever max out that 8gb of RAM.  If you can close a few programs so that it's not having to swap to disc, then the i7 should be quicker.  Considering LR's ever-increasing-hunger for processing power, I'd personally go with the i7/8GB.  You could always add RAM later, whereas you can't change the processor.


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## vincent66 (Sep 3, 2012)

Victoria Bampton said:


> I'd say it depends on how many other programs you want running at the same time, and therefore whether you'd ever max out that 8gb of RAM.  If you can close a few programs so that it's not having to swap to disc, then the i7 should be quicker.  Considering LR's ever-increasing-hunger for processing power, I'd personally go with the i7/8GB.  You could always add RAM later, whereas you can't change the processor.



That's exactly what I was thinking ; plus, the ram may be cheaper in few months...
Thanks Victoria.


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