vRAM for Photo Editing and Multimedia?

I am about to replace my 2006 MacBook Pro (Model 1,1) with a new 15" model. My question is regarding the video cards and whether or not the higher end model is necessary for my intentions:

- Main computer
- CS 5 and LR3 for photo editing
- Final Cut Pro for some video editing and sound slides.

The price difference is ~$300 after my education discount and I am aware that the added price includes a faster processor, a larger (or quicker) HD, and the video card. I plan on adding a SSD in a few months regardless of which model I get.

Ideally, I want this computer to last me another 5-6 years. My gut is telling me to get the model with more vRAM to make it future proof or possibly offer the extra year of usability.

All the articles I read on vRAM is for 3D gaming, which I will not be doing. What does vRAM do in the photography and multimedia standpoint?


Models compared:

2.0GHz quad-core
Intel Core i7
4GB 1333MHz
500GB 5400-rpm1
Intel HD Graphics 3000
AMD Radeon HD 6490M with 256MB GDDR5

2.2GHz quad-core
Intel Core i7
4GB 1333MHz
750GB 5400-rpm1
Intel HD Graphics 3000
AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 1GB GDDR5

I always think when buying macs, buy the best you can afford as there isn't a whole load you can change after! And as you said you want 5-6 years out of it? My Nik software plugins make use of my GPU.

My culling program, fast picture viewer, use vRam. Not many other programs do yet. For $300 i'd probably get it, even though the processor and hard disk improvements won't make a practical difference.

Staszek wrote in post #12976508
- Main computer
- CS 5 and LR3 for photo editing
- Final Cut Pro for some video editing and sound slides.

The difference is more than just the vRAM. Those two computers have different gpus, as well. Aperture, Pixelmator, Pixel Bender and Final Cut Pro use the gpu cores for much of their work, so the higher end computer will be faster. As new software is released you can expect the gpu to be used more and more since it is an integral part of Mac OS X (OpenCL and Grand Central). In practical terms, that may or may not be meaningful, depending on what your camera is and what you do with images. Personally, I always favor a better gpu since I use Aperture almost exclusively.

In terms of vRAM usage, my Mac hits about 200 mb used when I am working 5Dii images and get just a few layers in Photoshop. I also scan 6x7cm color negs at 16-bit (24 mpixel files) that take up about 400 mb just by opening them.