Upgrading from a late 09 MBP.. Worth it?

Alright well i got a late 2009 Macbook Pro 15inch with 2.66Ghz Core 2 Duo, 4Gb ram etc etc.. I am getting very tempted to go for the newly released model and my main question is what sort of performance increase am I looking at? (Iv got Snow Leopard on mine and it runs fine).. And whats the performance difference from my 9600GT compared to the Radeon HD 6750M?? I will be using it for gaming etc.. The 9600gt i have no will play Bioshock at Med-High settings..

 

9600M -> 6750M you're looking at a 3.5x to 4.0x increase in performance along with DX11 support. (Vantage GPU ~1200 -> ~4400)

CPU wise, you're looking at a very nice jump in performance going from a dual core Core 2 Duo (T9550) to a Quad Core Sandy Bridge (i7-2820qm, i7-2720qm). You are looking at a 2-4 fold increase in performance and perhaps more depending on applications.

 

That is about right. Even the 13" Core i5 MBP provides an incremental processor performance leap and I would say that the Intel HD 300 graphics in it are a tad better than the 9600gt (though I could be wrong).

Is going with a new quad-core MBP something you will notice in terms of performance? It all depends on what you are doing and how often you multi-task. The quad-core Core i7 processors are all hyper threaded so they can handle 8 threads of processing. They can also overclock to some pretty high levels when need be. I doubt you are going to notice much of a difference if you just run iTunes, iWork, and Safari.

 

the 9600GT is much faster than a HD 3000 ... I have both and have used the same games on both.

 

@OP, I would say keep your computer. First off, ask yourself is it slow? Probably not. It can't possibly be slower than when you first bought it as processors don't decline in power. If it is slower then it probably just needs a reformat. Also ask yourself are you star struck because there's a new model out with Sandy Bridge processors that have been hyped up a lot on online forums? Probably so. My point is unless your current MBP is on it's last legs in terms of battery no longer working, you've had massive repairs on it, the screen hinge is broken and such then yes, it's time to upgrade. But just for the sake of having the latest model? It's not the best idea since your current Mac is a late 2009. It's technically just 1-1/2 years old. Most people keep their computers for 3 years at least, I do, and I'm a power user. I'd say skip this upgrade.

 

What he said. The good thing about upgrading every three years--it lets you get the most out of AppleCare (which from my own experience is sorely needed in that 3rd year). Plus, when you do finally upgrade, you'll see such a dramatic jump in performance from your 3-year old machine that you'll be amazed. The performance boost is much less awe-inspiring if you upgrade often.

On the other hand, if you know you have applications that can benefit from the speed boost and you have the extra budget, why not go for it? As long as the utility you get from it outweighs all the costs, no reason not to buy it.