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Model A1286. Released February 2011 / 2.0, 2.2, or 2.3 GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 Processor

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Upgrading the logic board within reason

Hi all,

I know you can't say "ok I'm going to take this newer and better logic board and install it in my older MacBook Pro" due to physical restrictions, but it should be possible to take a logic board from the best configuration available at the time you bought your mbp and replace the original to have a better laptop. And that's exactly what I want to do with my computer. I've got an early 2011 15" MacBook Pro with the 2.0Ghz i7 and 256mb video configuration. What would be the best logic board that's physically compatible with my model? I'd assume it's the 2.3Ghz i7 one but, is there an even better one? Thanks a lot!

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Here is a listing of compatible systems: MacBookPro8,2

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Here is the exact specs of your system: MacBook Pro 15" 2.0 GHz i7 (Early 2011). The best system in this series is this one: MacBook Pro 15" 2.5 GHz i7 (Late 2011).

If you review the Geekbench scores between the two systems you'll see the performance difference is about 12%. I do wonder if the costs of swiping out the logic board is worth the gains here.

MacBook Pro 15" 2.5 GHz i7 (Late 2011) Logic board

Now before you go down this path how about maximizing what you have I bet you'll get better performance. Add more RAM, swap out the HD for a SSHD or a SSD drive. Thats what I would do.

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First of all, thank you very much for the answer.

The upgrade you're suggesting I exactly what I did 3 years ago. I doubled the ram and added a SSD, and I have to say it really made a difference in terms of speed.

Now, I'm actually very happy with my laptop. It's been 5 years now and I still consider it to be quite a fast computer, but I've always been concerned about one single feature: the graphics card. It has the basic 256mb version and it was rather low even when I bought it, but I couldn't spend much more and I thought it was "just ok" at the time. I regreted it almost inmediately because I thought I could've spent a little more for a piece of equipment that's supposed to last longer than a standard laptop.

So, now that I can spend a little on an upgrade, I was thinking about fixing that little flaw while getting a noticeable performance boost, at least in the graphics department.

What I have noticed is that the 2.5Ghz version seems to be out of stock almost everywhere I look and if it's available, it can go up to $800. Given the fact that I can get a bigger and faster SSD and upgrade the ram again to 16gb for less than $300, I guess you're right.

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Before going to 16GB of RAM, check to see if any of your programs can even utilize that much.

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I would agree here with Mayer, many apps just can't gain that much when you go beyond 8 GB. Picture & video editing, music mixing & CAD CAM are all good examples of needing more RAM and can push the GPU as well.

If you trying to use this system as a gaming box you are likely pushing the systems abilities here (any version in this series), I would recommend thinking about getting a good desktop system for gaming.

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Jose Antonio Garcia will be eternally grateful.
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