Resolume Forum

I'd like to know the most high end/best setup I can get for a MacbookPro for VJing, preferably under $2,500.

I've been looking to update but have been disappointed with Apple's releases over the past year(s) so I'm turning to refurbs on ebay or elsewhere.
I've also been scrounging around information here but it's scattered; the performance benchmark chart Resolume has on the site is confusing me. From what I gather, NVIDA 650+ or raedon graphics are the way to go, but I'm confused about single vs dual cards, etc...
Which graphics card has been the best so far for Macs, using resolume and madmapper, along with other VJing apps?

And no I'm never switching to windows, tried it and it annoys the hell out of me, & most of the apps I want to use for my interactive installations are meant for Macs only.

Please help! Thank you!!
IG@Marilee22

I still use our MacBook Pros from 3 years ago with much luck and don't want to update to the new ones!

Macbook retina 15 late 2016 with touch bar with Radeon Pro 460 with 4GB is the fastest model.
You can get Radeon Pro 460 on basic model (2399USD) with 200$ extra.
This graphic card is around two times faster than Geforce 750.

Oaktown gets my vote. The 2GB 15" version with a nice SSD is hard to beat for the money. The new MBP is very disappointing, especially for the price.
Have you looked into the Razer Blades?

http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade

This graphic card is around two times faster than Geforce 750.

Rendering power is not the only factor to consider though. Like all VJ software, Resolume needs to upload an insane amount of texture data to that GPU before it can start to do its render thing. MBP motherboards have been the bottleneck on that for the last few years. This is why all the MBP models since 2013 perform about the same in the benchmark test.

To be honest, I wouldn't advise anyone to get a MBP if you really want to fluently run multiple layers at HD+ comp sizes.

Talking about "all models from 2013 perform same way" we must remember that there are only two options - Geforce 750m, and Radeon R9 which formally is faster, but is too hot and power hungry and starts throttling down to the same level of performance of 750m in tight Macbook internals.
Also, new platform brings more PCIe lanes (36 for skylake platform (16CPU+20 Chipset) vs 24 for earlier models(16+8).
12 additional lines: max 8 of them will go for two additional TB 3 ports, and 4 are available for other interconnections including graphic card.
So, before tests i am very positive about new Macbook. Only concern - throttling under heavy load in hot environment. All this cooling pads with power from USB are very weak. Best way to cool macbook - is top aluminium surface which is perfect heatsink. So i ordered 24W server blower fan and speed controller. Will see what this beast can do.

And in my opinion, on Mac Resolume is far more stable. Memory management under Windows is still far from Mac version. Even if i purge memory with deck switching, when i need to add video to decks PC Resolume is dying after some time. Mac runs for me for 6 or more hours without a glitch.

Also, new platform brings more PCIe lanes (36 for skylake platform (16CPU+20 Chipset) vs 24 for earlier models(16+8).
12 additional lines: max 8 of them will go for two additional TB 3 ports, and 4 are available for other interconnections including graphic card.

Sounds great! Don't get me wrong, I love Macs, I've just gotten underwhelmed the last few years. Let's hope they turn it around.

It's ashame current technology still isn't advanced enough to plop a 1070 into a mbp and allow the battery life the company wants to tout their notebooks have.

For me personally I worry less about portability and more about tying one hand behind my back with a slow machine.

Digitrevx,
It's no MBP, But it runs Resolume much better than the current MBP's.
http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade
http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade-pro

Oh.... and cheaper