Photo Mechanic tech: CPU and GPU don't matter as much as data throughput

[testcase]

I have a "Late 2011" 17", matte screen MBP. When I changed the 750GB 7800 RPM HD for a 1TB SSD, I saw a noticible boost in speed. If you don't need/want a 1TB or 2TB SSD, you can get lesser capacity SSDs at good prices. That model can handle 16GB RAM too.