Pleasant surprise regarding SD Card/Windows

bpd115 · Jul 11, 2012, 10:55 PM

I have a 2012 MBA 13" Core i5 1.8 with 8 gig of Ram. I got the base model with the 128 gig SSD.

I also picked up this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o06_s00_i00

to use as extra storage.

I recently took advantage of an amazon deal for NBA 2K12 for Windows for $9.99. Now I know this will run fantastic on my Mac Pro using boot camp, but currently I do not have windows installed in a boot camp environment. I do have Windows 7 installed in Paralles though. So I figured, hey lets give it a try. Running the GM of Mountain Lion and the latest Parallels, game performance was acceptable. It wasn't as smooth as boot camp would be, but it was smooth enough to save me the hassle. Mac Pro is a 1,1 with a 1 gig 4870.

So I decided to copy my VM to the SD card and give it a go on the Macbook Air. Performance is fantastic. I did not expect NBA 2K12 to run on the Air, however to my surprise, it runs smoother than it does on my Mac Pro, all off the SD card.

NBA 2K includes a video bench mark but I don't trust the numbers under parallels, as the Air gives me lower numbers than the Pro, but visually it's smoother. I'm thinking it has to do with the updated Core architecture as the Pro still out XBenches the Air.

TLDR: Windows and NBA2K12 run fantastic from a 64 gig SD card on a 2012 MBA.

Also, I moved the VM to a trial of the latest VMWare Fusion and NBA2K ran like a slide show.

oneMadRssn · Jul 12, 2012, 08:41 AM

Is there any affect on the SD card? Do they have limited write/rewrite cycles?

Perhaps it runs that well because it's caching nearly the entire imagine into RAM? Could that be it?

bpd115 · Jul 12, 2012, 10:21 AM

I know SD cards can and do fail, but I'm not too concerned with that as I have the data backed up.

It's a ~40 gig image so it isn't caching everything.

oneMadRssn · Jul 12, 2012, 12:01 PM

Maybe caching it on the SSD then?

bpd115 · Jul 12, 2012, 02:09 PM

I would imagine a huge delay in starting up if it were caching it to the HD first. It's running directly off the card. I don't think Paralles particularly cares where the file is being run from.

oneMadRssn · Jul 12, 2012, 02:35 PM

Then I guess if it runs that well of an SD card, imagine how fast it will be when running of the SSD.

Red Wolf · Jul 12, 2012, 03:56 PM

Wow this is really interesting. I might give it a shot. Never thought that a VM could perform that well from a SD-card. I think it will solve some space issues on my SSD.

Jul 11, 2012, 10:55 PM	#1
bpd115 macrumors 6502a Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Pennsylvania	Pleasant surprise regarding SD Card/Windows I have a 2012 MBA 13" Core i5 1.8 with 8 gig of Ram. I got the base model with the 128 gig SSD. I also picked up this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o06_s00_i00 to use as extra storage. I recently took advantage of an amazon deal for NBA 2K12 for Windows for $9.99. Now I know this will run fantastic on my Mac Pro using boot camp, but currently I do not have windows installed in a boot camp environment. I do have Windows 7 installed in Paralles though. So I figured, hey lets give it a try. Running the GM of Mountain Lion and the latest Parallels, game performance was acceptable. It wasn't as smooth as boot camp would be, but it was smooth enough to save me the hassle. Mac Pro is a 1,1 with a 1 gig 4870. So I decided to copy my VM to the SD card and give it a go on the Macbook Air. Performance is fantastic. I did not expect NBA 2K12 to run on the Air, however to my surprise, it runs smoother than it does on my Mac Pro, all off the SD card. NBA 2K includes a video bench mark but I don't trust the numbers under parallels, as the Air gives me lower numbers than the Pro, but visually it's smoother. I'm thinking it has to do with the updated Core architecture as the Pro still out XBenches the Air. TLDR: Windows and NBA2K12 run fantastic from a 64 gig SD card on a 2012 MBA. Also, I moved the VM to a trial of the latest VMWare Fusion and NBA2K ran like a slide show. __________________ MacPro Octo 2.66, 6 TB, 128 Gig SSD Boot, 10 GB Ram, Radeon 4870 XFX 1Gig, 30" ACD + 23" ACD. iPhone 5 32 Gig iPad 64 Gig Wifi/4G + iPad Mini 16 Gig WiFi
	2

Jul 12, 2012, 10:21 AM	#3
bpd115 Thread Starter macrumors 6502a Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Pennsylvania	I know SD cards can and do fail, but I'm not too concerned with that as I have the data backed up. It's a ~40 gig image so it isn't caching everything. __________________ MacPro Octo 2.66, 6 TB, 128 Gig SSD Boot, 10 GB Ram, Radeon 4870 XFX 1Gig, 30" ACD + 23" ACD. iPhone 5 32 Gig iPad 64 Gig Wifi/4G + iPad Mini 16 Gig WiFi
	0

Jul 12, 2012, 02:09 PM	#5
bpd115 Thread Starter macrumors 6502a Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Pennsylvania	I would imagine a huge delay in starting up if it were caching it to the HD first. It's running directly off the card. I don't think Paralles particularly cares where the file is being run from. __________________ MacPro Octo 2.66, 6 TB, 128 Gig SSD Boot, 10 GB Ram, Radeon 4870 XFX 1Gig, 30" ACD + 23" ACD. iPhone 5 32 Gig iPad 64 Gig Wifi/4G + iPad Mini 16 Gig WiFi
	0

Jul 12, 2012, 03:56 PM	#7
Red Wolf macrumors newbie Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Netherlands	Wow this is really interesting. I might give it a shot. Never thought that a VM could perform that well from a SD-card. I think it will solve some space issues on my SSD. __________________ Air 2012 13" \|\| i7 / 8Gb / 256Gb SSD Webdeveloper
	0

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Jul 12, 2012, 08:41 AM	#2
oneMadRssn macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Boston, MA	Is there any affect on the SD card? Do they have limited write/rewrite cycles? Perhaps it runs that well because it's caching nearly the entire imagine into RAM? Could that be it?
	0

Jul 12, 2012, 12:01 PM	#4
oneMadRssn macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Boston, MA	Maybe caching it on the SSD then?
	0

Jul 12, 2012, 02:35 PM	#6
oneMadRssn macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Boston, MA	Then I guess if it runs that well of an SD card, imagine how fast it will be when running of the SSD.
	0