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What kind of Ram do i need to be able to run Parallels?

1

1creator

macrumors member
Original poster
I'm thinking of purchasing a 13" MBP. Will the 2GB of Ram and 160GB HDD be enough to be able to run parallels? Or should I upgrade to 4gb RAM?
This will be my first Mac, and think parallels might help for the transition.

I was also worried about how the GPU shares the RAM, so will the 2GB of Ram be a problem when I connect to a full HD(1080) TV?

Other uses will be for University. So surfing the net, writing documents, listening to music.

EDIT: This is my first mac
 
I have run parallels with 1Gb of ram, so 512mb for each OS and the performance was, well rubbish!!! If you can afford to upgrade to 4Gb of RAM after you have brought your mac then it is a worthwhile investment (Just remember not to buy more ram from Apple as they charge an Apple Premium)
 
Depends on what operating system you'll be running. Windows XP can run comfortably with 1gig of RAM, but if you think you'll be using heavier programs in Windows, you'll probably want to give Parallels 2gigs...

Naturally, the mac OS needs some ram, too. If you don't want to pay the extra now, you can always just get the macbook with 2gb of ram, and then upgrade later on. that's almost always cheeper, too.

Newegg.com is where I go, but everyone has their favorite store. Just don't go to Best Buy 😛
 
I would upgrade. 4GB costs ~70$ and will speed up Parallels A LOT. 9400M can only use 256MB of your RAM so it won't matter do you have 4GB or 2GB
 
Thanks!

Thanks for the quick replies!

I was also wondering if the 2GB is low if I'll be hooking up the MBP to a Full HD (1080) TV? I know the GPU shares 256MB so does that affect how the movie is played? will it run smoothly?
 
You could also install windows using bootcamp. the difference is that you won't be able to run Windows and OS X at the same time, but you don't have to worry about getting more RAM either that way. Also, you'll be able to play computer games that way, where as playing them in parallels is rather impossible.
 
1creator said:
Thanks for the quick replies!

I was also wondering if the 2GB is low if I'll be hooking up the MBP to a Full HD (1080) TV? I know the GPU shares 256MB so does that affect how the movie is played? will it run smoothly?
Click to expand...

The only time memory would be an issue when it comes to the display is if you're playing a video game, because the larger the resolution, the more texture the video card needs to keep in memory, but the increase from 800 to 1080 isn't much, so it would be negligible...

Short answer: No, no problem at all!
 
Yay! Be sure to let us know how it goes, feel free to ask questions and post pictures. 🙂

Also, Apple has a handy switcher section with a bunch of handy tidbits over here.

I couldn't find it anymore, but read this on how to install software, it's the single biggest mistake I see people doing. Also, once it's installed you can drag it to the dock, and it'll make a shortcut, and if you drag it - or anything for that matter- out of the dock, it will not delete the program, just the shortcut.

EDIT: Found it. http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/
 
Hellhammer said:
I would upgrade. 4GB costs ~70$ and will speed up Parallels A LOT. 9400M can only use 256MB of your RAM so it won't matter do you have 4GB or 2GB
Click to expand...

+1. You CAN use parallels with 2 gigs, but you need 4 gigs if you want to do anything with the osx at the same time. I have parallels on a white c2d imac, and the difference between 2 and 3 gigs was night and day.
 
What kind of Ram do i need to be able to run Parallels?

In answer to your question, you need DDR3 PC3-8500
 
thejadedmonkey said:
Yay! Be sure to let us know how it goes, feel free to ask questions and post pictures. 🙂

Also, Apple has a handy switcher section with a bunch of handy tidbits over here.

I couldn't find it anymore, but read this on how to install software, it's the single biggest mistake I see people doing. Also, once it's installed you can drag it to the dock, and it'll make a shortcut, and if you drag it - or anything for that matter- out of the dock, it will not delete the program, just the shortcut.

EDIT: Found it. http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips, those links seem very helpful!

I've already put my order in. I got the low end 13" with 2.26 GHz but upgraded it to 4GB of Ram. I know some of u recommended installing myself, but to be honest I'm affraid of screwing it up.
ETA is Oct 30-Nov 9 :-/
does it really take that long? At least I got a notification that My mac is ready for shipment. Can't wait!
 
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