Intense Computations in Parallels

[bsu6]

Hello all,

Will Parallels Desktop allow me to fully utilize the 2.2 quad processor of the macbook pro?

I preform intense Matlab calculations. I also use OpenGL to display the results graphically.

I tried searching the forum for an answer but mostly came up with gaming performance issues which I think are irrelevant because virtualized video issues should not affect the described situation. Am I correct?

another question - will win7 provide any benefit over winxp in this situation?

Thanks
Ben

 

[upaymeifixit]

You can set how much CPU GPU and RAM you want to be dedicated to the virtual machine, but keep in mind some of it is needed for Mac processes. It would be like running your program with other programs running in the background.

I'm not familiar with the software you are talking about, but I would assume that it would work fine with Parallels. If it doesn't you could always use Bootcamp.

As for the XP vs. 7 question, Windows 7 will probably perform a little better, just because it's designed to be a little faster, but I seriously doubt you would notice a difference.

 

[0007776]

You could run them, but bootcamp would be quite a bit faster. So I wouldn't recommend virtualization for you unless you absolutely have to be running it at the same time as a Mac only program.