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Paralles Performance Hit on Windows?

F

FragTek

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 29, 2006
377
1
Fredericksburg, VA
Just curious as to what kind of performance hit Windows takes when running via Parallels rather than say BootCamp. From what I gather Parallels is like a VMWare clone. I would imagine it doesn't detect all of the hardware correctly and the performance side of thing takes a pretty big hit.

Is it possible to game using Parallels or will that have to stay strictly BootCamp? I like the idea of using Parallels and Virtue for fast OS switching but it would only be useful to me if I were able to use Windows for gaming.

Thx in advance.
 
Parallels does not detect the graphics card, as OS X is using it. As for playing 3D games you have no chance. Also on parallels you cannot burn cds or dvds. The performance is pretty good, just like using windows on a pc, apart from what i mentioned above. Also remember it is only beta and will get better.
 
I read a review somewhere that compared the two options back when they were released. For CPU intensive tasks there is no difference between Parallels and Bootcamp. Besides not having direct access to hardware such as the drives and video card, Parallels is a good option that doesn't cost repartitioning the hard drive.
 
TDM21 said:
I read a review somewhere that compared the two options back when they were released. For CPU intensive tasks there is no difference between Parallels and Bootcamp. Besides not having direct access to hardware such as the drives and video card, Parallels is a good option that doesn't cost repartitioning the hard drive.
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If only I weren't a gamer :( Parallels definately seems like a sweet setup but without the ability to game it's a loss for me unfortunately.

Maybe Apple will release FATCamp and we can fast os switch on a hardware level ;) hehe
 
Bootcamp is definitley your choice. The only thing is that is all you will be able to do with your mac, play games. You will always have to reboot to use OS X when you need to do everyday computing. You could always build a cheap windows box to play games, with the same video card as in the imac you could probably build a pc for about £300
 
I'm interested in Windows support (VPN, work stuff, occassional game) and Boot Camp, IMO, is where it's at.

Sure, rebooting is a bit of a pain, but if you only need Windows occassionally, it isn't that big of a deal.

The problem with Parallels, IMO, is that virutalization will always have overhead. There's just no way around it. Emulating an OS within an OS? It's great if you need to run the occassional app, but I don't see 3rd party virtualization as anything other than a stopgap.

I used "3rd party" intentionally, as the rumors are that Lepoard will have virtualization built-in. I think it's safe to say that Apple's virtualization solution will maximize the hardware better than any 3rd party solution.

(Note, this isn't to knock Parallels; I think it's a great app...for now.)
 
At this stage in life I'm more of a "relaxed" gamer. I don't hit the games very hard at all any more. In fact, I haven't played CSS in over 2 months IIRC. Therefore it'll be pretty rare that I reboot to Windows and play games. I don't think it will be a huge bother.

It would definately be cool if you could game it up in Parallels though. I can only imagine the fast switching hottness with the ability to game like a maniac :)
 
Sorry to hijack the thread, but does Parallels give you full, unresticted access to the USB ports when running Windows?

My satnav system (made by NavMan) has PC only software, and the manual specifically states "will not work with Virtual PC on a Mac". Will it work and update the satnav with Parallels?
 
Mr Skills said:
Sorry to hijack the thread, but does Parallels give you full, unresticted access to the USB ports when running Windows?
Click to expand...
Yes. You may want to double-check their website to be certain, though.
 
FragTek said:
Just curious as to what kind of performance hit Windows takes when running via Parallels rather than say BootCamp. From what I gather Parallels is like a VMWare clone. I would imagine it doesn't detect all of the hardware correctly and the performance side of thing takes a pretty big hit.

Is it possible to game using Parallels or will that have to stay strictly BootCamp? I like the idea of using Parallels and Virtue for fast OS switching but it would only be useful to me if I were able to use Windows for gaming.

Thx in advance.
Click to expand...

For 3D, there is a significant hit, but for 2D applications, Parallels really flies running XP.
 
Abulia said:
The problem with Parallels, IMO, is that virutalization will always have overhead. There's just no way around it. Emulating an OS within an OS? It's great if you need to run the occassional app, but I don't see 3rd party virtualization as anything other than a stopgap.
Click to expand...
There is a CPU overhead, but it's not huge, and much better than VPC or Qemu or VMWare on my work Dell, primarily because of the hardware virtualization support.

I get roughly the equivalent of a 1.6GHz P-M on my 17" iMac, whereas VMWare on my 2.26GHz Dell D810 would be about the same as a 800MHz P-M, if one existed. It's noticeably slower.

If you don't need 3D support, virtualization is by far the best way.
 
Just got an email from the parallels team, and there is a new beta version out RC2. It says this will be the final beta version before the final release.
 
the thing that bothers me about parallels, however small it may be, is how the windows move when you drag them around the screen.

they feel very sluggish, not even close to how it feels with bootcamp.

everything else is cool though :)
 
I've made the definitive decision to only use BootCamp, I don't think I'll even give Parallels a chance. Though it does sound like a good option if you just use Windows for 2D based applications, etc. Not my thing unfortunately :(
 
The reason why parellels probably feels slow when dragging windows is because it is only using VGA since there is no video card as OS X is using it. I personally love the whole idea of using win XP inside OS X that is if i needed to use XP. It means i can carry on with my normal computing on OS X at the same time.
 
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