Using VM on macbook pro 13"

[mekanik11]

Hi guys.. i am new to mac and moving from desktop PC to mac laptop.. Considering the price and and my usage, I have narrowed it down to macbook pro 13(i5, 8gb ram & 512gb ). But i want do couple of more things with it

1) Run Virtual machine for linux and windows for programming.
linux(system programming and playing around with kernels for ARM)
windows(visual studio, avr programming)

Basically I usally i allocate 4 gb for linux in my current desktop and I find it more than enough..

2) Football Manager 2014(game). This is not so important but wanted to know if MBP can handle it.

I wanted to know if 13"MBP can handle the above(esp with 8gb ram and dual core cpu) or i need a 15" quad with 16gb?

Appreciate your help..

 

[maflynn]

the quad core i7 on the 15" is going to give you more performance with VM since you can dedicate more cores to the guest OS without impacting the host OS.

8GB is fine for storage, though you can probably reduce the amount of ram to the Linux guest - at least I have i the past.

I'm not familiar with that game but if its not a graphically intensive game, like a FPS type game then the MBP should handle it.

tl;dr: 13" MBP is ok, but for VMs, 15" will be better imo

 

[thepro8]

I run parallels on a 13" Pro with 2.8GHZ i7 with 16gb ram. I'm running win 8 for office apps. i notice no slow down in performance what so ever.

 

[mekanik11]

I run parallels on a 13" Pro with 2.8GHZ i7 with 16gb ram. I'm running win 8 for office apps. i notice no slow down in performance what so ever.

I dont think office apps will be intensive work.. But i have used only MS word so I might be wrong..
Also i cannot upgrade even initially, the specs mentioned are all I get here in my country..

the quad core i7 on the 15" is going to give you more performance with VM since you can dedicate more cores to the guest OS without impacting the host OS.

8GB is fine for storage, though you can probably reduce the amount of ram to the Linux guest - at least I have i the past.

I'm not familiar with that game but if its not a graphically intensive game, like a FPS type game then the MBP should handle it.

tl;dr: 13" MBP is ok, but for VMs, 15" will be better imo

Thats what I was thinking may be I need a quad for the job..
The only reason I like 13 is it more portable than 15".

Thank you maflynn & thepro8 for your inputs..