Bootcamp or Parallels for Fallout: New Vegas

[scipiopublius]

Greetings,

Long time lurker, first time poster.

So the dream has been to play Fallout 3, New Vegas, Skyrim, et al on a PC with all the mods I can find. But I am a second generation Mac user. So I got a new Mac last year:
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)
4 GHz Intel Core i7
32 GB 1867 MHz DDR3
AMD Radeon R9 M395X 4096 MB

I know those specs should be able to run it well, but which one should I use: Bootcamp or Parallels?

Bootcamp: I know you can partition the hard drive and have Windows run. If I do that, does it separate the memory permanently, ie if I set up a certain amount of memory to it, does that mean it isn't available when I load up the Mac OS?

Parallels: I actually tried an experiment with it and downloaded the trail. Got Windows Steam and got New Vegas to run. However, I didn't like the interaction with Windows and Mac. Plus I couldn't get it to play full screen. I got frustrated and deleted the whole thing.

SO just run Bootcamp right? Well this is Fallout. I like to have the Wiki open and work on research for the game while playing. So I would rather use the Mac OS for that during the game.

So which do you recommend? I assume Bootcamp would be more stable.

Any thoughts, comments, concerns are welcome!

 

[Mikael H]

Greetings,

Long time lurker, first time poster.

So the dream has been to play Fallout 3, New Vegas, Skyrim, et al on a PC with all the mods I can find. But I am a second generation Mac user. So I got a new Mac last year:
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)
4 GHz Intel Core i7
32 GB 1867 MHz DDR3
AMD Radeon R9 M395X 4096 MB

I know those specs should be able to run it well, but which one should I use: Bootcamp or Parallels?

Bootcamp: I know you can partition the hard drive and have Windows run. If I do that, does it separate the memory permanently, ie if I set up a certain amount of memory to it, does that mean it isn't available when I load up the Mac OS?

Parallels: I actually tried an experiment with it and downloaded the trail. Got Windows Steam and got New Vegas to run. However, I didn't like the interaction with Windows and Mac. Plus I couldn't get it to play full screen. I got frustrated and deleted the whole thing.

SO just run Bootcamp right? Well this is Fallout. I like to have the Wiki open and work on research for the game while playing. So I would rather use the Mac OS for that during the game.

So which do you recommend? I assume Bootcamp would be more stable.

Any thoughts, comments, concerns are welcome!

You are correct: Bootcamp creates a whole new partition on the drive, which doesn't integrate seamlessly with your macOS volume.
Bootcamp will definitely perform better since all system resources are available to Windows, rather than being doled out by Parallels after other processes have gotten their fair share.
Not being able to play full screen sounds like a configuration issue rather than something inherent to Parallels. Searching the web may provide some answers to that specific question.

Regarding keeping a Wiki page open while playing:
Since you have a single screen, don't you have to switch between programs anyway? In that case I really fail to see why you'd be better off in macOS than in Windows for this specific task. Or, you know, just prop an iPad up next to your iMac, with the wiki page open.

 

[scipiopublius]

So if I use Bootcamp, would that limit my Mac OS performance with the resources I allocate to it?

 

[Mikael H]

So if I use Bootcamp, would that limit my Mac OS performance with the resources I allocate to it?

Not its performance, since with Bootcamp you only ever use macOS or Windows, but you’ll steal some disk space from your macOS volume.

 

[maflynn]

So if I use Bootcamp, would that limit my Mac OS performance with the resources I allocate to it?

Boot camp is the means to run windows natively, that is you're running the OS just like on a PC. OS X is not active or running. Its your best bet for performance.

 

[scipiopublius]

Looks like Bootcamp will be the winner. What is the best way to get a copy of Windows? I ask because on Amazon complaining that some of the OEM software is malware and not from Microsoft.

 

[Mikael H]

Looks like Bootcamp will be the winner. What is the best way to get a copy of Windows? I ask because on Amazon complaining that some of the OEM software is malware and not from Microsoft.

The safest way would be from Microsoft or a retailer directly.

 

[jlc1978]

Why not try the trial versions of Parallels / Fusion / VirtualBox and see if a VM gives you the performance and record keeping performance you want?