Parallels efficiency on new mbp (ram)

[ghostchild]

Hey everyone, just got a new 2.2GHz mbp, but just wondering if the 2gb of ram is enough to run parallels EFFICIENTLY and for a LONG PERIOD of time without lag or should I swap out a 1gb for a 2gb to make it 3gb?

Thanks,
John

 

[Aea]

I've been hearing from any people that parallels is relatively efficient in it's use of memory (although apparently VMWare is better), but it all depends on the operating system you're using, XP is much more memory conscious then Vista is. OWC sells 4GBs of Mac Compatible ram (with excellent reviews) for roughly $200. 32 Bit operating systems will only use 3.5GBs of that, but the rest can be grabbed up by your system hardware so it's worth getting.

 

[Sbrocket]

Hey everyone, just got a new 2.2GHz mbp, but just wondering if the 2gb of ram is enough to run parallels EFFICIENTLY and for a LONG PERIOD of time without lag or should I swap out a 1gb for a 2gb to make it 3gb?

Thanks,
John

2gb of RAM is plenty to run Parallels, although as usual I recommend setting up a Boot Camp + Parallels deal if you're going to be gaming or doing something really hardware intensive. Most people recommend allocating 512mb of RAM to the VM when you're setting it up, and this has worked fine for me too. Do not make the mistake of allocating too much RAM to the virtual machine; if you try allocating any more than 512MB you'll just end up slowing down the host OS and everything will be sluggish.

Although I like VMware Fusion better than Parallels...and its free for now and cheaper if you pre-order it for 50% off.

 

[BigPrince]

I plan on using parallels and running Visual Studio. So I think 4 gigs is my next step lol.

 

[aaronw1986]

It really depends on what OS you plan to use, and for what tasks. For example, XP would be fine with 512mb depending on the use.

 

[gotzero]

I recently put 4GB RAM in my 2.33 MPB and have been getting enough page outs with coherence mode to worry me.

I much prefer using the program this way, but it seems to be eating up an incredible amount of RAM. I have 1GB allocated to the emulator using XP Pro. I may try dialing it down to 512MB. I mostly use the emulation to run the Windows version of Excel (not happy with the Mac version, and it seems like the Mac 07 Office will be made useless to me if it really will not run VBA), and really like using it in coherence in the Mac environment.

 

[jng]

I run parallels and vista to check sites designs as a web designer. And it runs fine with 2GB of ram all day alongside dreamweaver and photoshop in os x.

 

[ghostchild]

Very informative. I'll be gaming on windows xp (would the bootcamp/parallels method work best?) and working with photoshop and web stuff on osx. What do you guys think I should do? Keep the 2gbs for now?