Vmware, Parallels and game performance

[DELTAsnake]

With the new iMac's nearing release I'm trying to make my final decisions about what software to get with my first Mac.

I know the best gaming performance on a Mac comes from boot camp, but if I don't want to reboot when I want to play a game what type of performance can I realistically expect from Vmware and Parallels?

If it has any bearing on the question. Dawn of War II, C&C Red Alert 3 and the demo of Empire Total War are the games I've been playing the most of recently.

 

[akm3]

My limited experience of Parallels (3.0) isn't that the performance is the issue when trying to game under parallels, it's that none of my games will work, at all.

For me, I have tried perhaps only 5 games, some new, some old; none worked for me. But who knows, I might have just picked a bad sample.

 

[Trip.Tucker]

Check out the supported games list for CrossOver Games: http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/group/?app_parent=4100

I use it to play 5 different non Mac games and they are fast. Your game may not be on the supported list, but that doesn't mean it won't run. Grab the trial and try your games on it. You may not need VMware Fusion at all.

Oops, there I go, I've let the cat out of the bag as to which Virtualization product to buy if you really must. If it comes down to a choice between Parallels and Fusion, go Fusion. The shader support is superior, the DirectX 9.0c is far faster and more complete.

 

[Tex-Twil]

Check out the supported games list for CrossOver Games: http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/group/?app_parent=4100

I use it to play 5 different non Mac games and they are fast. Your game may not be on the supported list, but that doesn't mean it won't run. Grab the trial and try your games on it. You may not need VMware Fusion at all.

Oops, there I go, I've let the cat out of the bag as to which Virtualization product to buy if you really must. If it comes down to a choice between Parallels and Fusion, go Fusion. The shader support is superior, the DirectX 9.0c is far faster and more complete.

Hi,
I've tried playing Counter Strike Source in Crossover, VM Fusion and Bootcamp and Bootcamp runs it reaaaallyy much faster.

Tex

 

[DoFoT9]

hey OP: the games you have listed are fairly new. That's why I am going to say that neither Parallels nor VMWare will be able to run any of those games that you listed.

Crossover could be a good bet, but only if the game is supported. It's always worth a try though.

Your best bet will ALWAYS be Bootcamp

 

[DELTAsnake]

So why don't all games run in Fusion? I thought that Fusion and Parallels didn't care what app your trying to run.

 

[DoFoT9]

So why don't all games run in Fusion? I thought that Fusion and Parallels didn't care what app your trying to run.

because they arent fully 3D accelerated and can't properly run DX10/DX9. they cant utilise the graphics card AT ALL, everything is CPU based. the only reason it works at all is because Fusion/Parallels 'tricks' the virtual machine into thinking that it has a GPU.

thats my understanding of it anyway..

 

[Zortrium]

because they arent fully 3D accelerated and can't properly run DX10/DX9. they cant utilise the graphics card AT ALL, everything is CPU based. the only reason it works at all is because Fusion/Parallels 'tricks' the virtual machine into thinking that it has a GPU.

thats my understanding of it anyway..

Fusion has limited GPU support in Windows (including partial DX9 support) -- however, all GPU calls have to go through Fusion's graphics adapter, which slows things down considerably versus directly accessing the GPU as you do when you boot into Windows.

 

[LtRammstein]

Why would you want to play Windows games from a virtual machine? Your computer's resources are immediately cut in half for it! So for you to run the game at a good speed, you'd have to give the VM more CPU power, more RAM, etc. This means OS X will be slower and slower, etc.

Bootcamp the games! That way the games get all the resources they need.

 

[sboerup]

I would love to play CS:S via Parallels, but if Parallels only "tricks" XP into thinking it has GPU, then that wouldnt be good.

I have a Mac Pro 2.8 Octo, 16GB RAM, 8800GT and a SSD, I would think that I'm not lacking in resources . . .

I currently run any games in Boot Camp, but having to reboot can be very lame. I'd love to be able to run it in Parallels someday . . .

 

[michael.lauden]

hey OP: the games you have listed are fairly new. That's why I am going to say that neither Parallels nor VMWare will be able to run any of those games that you listed.

Crossover could be a good bet, but only if the game is supported. It's always worth a try though.

Your best bet will ALWAYS be Bootcamp

cross over works well for me, however it did induce a kernel panic the second time i've used it (and the first kernel panic on either of my machines EVER).

although i'm not running intensive games. just project64

 

[DoFoT9]

Fusion has limited GPU support in Windows (including partial DX9 support) -- however, all GPU calls have to go through Fusion's graphics adapter, which slows things down considerably versus directly accessing the GPU as you do when you boot into Windows.

yes it can utilise the DX9 support, but i still doubt that it utilises the physical GPU of the computer, it would mostly be emulated CPU usage.

cross over works well for me, however it did induce a kernel panic the second time i've used it (and the first kernel panic on either of my machines EVER).

although i'm not running intensive games. just project64

hmm havent had an kernel panics, lots of freezes and whatnot but never a kernel panic - must be a memory leak!!

project64 is fairly intense, especially once you start running some more demanding games. i have an n64 Mac emulator, doesnt work as well as project64 under bootcamp - but it does the job.

• mupen64
• sixtyforce

one of them two.