Question about system requirements

Hello,

I have a question about specifics of the Parallels system reqs in order to have the system run smoothly.

Right now im contemplating on buying a macbook air for a very strict purpose of running around 4 virtial XP's simultanious, using Parallels Desktop, and the dillema I have is deciding whether to choose the i7 or the i5 CPU. Given that the tasks which im going to run on XP's are rather light-weight (each OS will run the same set of applications: 1 browser with 3 tabs open and a macro program) I thus planned on allocating no more than 512 RAM to each OS so RAM wise there shouldn't be any issues, but I am not sure if the i5 processor will be enough to avoid any lags or spikes from occuring.

Any input on which processor I should pick would be greatly appreciated.

 

Are you planning on having all VMs' open at the same time? Because if not, and you are using them one at a time you can allocate greater resources to each machine ie: 1024 RAM instead of 512 RAM, you can never allocate more ram than the host machine actuarially has. Same principle works for your processor.

 

No the systems are going to be run simultaneously. With regards to RAM, as I said, provided that MBA has 4g that should be enough to effortlessly habdle 4 virtuals with 512mb each, however it is not clear whether the i5 processor would be.

 

I have always found the more RAM the better. Parallels does not by default dedicate enough RAM to the host OS. If you look at minimum requirements for Windows you need at least 1 Gb just to run a 32 bit version and 2Gb for 64 bit. Most say 4Gb if you run lot's of programs at once.

 

1. Not sure what "macro program" is, but taking i7 imho makes sense only if a single browser with its tabs/macro consume a lot of CPU usage (like 50% and more of single logical CPU).

2. The more tough issue is RAM. 4 VMs is too much for MacOS with 4GB, especially running Lion which is much more memory hungry compared to SnowLeopard. We typically do not recommend running more then 1.5GB VM on 4GB host. Yes, MacOS and it's apps are that memory hungry... Fortunately on MacAir it's not that visible when MacOS starts swapping out due to fast flash storage. So if are not limited in choice I would better recommend MacBookPro with 8GB RAM.

If you still want MacAir I think it's possible to get what you want, but recommend to do the following:
a. Set 384Mb for XP. It runs IE fine in such configuration.
b. Disable 3D graphics in VM configuration and set Video memory size to 16 or 32Mb (by default it's 256Mb -- i.e. 1Gb for 4VMs).

 

Your point is taken,but cannot be applied

Unfortunately Lion and BootCamp 4 only allow for Windows 7 installs. So I was using the Bootcamp partition for Parallels.
Dropping memory is a good ideal for XP which can get by with less RAM. But my options with Windows 7 are much more limited. I can switch off 3D settings in Parallels and limit how many programs I have open but the handicap is the RAM which in my case cannot be improved. I basically use BootCamp now as Parallels is over powering the Macbook Air and causing too many slow downs. Lion I realize is probably part of that issue. I have seen Parallels 7 and Walt Mossburg from the WSJ gave praise to Parallels 7 for running faster on LIon but Walt also indicated that since he also tested Parallels 7 on a Macbook Air the latest model that he seemed more incline to run BootCamp then Parallels on a Macbook Air. So I guess it stands to reason that I am not the only one who feels that the resources are not there.
Personally, I am a bit disgusted to have invested in Parallels and Windows 7 for my Mac. I could have bought a decent refurbished Lenovo with Windows 7 for what I have spent on Parallels,Windows 7 and time trying to make it work well.

 

Mossberg was saying actually that only 3D games still feel better on BootCamp.
In other regards, PD running on MacAir with 4GB RAM should work perfectly well.
Can you tell me what applications you were running on Mac and inside Windows and maybe I will be able to give you a hint what was wrong with the configuration?