I just upgraded my 15" 1,1 MBP to a 17" 6,1 8GB, 2.66GHz Core i7 MBP. Phew, is it fast! The Win 7 x64 Windows Experience Index is smokin': Processor - 6.9 RAM - 5.5 Graphics - 5.9 Gaming Graphics - 4.8 Disk - 6.9 What's puzzling is the Gaming Graphics score. I mean, this puppy has an NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M, and should do just a *wee* bit better. My guess is it is not being turned on by either Parallels or by Win7, and the Gaming Graphics score is realized by the on-board Intel HD Graphics. Any thoughts? Any way to convince the new Apple video switching algorithm to kick the NVIDIA into operation?
Parallels only supports DirectX 9 and therefore Windows cripples the score to 5.9 / 4.8.. When I run Windows 7 in Bootcamp on my I7 MacBook Pro I get 6.4 for both Graphics and Gaming Graphics.
I only wish that Parallels would not automatically cause the graphics to switch to the nVidia 330M. It should keep it using the integrated graphics card unless I enable 3D acceleration ... or something. When I am traveling and just using Outlook, I would like to conserve battery power. You can tell which graphics card is in use by looking at System Profiler.
Agree completely. Surely there must be a way to avoid this. Does anyone know if Parallels is on the list that forces Nvidia graphics, or is it using core animation?
There does not appear to be any option in parallels related to the graphics card to use. But certainly, the second I start Parallels (Just Parallels, not even a VM), the MacBook switches to the Nvidia driver and my battery life goes to hell. Further, once I quit Parallels, the machine switches back to the Intel card. So you apparently cannot use parallels w/o loosing the great battery life that the folks at Apple built into their latest hardware. I'm also concerned about the wear and tear on my battery as a result of Parallels forcing the NVidia card always. In my situation, I pretty much have parallels running continuously. This is a big shortcoming of Parallels and I hope its addressed soon!!
As far as I know this behaviour is somewhat beyond Parallels' control. When any application invokes OpenGL, the dedicated graphics card is switched on. That "feature" is built into the Mac OS. As long as you set your VM's virtual graphics adaptor to use 3D you'll see that behaviour - same as for instance when you use a game. Maybe there's a setting in the Mac's control panel that would prevent the Mac from ever switching to the external card, but as I don't have a Mac with a dedicated graphics card, I can't check.
