Hello, The following is a support ticket I opened with Parallels. I'm copying and pasting since it's easier to just write everything all over again. ---------- I have a mid-2010 MBP 15" with Intel HD integrated graphics and nVidia GeForce GT 330M discrete GPU. The settings for my VM are as follows: Options -> Optimization -> Power: "Longer Battery Life", Hardware -> Video -> Video Memory: 64 MB; 3D acceleration: DirectX 10; Enable vertical synchronization: disabled. The attached problem report ID was generated after a fresh Windows boot with these settings. With these settings, the moment I switch on the virtual machine (click on "Click to start"), the computer switches from the integrated to the discrete GPU. When I shut down the virtual machine, it switches back to the integrated GPU. Just to be clear, the switch happens even before Windows boots. If I change the Hardware -> Video -> 3D acceleration option to "Disabled" and switch on the virtual machine, the computer remains on the integrated GPU. With the discrete GPU unnecessarily turned on, my battery is quickly depleted, so for now I've been forced to disable 3D acceleration, but I'd very much like it back. ---------- A support agent was assigned to my call and he remoted to my computer using LogMeIn. By chance I had an app installed called gfxCardStatus (http://gfx.io) and he figured out the solution to my problem was forcing the GPU to Integrated Only on that software. Sorry, but way back in Parallels Desktop 6, only the discrete GPU was used, and one of the selling points of Parallels Desktop 7 was its ability to use integrated graphics and save battery life. I might have gone with VMware Fusion instead if it weren't for this specific feature, since my battery was drained so quickly with the discrete GPU on. Now at some point, I don't remember whether it was after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.8 or Parallels Desktop 8 (which is my current version, latest update downloaded yesterday), or maybe even something after that, I again noticed the problem with the discrete GPU being always on. The way I see it, this is a clear regression that needs to be looked at by the Parallels developers. What the support agent did, by claiming that my problem was solved by using an external app to force integrated graphics, is not at all a solution but a band-aid. Said support agent refused to at least open a bug with the Parallels developers, to see if this is expected behavior. I found the support agent's attitude very unprofessional, and I can honestly state that unless Parallels developers actually look at my problem (even if only to say this is expected behavior), I will forego any future updates and switch to VMware Fusion on the next version and see if their support guys handle problems better. Décio
