Graphic Card upgrade

KrP

Member
I have come to the realization that I need to improve my graphics card. Currently I have a NVidia GeForce 7300Gt and am told, by a software vendor, I need to have at least a NVidia GeForce 9800 GTX or similar ATI/AMD, with at least 1GB memory.

My question are:

Will Parallels see and use this extra power?

If Parallels can take advantage of the extra performance, how far can I upgrade the graphics card? Say a NVidia 460GTX / ATI 5850 or NVIDIA Quadro K5000? or somewhere between?

I don't seem to have any problems o the Mac side. It's the Windows graphics programs that are the cause for this need to upgrade.
 
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The added power and the added graphic memory will be used by Parallels, but don't forget Windows doesn't 'talk' to the card directly, it always sees a Parallels Graphic Adapter (or similar worded), so it doesn't matter the exact model as long it's supported by the mac side.

So:

Q: Will Parallels see and use this extra power?
A: Yes

Q: If Parallels can take advantage of the extra performance, how far can I upgrade the graphics card? Say a NVidia 460GTX / ATI 5850 or NVIDIA Quadro K5000? or somewhere between?
A: Question does not apply
 
Thanks for the quick reply.

Does Parallels limit the memory found on the card? The NVIDIA Quadro K5000 boasts 4 gb of memory, but at a cost of $2700. If ALL that memory is not used then a lessor card may be just as good?
 
You can only assign a maximum of 1 GB Video RAM per Virtual Machine.
 
Btw, if the software requires DirectX 11, Parallels doesn't currently support that even if the card does.
 
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