i7 6 core vs.i9 8 core

Hi,

i need to run win x86 (not arm) thus need an older MacBook Pro from 2019 or 2020.

Which processor would you prefer running parallels? So far i understand parallels will dedicate 50% of the cores to the vm and 50% to osx

a) i7 with 6 cores gen9
b) i9 with 8 cores gen9
c) i7 with 4 cores gen10

thanks

 

Depends on what you're running, but since you'll need to reserve at least 1-2 cores/threads for the Host (along with some RAM and disk space) to prevent a crash, then the i9 w/ 8 cores (16 threads?) will be the best choice if you plan on running more than one VM or are going to have the better sub that allows you to use more than 4 cores / 8 Gb vRAM per VM. I have the Desktop version with that limit and run 3 VMs just fine on my 2019 i7 (8 Core?) MBP w/ 32 Gb RAM / 2 Tb SSD. I can only do 2 VMs on my 2012 i7 (4 core?) MBP w/ 16 Gb RAM / 2 Tb SSD before it starts to strain.

If I Really try to push my luck by assigning ALL cores to the VMs and give them actual work to do (number crunching, etc), then the whole system Will struggle to run each one no matter what model MBP I have.

 

I have the possibility, to directly compare i9, 8-core 2019, 32GB with same timemachine recovery on a i7, 10th gen, 2020, 16gb working with parallels 18 and windows 11 pro an VisualStudio 2019.

I can report, that it works a bit faster on the i9, which is maybe caused by more RAM(?).

But with the i7 I got the impression, it sometime laggs and the fan is running definitely more often on it.

Parallels does only support max 4 cores to be dedicated with the model of one the time license. At a subscription you can dedicate more than this.