My settings for healthy gaming in Parallels.

Discussion in 'Windows Virtual Machine' started by mr_q, Jun 3, 2012.

  1. mr_q

    mr_q Member

    Messages:
    26
    Being without a PC now, I wanted to get the best from Parallels and my top model, mid-2010 iMac i7 (2.93ghz with 8gb)

    I hunted the forums here and gathered up what I could find. I can play most if not all my PC games in Windows at---at least---XB360 levels.

    1600x900, medium to HIGH for most games, and it runs a nice 30-60fps. I only get stuttering when large areas load in games and it's only for a quick second or so. Mostly only in Skyrim actually. But I've tested SHIFT2, Dead Island, UT and they all run smooth.

    As I said, I am running a top-end 2010 iMac i7, but remember video card has nothing to do with Parallels emulation. (as far as I can find) So that part of my iMac doesn't seem to matter. More CPU HP and ram is what does it. But what I didn't know was balancing those two with OSX to get the best performance out of Parallels. Not just giving EVERYTHING to Parallels.

    Here's what I found...

    CPU. I have 4 real cores and 4 HT ones. Set Parallels to use "4 cores"

    Memory. I have 8GB, set Parallels to use 3GB. Then set video card ram to 512mb. This will use 3.5GB of my iMacs 8gb.

    Input. Disable Smart Mouse in Parallels config. Once Windows is loaded, go back "out" to the Parallels device menu. Go to USB and "connect" your mouse to Parallels. This will effectively unplug the mouse from OSX and in to Parallels. It will also mean you have ZERO mouse control in OSX until you "Shutdown" Windows. However doing it this way you get 1:1 movement in Windows. No stutters, jerkiness or other odd behavior no matter if running full screen or windowed or any resolution. Be sure you have also connected your XB360 controller if you have one using the same method BEFORE you connect the mouse. Remember, once Parallels has your mouse, you can't get back to even the Parallels menus until you shutdown Windows.

    Lastly turn off Time Machine and any sleep/screensaver options in OSX before running Parallels. Using the above methods, your Mac will think you're idle. If your timers are long enough you may not encounter them. I only turn them off if I know I'm going to be a long gaming session. Also, it's a good idea to turn on the screen saver "blank" in Windows within Parallels to protect your monitor from burn-in. "Blank" won't eat up any cpu too.

    As you add more ram to your system, or SSD instead of HDD, all the above gets better. But always keep it 30/70 in allocation. Always giving more to OSX, and always use half of your total cpu count. You can set Parallels graphics ram to max (1gb), only if it doesn't violate the 30/70 rule. Most games at 1600x900 won't need a 1GB buffer though. Even with 4x FSAA.

    Smart Mouse Tips...
    If you must run Smart Mouse, here are some things to be aware of. (it's convenient, I don't blame you)
    If you run Parallels in full screen (native OSX res or other, doesn't matter) you may experience the "dancing mouse" pointer if moving around quickly. You can eliminate this by running Parallels in windowed mode.

    HOWEVER..
    Any game you launch will continue to have the "dancing mouse" pointer issue. Thus make playing a game rather difficult. Running the game in "window" mode will not fix it either. Nor running it at native res. This is something only the Parallel devs can answer but I don't know why it's the case. It seems "Smart Mouse" only functions normally in the Windows environment and only in windowed mode.


    If anyone else has neat tips, please reply and add to this. Nothing is forever and if better is out there, I want to know!

    Thanks!
     
    Last edited: Jun 3, 2012
    MarkL8 likes this.
  2. Hachre2k

    Hachre2k Bit poster

    Messages:
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    Very good notes, thanks!
     
  3. deeprave

    deeprave Bit poster

    Messages:
    6
    This is a really old post, but since it topped my google query and is full of useful advice, I decided to add my solution for the mouse problem. Basically the mouse emulation in Windows under Parallels sucks big time, so don't use it - it is unusable in most 3D games that I've played under Parallels (I honestly hope that gets fixed someday, but given that a fix hasn't appeared despite several years of complaints, I would not hold my breath).

    Plug in a (possibly second) USB mouse, and directly assign that USB device to the VM. Voila, a native windows mouse that does everything exactly like it works on a native windows box, no more dancing and spinning. If you do this with an additional keyboard as well and maximize Parallels on a secondary monitor, you also gain the benefit of it being useable separately from the mouse/keyboard of the main system and it works like having a separate independant pc.

    /d
     

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