Any plans to limit the CPU used by Parallels?

I'm tired of Parallels making my Macbook Pro sound like a jet is landing here inside my office...

Is there any ways, or even any plans, to set some sort of ceiling of resource use that Parallels consumes?

 

what are your current CPU and memory settings for your VM? You can limit those. Try 1 CPU and 1.5 GB of Ram.

 

Parallels actually uses fare amount of memory - you can refer to the following link

http://kb.parallels.com/en/112764

As per the fan issue, you should probably check the amount of RAM assigned to the VM - not more than 50% of total Mac's RAM (less than 50% is better)

 

MorningZ,

Before attempting to limit the CPU available to VM I would try to figure why is it being used in the first place. Normally Parallels Desktop doesn't burn cycles for no reason. Setting a cap would limit system power when you need it but won't solve the root problem. Follow these steps to investigate your issue:

1. Run OS X Activity Monitor, make sure to show All Processes sorted by CPU usage and see which process is burning the CPU. Anything above 3..5% is suspect. If that process name is prl_vm_app then it actually is the VM itself. But it is well possible that something else is happening in your system. Also take note of User vs System time (red vs green) in the bottom of Activity Monitor window.

2. If most of the CPU is spent in the system space of prl_vm_app then it's interesting to see what Windows is doing. Start Windows Task Manager, select Processes tab and tick Show processes from all users checkbox at the bottom. Again, sort processes by CPU usage and see which one is on top. Further steps depend on your findings, whether that is Windows Indexer going amok, some app trapped in a loop or virus/trojan sneaked in.

3. If the above steps does not reveal anything useful, then the CPU is unlikely the cause. Get back to Activity Monitor and select Disk Activity tab at the bottom. See if there are lots of reads or writes.
It is also possible that excessive heat is generated by graphics chip, rebooting OS X might reset that.

On the other hand, high CPU use is only one possible reason for spinning fan. Other causes of excessive noise may be worn out fan bearings, clogged air path or failed temperature sensor.