Memory Recommendations

Hi there,

I have a MacPro, with 2x2,66 GHz and 8 GB RAM. Now, I wonder, what the best settings for the memory are. In the Parallels Preferences, there is this "adjust memory limit" - automatically feature. Does it has any disadvantages? Should I directly specific 4 GB or so for Parallels when running multiple processes?

Any recommendations?

Thanks for any advice!

Lean Back and Enjoy Some Nature Photography

 

It completely depends on what OS you run in your VM. i.e. winxp 32-bit can't recognise anything above 3gb (the 64-bit version will) and next tot that what will you run on your VM? if its a memory intensive program you can do with added memory (i.e. the more the OS can save to RAM instead of the harddrive will speed up the process)

So I would start off with just 512MB and finetune it to your apps. You wouldn't want Parallels to reserve 4GB when it only uses 1GB effectively.

 

Thanks for that. Yes, I am running Win XP.

How do I "finetune" it to my apps? Or is it finally better to leave it on "automatically"? I am running some GIS and Remote Sensing apps...

But at least good to know that more than 3 GB is anyway not necessary...

 

Well I'd start off with 1024MB fixed and then try to work. More RAM on windows usually only gives you the chance to run more programs "next to eachother"... Unless you are doing something that involves datachunks of 2GB in size (say a (big) photoshop image, or type casting on SQL or something...).

If you feel 1024 is unworkable scale it up with 512 giving you 1536 .or 2048 if you need more. after that increment with 256 at a time. anything over 2048 is mostly for the look and feel (responsiveness / multitasking) rather than actually needed.

Have fun experimenting