Parallel's Desktop 5 vs. Bootcamp for gaming?

Parallel's Desktop 5 vs. Bootcamp for gaming? I am planning on getting one of those 15" MBP i7 2.66GHz, 500GB 7200rpm, Hi-Res Glossy Screen, and I have been thinking about what to use for gaming.

Bootcamp is most probably the better choice because it is like a PC, and uses all the hardware for running only one OS, but when using Parallel's Desktop 5, it has to run two OSs. Is this right or have I gone completely wrong? I don't want to have to boot up every time that I want to start gaming again though, because I use the Mac side daily. If Parallel's Desktop 5 would be even enough good, then I could use it for casual gaming when using Mac OS X at the same time, and then use Bootcamp when I really need the horsepower.

Games that I am going to play are: WoW (World of Warcraft), Left 4 Dead 2, Bioshock 2, Modern Warfare 2, Half Life 2 (maybe for Mac) etc.

While virtualization products like VMWare Fusion and Parallels have limited 3D support, they can not directly access the GPU. So, some older non-intensive games will run acceptably, most modern 3D games will not. There's just no comparison. If you intend to play Windows games, you must install Windows via Boot Camp.

Boot Camp is not a program that runs Windows. It simply preps your Mac for installing Windows and provides the appropriate Windows drivers for your Mac's hardware. When you run a game under Windows (as installed with Boot Camp), you are running it natively, with no intermediary.

Long story made short, Virtualization is best left to running non-3D apps.

Now, the good news is that Steam is available for Mac. And almost every week, existing Valve games are being ported - with new releases being prepped for both Mac and Windows at the same time.

I would suggest using Bootcamp for all those games you mentioned. If there is not a Mac version you are always (OK 99.9%) better off using Bootcamp.

Yeah, maybe... But even if there would be a Mac version of it, it still would be better of with Win 7 than Mac OS X, because Win 7 runs better 3D apps/games than what Mac OS X does...

Oh well... Maybe I will get used to it, or then as you said, getting them for Mac. I have also planned on getting a custom gaming computer alongside my Mac, and even though the gaming computer would use Win 7 only, it wouldn't matter because I would only play games on it.

Ramseslll said:

because Win 7 runs better 3D apps/games than what Mac OS X does...

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Not touching that with a ten (twenty) foot pole. Bottom line is it depends...

mdfuller said:

Not touching that with a ten (twenty) foot pole. Bottom line is it depends...

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I'm guessing someone is regugitating propaganda.