VMWare speed and graphics questions

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Hi All, I have just bought an iMac 3.06 GT130 together with VMware (as recommended in the Apple store I visited) but I have a number of questions about how VMWare (and Vista as loaded) should be behaving. The virtual machine is set to 2 processors and 3064 Mb RAM. I admit that the only reason i got VMWare was to run my windows games - I am perfectly happy to run all my other stuff on native Mac.

My questions are.....

1. it says that the graphics available through VMWare are only SVGA, and there seems to be no way to get anything better than this - the 'windows experience' score comes back a 1.0. Does this mean I will not be able to run games such as windows versions Crysis/COD4/COD5. I just installed Crysis and the whole VM went into a hang with a blck screen

2. it takes around 30 secs to access the virtual c: drive and see the sub-foldres - is this right?

3. I also play a mmorpg (Entropia Universe) but when accessing it via VMware/Vista, I seem to get around 1fps and no/limited mouse control. This seems to be part of a general speed/timing issue in the VM.

4. Would Parallels be a better product for running games?

Many thanks for any help you can give.
 

cwa107


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Hi All, I have just bought an iMac 3.06 GT130 together with VMware (as recommended in the Apple store I visited) but I have a number of questions about how VMWare (and Vista as loaded) should be behaving. The virtual machine is set to 2 processors and 3064 Mb RAM. I admit that the only reason i got VMWare was to run my windows games - I am perfectly happy to run all my other stuff on native Mac.

My questions are.....

1. it says that the graphics available through VMWare are only SVGA, and there seems to be no way to get anything better than this - the 'windows experience' score comes back a 1.0. Does this mean I will not be able to run games such as windows versions Crysis/COD4/COD5. I just installed Crysis and the whole VM went into a hang with a blck screen

You were poorly advised. VMWare Fusion (and all of the other VM products, including Parallels) have very limited 3D support. You might be able to play older games, but games like Crysis and COD are not going to run at all.

So, while Fusion is great to run the odd Windows app, it's not well suited to games. You'd be better off installing Windows on a Boot Camp partition.

2. it takes around 30 secs to access the virtual c: drive and see the sub-foldres - is this right?

No, it should be quicker. Make sure VMWare Tools is installed in your VM.

3. I also play a mmorpg (Entropia Universe) but when accessing it via VMware/Vista, I seem to get around 1fps and no/limited mouse control. This seems to be part of a general speed/timing issue in the VM.

I'm surprised it even runs.

4. Would Parallels be a better product for running games?

Many thanks for any help you can give.

No. Boot Camp, which allows you to install Windows natively, is the best option for playing games, period.

More information here.
 
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cwa107 is right - for the sort of gaming you're talking about you want to be running Vista on Bootcamp. Take VMWare back to the shop and get a refund. If you paid on a card and it's less than 14 days old they contest this. Also remind them that they made a poor decision in informing you.
 
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rholmes01
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Excellent replies guys - many thanks. Boot Camp it is then, however, I will probably retain VMWare to allow me the times when I will need simultaneous OS and Vista
 
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You have to worry about several things with your vmware that will affect performance:

1) Did you install vmware tools? If you didn't, do it - it contains extra drivers you really need.

2) Vista is DirectX10, although it can support DX9...

3) Since VMWare only supports DX9.0c, you'd be better off running XP, it'd also be slimmer and more efficient for games (games tend to run better in XP anyway)

4) You shouldn't have set it to 2 cpu's. It's written somewhere in the docs that you will most likely get poorer performance set for 2 cpus on a dual core machine then if you set it to a single cpu. The reason tying into the syncing of the cpu's and sharing of resources on a dual core machine (even in the faq they imply the improved performance is on a quad or 8 core mac pro) see...

How many CPUs can I assign to a virtual machine?
You can assign up to 4 virtual CPUs to a virtual machine, so the virtual machine will harness the full power of a Mac with an Intel Core Duo, Core 2 Duo, or Xeon processor. Multiple Virtual CPUs are recommended when you have applications that can take advantage of multiple processor cores and you have a quad-core or octo-core Mac Pro.

The last sentence kind of contradicts the first a bit, but if you read elsewhere in the vmware manual it also talks about it (I don't have my vmware handy as this machine has virtualbox on it instead of vmware which I have at home)

Multiple Virtual CPUs are recommended when you have applications that can take advantage of multiple processor cores and you have a quad-core or octo-core Mac Pro.

I've run some games in fusion and they've worked *ok*, some have been terrible (ie: I tried EQ2 for the heck of it - it worked, but it was so laggy it really wasn't fun).

I'm not surprised Crysis killed the VM in a gory death, - Vista + DX10 + Crysis which will AFAIK use DX10 if it sees it + Fusion DX9 only = recipe for disaster =).

Older games will be ok on a VM I think (I've played some older ones, like Diablo and some others with good results) but, like what others have said, you will most likely not be happy running the newest and greatest games (you might be able to play COD2 tho ;) ) - for those, bootcamp all the way.

I fully agree in keeping your VM around tho - I keep it for my old machine that I migrated so I have access to software I don't have replacements for on my mac yet.
 
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Excellent replies guys - many thanks. Boot Camp it is then, however, I will probably retain VMWare to allow me the times when I will need simultaneous OS and Vista

Take VMWare back to the Apple Store. Go to Macmall.com and buy version 1.1 for $29. Fillout and mail in the $10 rebate available on Macmall.com. Turn around for the rebate check was great.

Download the latest version of VMware and use the serial number that comes with the 1.1 version.

End result - VMWare Fusion for $20.
 

cwa107


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Or download VirtualBox for $0 from here: Downloads - VirtualBox

VirtualBox is also better than VMware IMO.

VirtualBox is decent, but VMWare and Parallels are far easier to easier to use and more feature-laden. I would recommend VirtualBox for someone on a budget that is relatively savvy, but in terms of performance, features and ease of use, both VMWare and Parallels are better choices.
 
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I can testify through my experiences with all of the above that when set up properly, Parallels will run circles around virtualbox and the others (regardless of what other reviews say) when set up properly which I learned through trial and error.

The person above who stated that only one core should be dedicated to it is absolutely correct. For whatever reason even when I set it up with 2 cores, it only saw one in XP and both XP and Tiger ran like a one-legged man carrying an anchor. After reinstalling and choosing to only dedicate one core to Parallels/XP, now both run smooth and silky. Odd but true.
 

cwa107


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I can testify through my experiences with all of the above that when set up properly, Parallels will run circles around virtualbox and the others (regardless of what other reviews say) when set up properly which I learned through trial and error.

The person above who stated that only one core should be dedicated to it is absolutely correct. For whatever reason even when I set it up with 2 cores, it only saw one in XP and both XP and Tiger ran like a one-legged man carrying an anchor. After reinstalling and choosing to only dedicate one core to Parallels/XP, now both run smooth and silky. Odd but true.

I own Parallels, which I stopped using in favor of VMWare, mostly due to far better Linux support. But in the latest versions, I would say that VMWare handily trounces Parallels in overall performance, and more importantly, stability. Also, I've found that VMWare more frequently updates their VM tools, resulting in better flexibility.

The only thing I miss about Parallels is the ability to relocate the VM control buttons when in windowed mode. I prefer them on the side since I have a widescreen and vertical resolution is limited.
 

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