VM fusion or parallels for games.

Joined
Jul 28, 2010
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I dont usually play PC games but thats because ive always had a really bad laptop, now i have a 2.66 ghz Macbook pro and i can do that now but a lot of games i want are PC only but apparently these programs get rd of that barrier , but ive read loads of online articles, my finding are inconclusive, which is really better for games ?
 
Joined
Oct 27, 2002
Messages
13,172
Reaction score
348
Points
83
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro | LED Cinema Display | iPhone 4 | iPad 2
I've moved your post to a more proper forum; please be sure to check the forum descriptions in the future to find the best place to post.

By posting in the right forum you help people not only find your question faster, but it helps others looking for the same information in the future.

Thanks for understanding!
 

Raz0rEdge

Well-known member
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jul 17, 2009
Messages
15,745
Reaction score
2,071
Points
113
Location
MA
Your Mac's Specs
2022 Mac Studio M1 Max, 2023 M2 MBA
How well either of those programs will work depends entirely on the game. If you try to run something like Crysis through ANY VM, you'll have an absolutely miserable experience, but then something like Sims might play completely fine..

These software have added 3D graphics support and that might be passable..but depending on your expectation and comparing it to what you get running these games natively on Windows, you might be disappointed..

Since you have get a copy of Windows to use with VMware Fusion or Parallels anyway, you might as well go the Boot Camp route to get Windows natively installed on your MBP and that way you can boot into either OS X or Windows depending on what you want to do..

Regards
 
Joined
Oct 27, 2002
Messages
13,172
Reaction score
348
Points
83
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro | LED Cinema Display | iPhone 4 | iPad 2
Agreed, if your'e using Windows mainly for gaming, go with Bootcamp and then use VM Fusion (my choice) to run Windows on your Mac off the Bootcamp partition when you just need something like Access or IE.
 

CrimsonRequiem


Retired Staff
Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
6,003
Reaction score
125
Points
63
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 2.3 Ghz 4GB RAM 860 GB SSD, iMac 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 32GB RAM, Fusion Drive 1TB
Running an OS emulation is already very taxing on the system itself, and I don't believe that trying to game with it is going to be a positive experience. Plus I don't think the higher end games would even launch since they disable 3D acceleration and stuff like that.

If you really want to game then you would need to Install Windows via bootcamp, or get an actual gaming rig.
 
Joined
Oct 27, 2002
Messages
13,172
Reaction score
348
Points
83
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro | LED Cinema Display | iPhone 4 | iPad 2
Plus I don't think the higher end games would even launch since they disable 3D acceleration and stuff like that.

I don't think that's true anymore. I think both Fusion and Parallels support 3d graphics now.
 
Joined
Feb 12, 2008
Messages
937
Reaction score
18
Points
18
They both support 3D graphics but performance is nowhere near what it is when the computer is running Windows natively and has access to the graphics adapter directly rather than through the VM's "virtual" adapter. For gaming, you are best off running Windows under Boot Camp rather than a VM.

Cheers
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
That's correct. Both Parallels and Fusion (recent updates) support 3D acceleration. How well a game performs though depends on the game and your machine specs. Running Windows natively from a Boot Camp partition is still probably the best way to run graphic intensive games.

Regards.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top