I have heard conflicting information on memory requirements to run Parallels. I have a mid-2010 imac with 4GB of RAM, OSX 10.7.5. Currently 1.2GB are free. Will that be sufficient?
iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5)
How much RAM is required depends on the Windows OS and
how memory is allocated to it.
With Parallels or any other virtualization software you setup how
much RAM the virtual machine has and also how much "virtual
VRAM" the virtual machine has which uses up system memory.
So, whatever system RAM requirements are for the Windows OS
being installed you will need at least that much plus at a minimumm
256 kilobytes for useable video. Also, as OS requirements are usually
for the absolute minimum RAM to function, you will want to add some additional.
So, bottom line, if you want to run virtual machines, I suggest upgrading to
8 GB of RAMfor smooth operation of VMs and coexisting OS X apps.
How much RAM is required depends on the Windows OS and
how memory is allocated to it.
With Parallels or any other virtualization software you setup how
much RAM the virtual machine has and also how much "virtual
VRAM" the virtual machine has which uses up system memory.
So, whatever system RAM requirements are for the Windows OS
being installed you will need at least that much plus at a minimumm
256 kilobytes for useable video. Also, as OS requirements are usually
for the absolute minimum RAM to function, you will want to add some additional.
So, bottom line, if you want to run virtual machines, I suggest upgrading to
8 GB of RAMfor smooth operation of VMs and coexisting OS X apps.
Thanks Woodmeister,
I am going to buy more RAM - I found the specs on Crucial. One question though: I currently have maximum allowed capacity of 16GB and have two 2GB RAM SO-DIMMs in the mac. For the other two slots, can I add a different size - i.e. two 4GB RAM So-Dimms bringing my total ram to 12 OR do I have to stick with the same RAM size forr all slots?
no, you need not use the same size modules
Thanks Rudegar
I have heard conflicting information on memory requirements to run Parallels
