Parallels Installed

[doering1]

I know I am in the minority, but I now have Parallels installed on my Mac with the latest version of Windows 10 ready for MSFS 2020. I have using X-Plane on my Mac, but now ready to go back to MSFS in anticipation for this ground breaking version. Stoked!

[loki]

Have you looked into Apple’s Boot Camp? It would give better performance for gaming than Parallels, especially as few Macs really have the hardware for running at high settings.

[doering1]

Have you looked into Apple’s Boot Camp? It would give better performance for gaming than Parallels, especially as few Macs really have the hardware for running at high settings.

If the performance is unsuitable, then I will give Boot Camp a go. Patiently waiting!

[DominicS]

I would absolutely go for the Boot Camp option (I successfully ran FSX and P3D for years as an Apple user).

 

Even if the new simulator does happen to run in the VM, you are going to be severely hampered due to the fact that you are sharing resources.

 

Dominic

[doering1]

I would absolutely go for the Boot Camp option (I successfully ran FSX and P3D for years as an Apple user).

 

Even if the new simulator does happen to run in the VM, you are going to be severely hampered due to the fact that you are sharing resources.

 

Dominic

 

Yes, thanks for this. Will probably try both and make a solid comparison.

[Buddy308]

Remember that no matter how much RAM your Mac has, the most that Parallels can access is 8GB which, by itself, will limit your experience.

What Mac do you have MBP or iMac?

What CPU?

What GPU? Using Parallels, Windows will be able to access only a small amount of RAM for the GPU, and that will not be VRAM.

Overall, as a Parallels user myself on a latest-version iMac with 40Gb RAM and a Radeon 570X, I cannot imagine being able to run FS2020 in any enjoyable manner.

[doering1]

Remember that no matter how much RAM your Mac has, the most that Parallels can access is 8GB which, by itself, will limit your experience.

What Mac do you have MBP or iMac?

What CPU?

What GPU? Using Parallels, Windows will be able to access only a small amount of RAM for the GPU, and that will not be VRAM.

Overall, as a Parallels user myself on a latest-version iMac with 40Gb RAM and a Radeon 570X, I cannot imagine being able to run FS2020 in any enjoyable manner.

 

Thanks for this. Yes, I realize running any virtual windows on a Mac is not going to be optimal, but unless I give it a try before unloading funds for a dedicated PC, I’ll never know just what the performance I’ll get with Parallels or Boot Camp. I’m on a Mac Pro right now for very heavy video editing tasks.

[loki]

Give both a try, but I would expect Boot Camp to provide the best experience. The extra overhead of running two operating systems and not having direct access to the GPU and VRAM will almost always be slower.

[coverman]

Thanks for this. Yes, I realize running any virtual windows on a Mac is not going to be optimal, but unless I give it a try before unloading funds for a dedicated PC, I’ll never know just what the performance I’ll get with Parallels or Boot Camp. I’m on a Mac Pro right now for very heavy video editing tasks.

 

I'm about to buy MSFS to run it on my iMac 2019. So I'm just curious if you made this work for you and what solution you ended up with?

[doering1]

I'm about to buy MSFS to run it on my iMac 2019. So I'm just curious if you made this work for you and what solution you ended up with?

 

Hi,

I ended up buying a dedicated PC for MSFS to maximize the experience. No way I could be running all the settings on ultra if I was running Boot Camp.

[milleron]

I, also.

I built my own MSFS-dedicated PC, which I keep clean as a whistle -- no programs installed other than those necessary for Flight Simulator and for keeping the computer backed up. The difference is that I never at any point even considered trying to run the sim on my iMac.

Mostly by luck, i obtained an Asus RTX 3080 at US$50 over MSRP, but since then finding the parts needed for a very good flight-sim PC has actually gotten much worse instead of better. Were I approaching the problem at this present point in time, I'd more seriously consider trying to do it on the iMac (in Boot Camp and definitely NOT in a Parallels VM).

 

If I did that, though, I'd regard it as nothing but a stop-gap solution to continue only until CPU and GPU prices return to some semblance of normal. For one thing, setting up the flight-sim controllers in front of an iMac would be an ongoing nightmare, having to fasten them in place and disassemble the setup over and over again as you go from normal use of the computer to running the sim and back again.

Edited May 19, 2021 by milleron