VMware Communities
Ahhyep
Contributor
Contributor
‎05-12-2014 04:29 PM

Display Questions with Retina and VMware Fusion (Windows 7/8)

Originally posted this on the Apple forums but realized they might be *ahem* a little less tech savvy. LOL.

I'm looking to buy my first MacBook Pro and looking to make sure I get the specs I need and have a couple of questions. Smiley Wink

I would like to be able to run (simultaneously)

During the day for work:

  • Windows 7 x64 - 30GB HD - 1 Core - 1GB Ram - Purpose: Has a VPN client that allows me to VPN and RDP only
  • Windows 8.1 x64 - 60GB HD - 2 Cores - 4GB+ Ram - Purpose: Office 2013 installed on this VM and all my other work applicatons (light weight)
  • OSX 10.10 - Whatever it can take - Light Web Browsing etc while at work.

After work:

  • Guess it doesn't matter really - i'd like to play games (bootcamp fine) if possible too. Nothing crazy so barely worth mentioning.

My main questions:

  • Display: Iris Pro or nVidia - Can the base 15 inch GPU/CPU handle the two VMs at the same time plus the host OS (OSX) without hiccups?
  • Display: How does VMware Fusion recognize the discrete GPU - will the system be smooth/quiet without activating it?
  • Battery life: Virtualization is pretty heavy battery wise. Does anyone know what happens to the battery when you're running a couple VMs?
  • Display: How is running Windows 7/8 on a MacBook with a specifically retina display? Do the Windows PCs look really ugly/blurry due to such a high resolution?
  • What is the minimum hardware required for these VMs to run fast and responsive? (CPU/GPU/RAM only)

Thanks Smiley Happy

0 Kudos
3 Replies
Ahhyep
Contributor
Contributor
‎05-13-2014 06:24 AM

Bump, looking at these two models:

4egVU10.png

0 Kudos
Ahhyep
Contributor
Contributor
‎05-14-2014 07:01 PM

up

0 Kudos
ColoradoMarmot
Champion
Champion
‎05-16-2014 01:57 PM

10.9 is pretty good at memory management, but for what you want, 8GB is the minimum RAM - 16 will help for sure.

I have a mid-range 13" and it runs one VM just fine - that's with the intel chip.  I don't do heavy aero stuff in the VM though, so if you need fast guest graphics, the integrated is the way to go.  Fusion activates the discrete chip (if you have one) as soon as it runs, and it definitely sucks battery power as a result (note that games do the same thing).

0 Kudos