We used the latest version of Parallels (Parallels Desktop for Mac 5.0). We installed fresh copies of Parallels, Windows XP SP3, and Windows 7. We chose these two Windows OSes for testing because we think Windows XP represents the vast majority of current Windows installations on OS X, and that in the future, Windows 7 will be the most common guest OS running on the Mac.
Before testing began, we checked for and installed all available updates for both the virtual environment and the two Windows operating systems. Once everything was up to date, we configured the Windows virtual machines to use a single processor and 1 GB of memory. We shut down Parallels, and disabled Time Machine and any startup items on the Mac Pro not needed for the testing. We then restarted the Mac Pro, launched Parallels, started one of the Windows environments, and performed the two sets of benchmark tests. Once the tests were complete, we copied the results to the Mac for later reference.
We then repeated the restart and launch of Parallels for the benchmark tests of the second Windows OS.
Finally, we repeated the above sequence with the guest OS set to use 2 and then 4 CPUs.
Benchmark Scores
GeekBench 2.1.4
Windows XP SP3 (1,2,4 CPU): 2185, 3072, 4377
Windows 7 (1,2,4 CPU): 2223, 2980, 4560
CineBench R10
Windows XP SP3
Rendering (1,2,4 CPU): 2724, 5441, 9644
Shading (OpenGL) (1,2,4 CPU): 1317, 1317, 1320
CineBench R10
Windows 7
Rendering (1,2,4 CPU): 2835, 5389, 9508
Shading (OpenGL) (1,2,4 CPU): 1335, 1333, 1375
Parallels Desktop for Mac 5.0 successfully completed all benchmark tests. GeekBench saw only minor differences in performance between Windows XP and Windows 7, which is what we expected. GeekBench concentrates on testing processor and memory performance, so we expect it to be a good indicator of the underlying performance of the virtual environment and how well it makes the host Mac Pro’s hardware available to the guest OSes.
CineBench’s rendering test likewise showed consistency across the two Windows OSes. Once again, this is to be expected since the rendering test makes extensive use of the processors and memory bandwidth as seen by the guest OSes. The shading test is a good indicator of how well each virtual environment has implemented its video driver. Unlike the rest of the Mac’s hardware, the graphics card isn’t made available directly to the virtual environments. This is because the graphics card must continuously take care of the display for the host environment, and can’t be diverted to display only the guest environment. This is true even if the virtual environment offers a full-screen display option.
Detailed results of the benchmark tests are available in the Virtualization Benchmark Test gallery.
