Parallels 11 Benchmarks vs. Parallels 10 and Boot Camp

Cinebench R15

Based on the powerful Cinema 4D animation software, Cinebench is a cross-platform benchmark that tests a computer’s 3D rendering capabilities. Three primary tests comprise Cinebench: a CPU-based rendering test that evaluates both multi-core and single-core performance, and an OpenGL 3D test that measures a system’s GPU performance. The CPU scores in the chart below are based on comparative Cinebench “points” (with a higher number equalling better performance) and the OpenGL test is measured in frames per second (fps).

The results reveal that Parallels 11 doesn’t offer any additional performance when compared to Parallels 10, with the two versions effectively equal in all tests. While native performance is quite a bit better in the multi-core test, both Parallels 10 and Parallels 11 perform quite well in single-core rendering, falling shy of native performance by only about 6 percent.

[one_half padding=”0 5px 20px 0″]
1. Introduction
2. Parallels 11 Feature Overview
3. Hardware, Software, and Testing Methodology
4. Geekbench
5. 3DMark (2013)
6. 3DMark06
7. Cinebench R15
[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”0 0px 20px 5px”]
8. PCMark 8
9. Passmark PerformanceTest 8.0
10. x264 Encoding
11. x265 Encoding
12. File Transfers
13. Virtual Machine Management
14. Conclusions
[/one_half_last]

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8 thoughts on “Parallels 11 Benchmarks vs. Parallels 10 and Boot Camp”

Asheesh says:

January 10, 2016 at 5:35 am

Hi Jim! Thanks for the detailed article however.

I have bought a Macbook Pro (i7, 16 GB, 500 GB) and have got a Parallels free. I want to use MS Visio and Project which only run on Windows. I wanted to check if there would be considerable difference in performance if i were to use in MS Visio and Project on Parallels, instead of using Boot Camp?
Also, i am planning to buy the Office 2016. Should i be buying the Mac Version or the Windows version (that has Access and a couple of other softwares at the same price ) and run it on Parallels?
Much appreciate your guidance.

Jarrel Benedict says:

January 27, 2016 at 11:12 pm

Hi! I’ve used Visio on both Boot Camp and Parallels and there aren’t substantial performance difference although it appears to run a little (and I mean a little) faster on Boot Camp (probably because Boot Camp utilizes all of the Mac hardware–RAM, CPU–at its disposal. For the Office Suite, I recommend the Windows version. It comes with more software and features. You can search for a spec comparison of the different versions of Office 2016 to see the difference among them.

wimver says:

November 15, 2015 at 10:02 am

I’ve been a Parallels 9 user and was about to upgrade to VMWare Fusion 8 after reading several reviews. Also because I did not like it I had to pay to upgrade my Parallels license if I wanted to upgrade Mac OS to OS X El Captain… I don’t like this kind of “you have to”‘s. So I was holding my credit card ready in my hand, ready to pay for Fusion 8. Especially with their Parallels to VMWare upgrade offering. But I thought: let’s try it fist; so I installed the trial of Fusion 8… This was so disappointing for me… First I imported the existing Parallels virtual machine and converted it which went really smooth. But then… Starting up time: disappointing by all means. I first thought: OK, maybe VMWare tools have to be installed first; but no: even after rebooting several times: boot-up time kept on being disappointing. Then… opening a Visual Studio project: disappointing. I’m not even talking about compiling some code: very disappointing. It just took so much much much longer time then it did in Parallels 9! So now; I just upgrade to Parallels 11: I love it! Boot-up time, Visual Studio performance, … I love it. It’s even better than Parallels 9. The only thing I don’t love is that I had to upgrade. But for my point of view it’s obvious: Parallels beats VMWare Fusion.

Yiannis Tsentas says:

November 8, 2015 at 1:47 pm

How to Install Windows 10 from iso on old MacBook running El Capitan

Martin Pritchard says:

October 25, 2015 at 9:12 am

Although the website only offers upgrades from Parallels 9 and above, Parallels 8’s splash screen offers an upgrade from 7/8 to 11 for the same price. https://buy.parallels.com/329/purl-pd11ou?x-source=ipn_pd8&x-campaign=pd11launch&utm_source=pd8&utm_medium=ipn&utm_campaign=pd11launch

Also from 7/8 to 11 Pro: https://buy.parallels.com/329/purl-pd11pro8u1ysub?x-source=ipn_pd8&x-campaign=pd11launch&utm_source=pd8&utm_medium=ipn&utm_campaign=pd11launch

Simon Cook says:

October 14, 2015 at 3:49 am

I’m not upgrading Parallels any more. I’ve always done it begrudgingly as they withhold updating old versions for new OS compatibility so if you stay current with your OS X installation you are forced to upgrade every two years. But now they have reduced the capability on Parallels Desktop 11 with only 8GB VMs to try to force users to an expensive subscription model, it is the last straw for me and I’ll be switching to VMWare. I run Revit for uni and it is useless with 8GB of RAM and as a student being forced to a pro subscription edition is outrageous.

Bob Kresek says:

September 30, 2015 at 11:38 am

WARNING BEFORE UPGRADING. In the past, Parallels would allow a limited number of activations on one license, such that you could install it on your desktop and laptop. They have changed that policy with Parallels 11, so that you only get one computer activation per license. So if you have multiple computers, you might want to hold off as long as possible before upgrading unless you want to purchase a license for each machine. I have heard that VMware allows three machines per license, so you might want to look at that before purchasing Parallels.

batmobil says:

August 24, 2015 at 1:59 pm

Great feature, thorough and interesting. I have been using Parallels 10 for a long time, and I did notice the performance increase in Parallels 11 during regular usage (Windows 7/64 on MacBook Pro i7/16GB RAM early 2015), so the improvements translates to more than just numbers. :)

WillCroPoint says:

August 22, 2015 at 5:02 am

Don’t you think that the Parallels 11 “graphics engine” may be optimized for Metal and might get quite better results on El Capitan?

TekRevue says:

August 22, 2015 at 5:20 am

It’s possible, but I think they would have pointed that out in either their marketing materials or press briefing. Either way, we’ll definitely test Parallels 11 further on the final version of 10.11 and publish results if they’re notably different.

Comments are closed.