How much memory is required to smoothly run Windows 7 apps in Fusion 3.x using Unity mode?

[gwsat]

I recently upgraded my 17 inch 2.4Ghz Macbook Pro from 2 gig of RAM to 6. With only 2 gig of RAM Fusion and Windows always slowed down unacceptably after they had been in memory for awhile. Because of this problem I didn't even consider trying to run Fusion and Windows in Unity mode.

A couple of weeks ago I upgraded my MB Pro to 6 gig of RAM and have been using the Unity view to run Quicken 2010 and Internet Explorer 8 from the OS X dock and desktop. It has been great. I can also run Safari, Mail, iCal, Address Book, and about anything else I want, on the OS X side without the computer slowing down unacceptably.

Now I am considering buying a 13 inch 2.53Ghz Macbook Pro with 4 gig of RAM installed. If necessary, as an alternative, I might get the 2.26Ghz model MB Pro with 2 gig of ram and swap out the 2 gig of ram for 6 or 8 gig of ram from a third party vendor. What I would like to know is whether any of you have had the opportunity to compare the operation of Fusion 3 and Windows 7 in Unity mode using both 4 gig of ram and 6 or 8? Any insights you may have about my memory requirements would be appreciated. Thanks.

[ColoradoMarmot]

It's not just RAM, it's also the video chip. The 13" MBP has a much slower chip than the 15's, and slower than the iMac. Unless you turn off Aero, that's more likely to have a negative impact than the difference between 6 and 8 GB of RAM.

[gwsat]

Thanks for your response. Although I have Aero and 3D enabled on my 17 inch MBP, I am not using them for anything. None of my apps are very video intensive. Would you agree that limiting myself to 4 gig of RAM on a 13 inch MBP might be unwise? I am going to do whatever I have to do to run Fusion and Win 7 in Unity mode on any new MBP I buy. I don't care about 3D and Aero, though, and it would be a simple thing to turn it off in Fusion's settings.

[FusionUser321]

I have a MB 5,2 and it comes with 2 GB of installed memory. I can tell you that was defintiely not enough!

I went straight to 6 GB of memory from OWC. (Maximum in the MB 5,2) The memory arrived in a day and installed without issue.

My Quicken VM is XP SP3. It has been given 1 GB of memory and 1 CPU core. XP is optomized to the "nth" degree running only the core components required for the OS, updates, and printing. Everything else is disabled/deleted. I run Quicken in Unity mode and it's smooth as silk.

Based on my average memory usage when running my Quicken VM I would say you can certainly do it with 4 GB of memory but, it goes without saying, 6 or 8 GB would be more flexible.

At the end of the day - if it were up to me, I would choose the 2.26 MacBook with 8 GB over the 2.53 with 4 GB. But that's me - you'll have to make up your own mind, raw execution speed or lots of memory.

[gwsat]

FusionUser321 -- Thanks. By the way, the 6 gig memory upgrade I got for the 17 inch MBP came from OWC. I have done business with them for years, having bought a FireWire 800 drive from them a looong time ago. As was yours, my experience with OWC was excellent.

Your advice concerning the 2.26Ghz 13 inch MBP actually reflects where I was leaning until recently Then it occurred to me that the 15 inch MBP weighs only 1 pound more and is only about an inch wider and an inch deeper than the 13 inch. If I bought the 15 inch, I could try to get by with adding a single 4 gig memory module, thereby increasing the memory to 6 gig. If that turned out to be inadequate I could then buy another 4 gig module. Even 6 gig should work well, given my experience with my 17 inch MBP3,1 but I would still have a way to up it to 8 if necessary. The 15 inch would be more expensive than the 13 inch, of course, but it would have a lot more power, particularly in the graphics department. Thanks again for your feedback, I appreciated it.

Because I am now using Unity mode, I am able to keep Quicken 2010 for Windows open in the OS X dock and it has been NEAT.