This article covers the minimum and recommended computer specs for hosting and joining a Parsec session.
Currently we support joining a Parsec session from Windows, Linux, macOS, Android devices, and we provide a web client for Chromium based browsers. Parsec is not currently supported on iOS or iPad, including web access through Safari. Hosting is currently only available on Windows and macOS computers.
Table of contents
Deprecated operating systems
Client specs
Minimum
Recommended
Host specs
Minimum (H.264 Encoding)
Recommended (H.265 Encoding)
Unsupported operating systems
Hosting on laptops
Additional GPU details
NVIDIA
Intel
AMD
Hosting on a laptop with multiple GPUs
H.265/HEVC Decoding and Encoding
4:4:4 Color
Deprecated operating systems
On May 8th 2024, we deprecated Parsec on 32-bit Windows systems, which means Parsec can only be used on 64-bit Windows 10/11. This is in addition to previous rounds of deprecations on April 15th 2023, where we deprecated Parsec on macOS 10.14, and October 1st 2022, where we deprecated it on older versions of Windows (7, 8 and 8.1), Android (8), macOS (10.11, 10.12, 10.13) and all current and future hardware revisions and operating systems of Raspberry Pi.
Newer versions of Windows, macOS and Android will continue to be supported, and we recommend updating if you can. Parsec will no longer be maintained on the previously mentioned versions and may stop working properly at some point.
Client specs
These are the specifications for devices that will connect to another computer remotely.
Minimum
| Platform | CPU | GPU | Memory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 10/11 | Intel Core i5 3rd Gen |
|
4GB DDR3 |
| Ubuntu 18.04 (desktop) | Intel Core i5 3rd Gen |
|
4GB DDR3 |
| macOS 10.15 Catalina |
|
||
| Android 9 | N/A | ||
Recommended
| Platform | CPU | GPU | Memory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 10/11 | Intel Core i5² |
|
8GB DDR3 |
| Ubuntu 20.04 (desktop) | Intel Core i5² |
|
8GB DDR3 |
| macOS 12.1 Monterey (w/ Metal API support) |
|
||
| Android 10 | N/A | ||
¹ We recommend the using latest graphics drivers for your GPU
² Indicates the minimum recommended series, however newer/better CPUs and GPUs are preferred
Host specs
These are the specifications for the computers that will be connected to.
Minimum (H.264 encoding)
| Platform | CPU | GPU | Memory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 10/Windows 11/Server 2016 | Intel Core i5² |
|
4GB DDR3 |
| macOS 10.15 | N/A | ||
Recommended (H.265 encoding)
| Platform | CPU | GPU | Memory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 10/Windows 11/Server 2016 | Intel Core i5² |
|
8GB DDR3 |
| macOS | 2019 hardware or later | ||
¹ We recommend the using latest graphics drivers for your GPU
² Indicates the minimum recommended series, however newer/better CPUs and GPUs are preferred
Unsupported operating systems
Ubuntu does not support hosting at this time.
Hosting on laptops
Please note, despite what is said here, some laptops running hybrid graphics still have an issue hosting a Parsec stream. You'll get error -14003 as the dedicated GPU is not physically wired to the display. In those cases you will need to use the laptop's integrated graphics for Parsec.
Additional GPU details for hosting
In order to host a session with Parsec, your computer must include a graphics card that has a hardware video encoder, and your computer's display must be connected directly to the graphics card. If your computer has more than one graphics card (EG both Intel and NVIDIA inside of a laptop) then you will need to follow the steps for multi-GPU systems.
If you have one of these graphics cards, but are unable to host, you may need to update your graphic card to latest drivers, or check that your client is not trying to connect at the wrong resolution. In general, check the errors that you get when you try to host to try and solve your issue.
NVIDIA
Requires NVIDIA NVENC + DirectX 11.1.
| Generation of NVIDIA GTX or RTX GPU | Desktop PCs | Laptops |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA GTX 200 Series - Example: NVIDIA GTX 260 | No | No |
| NVIDIA GTX 400 Series - Example: NVIDIA GTX 460 | No | No |
| NVIDIA GTX 500 Series - Example: NVIDIA GTX 560 | No | No |
| NVIDIA GTX 600 Series - Example: NVIDIA GTX 650 | Yes | Learn more |
| NVIDIA GTX 700 Series - Example: NVIDIA GTX 750 | Yes | Learn more |
| NVIDIA GTX 800 Series - Example: NVIDIA GTX 850M | Yes | Learn more |
| NVIDIA GTX 900 Series - Example: NVIDIA GTX 950 | Yes | Learn more |
| NVIDIA GTX 1000 Series - Example: NVIDIA GTX 1050 | Yes | Learn more |
| NVIDIA RTX 2000 Series - Example: NVIDIA RTX 2060 | Yes | Learn more |
| NVIDIA RTX 3000 Series - Example: NVIDIA RTX 3060 | Yes | Learn more |
NVIDIA MXM, GT and GTS GPUs: MXM, GT and GTS GPUs like the GT 1030 tend to lack the NVENC chip required for Parsec and are not supported. If you're shopping for an NVIDIA card, make sure that you're getting a GTX card, not a GT card.
NVIDIA Tesla, GRID, and Quadro: Professional workstation and server graphics cards will work with Parsec provided that they support hardware video encoding (NVIDIA NVENC), support either a physical display or display emulation via EDID, and are running in WDDM mode. Generally speaking, this means you should license NVIDIA Grid Virtual Workstation, along with installing the correct Grid Virtual Workstation driver. AWS also has a "vGaming" Driver available. For support with this, contact your NVIDIA Representative, or cloud provider documentation.
Intel
Requires Intel Quick Sync Video + DirectX 11.1.
| Generation of Intel i3, i5, i7 | Supported |
|---|---|
| 1st Gen "Nehalem" - Example: Intel Core i7-620m | No |
| 2nd Gen "Sandy Bridge" - Example: Intel Core i7-2720QM | No |
| 3rd Gen "Ivy Bridge" - Example: Intel Core i7-3720QM | No |
| 4th Gen "Haswell" - Example: Intel Core i7-4720HQ | Yes - Windows 10+ Only |
| 5th Gen "Broadwell" - Example: Intel Core i5-5200U | Yes |
| 6th Gen "Skylake" - Example: Intel Core i7-6700HQ | Yes |
| 7th Gen "Kaby Lake" - Example: Intel Core i7-7700HQ | Yes |
| 8th Generation "Coffee Lake" - Example: Intel Core i7-8550U | Yes |
| 9th Generation "Coffee Lake/ Coffee Lake / Whiskey Lake" - Example: Intel Core i7-9750H | Yes |
| 10th Generation "Ice Lake / Comet Lake" - Example: Intel Core i7-10710U | Yes |
Celeron, Pentium, and Atom chipsets are supported provided they support DirectX 11.1 and Quick Sync Video.
AMD
Requires AMD VCE/VCN + DirectX 11.1.
| Generation | Supported |
|---|---|
| TeraScale - Example: Radeon HD 6770 | No |
| GCN 1 - Example: Radeon HD 7770 | Yes |
| GCN 2 - Example: Radeon R9 290 | Yes |
| GCN 3 - Example: Radeon R9 380 | Yes |
| GCN 4 - Example: Radeon RX 480 | Yes |
| Vega - Example: Radeon RX Vega 56 | Yes |
| Navi - Example: Radeon RX5700 | Yes |
| Big Navi - Example: Radeon RX6700 | Yes |
Lower end RX 6000 GPUs: Unlike the other cards in the series, the RX 6500 XT and RX 6400 do not have a hardware encoder, and cannot host.
AMD APUs: AMD APUs based on GCN1.0 or higher containing VCE and DirectX 11.1 may be supported when running latest drivers from AMD.com
Hosting on a laptop with multiple GPUs
In laptops that have hybrid graphics, you may likely get error code -14003 when connecting to the laptop. The error means that you must change some settings to make it use the integrated GPU instead of the stronger dedicated graphics, for technical reasons. Follow the section below based on which dedicated GPU you have to resolve the issue (note that your integrated GPU must be supported to work correctly).
NVIDIA graphics cards
You must set Parsec to use integrated graphics instead of the NVIDIA card:
-
Right click the desktop of your laptop and select NVIDIA Control Panel
-
Select Manage 3D Settings
-
Change Preferred graphics processor to Auto-Select
-
Click the Program Settings tab
-
Click Add to add a new program
-
Select the Parsec application in the list. If you don't find it in the list, manually find it clicking Browse... (manual path will be
C:/Program Files/Parsec/parsecd.exe) -
Click Add Selected Program
-
Change the preferred graphics processor to Integrated graphics
-
Click Apply to apply the changes
-
Right-click the Parsec icon in the tray bar and click Quit (not Restart)
-
Lastly, open Parsec again from your start menu
Using a Registry file (applicable to any GPU)
If you are using a non NVIDIA GPU (or are, but the NVIDIA control panel isn't working), you can use a .reg file, which updates the user GPU preferences for the Parsec app to use integrated graphics.
- Download and run the registry file
- parsec_use_igpu.reg (Apply changes to make Parsec use the iGPU)
- parsec_use_igpu_revert.reg (Revert changes done by the above file if needed)
- Right-click the Parsec icon in the tray bar and click Quit (not Restart)
-
Lastly, open Parsec again from your start menu
Using the Windows graphic settings
You can also use the Windows graphics settings. For Windows 10:
- Open the Settings app
- Go to System > Display
- In "Multiple displays", open Graphics settings
- In "Graphics performance preference", select Desktop app
- Click Browse and select Parsec (manual path is
C:/Program Files/Parsec/parsecd.exe) - Change to Power Saving
- Click Save
- Restart your computer to ensure these settings are applied
Your computer may in some cases still force Parsec to use the dedicated card because of power plan settings on your system being set to maximum performance. Some laptops for instance will go into maximum performance while charging. You can change out of maximum performance in the Windows settings.
Intel has a graphics power plan hidden in the advanced power options. To access it:
- Press Windows key + R
- Type control.exe powercfg.cpl,,3
- Press Enter
- Expand Intel(R) Graphics Settings and tweak plugged in to Balanced
- Click OK
- Restart your computer to ensure these settings are applied
Technical details
If you are curious about why it is necessary to do the steps above: For technical reasons, Parsec needs to use whichever GPU is directly plugged into the display you want to capture. If your laptop has dual graphics, and you are using your laptop's built-in display, it will likely be attached to the weaker integrated GPU, instead of the stronger one that you use for games. Parsec will attempt to use the stronger one, but fail, because you must manually set it to use the integrated GPU.
If you use your laptop with an external display, that usually routes into the dedicated GPU, avoiding the issue altogether when hosting via desktop sharing. Some laptops also have a feature called 'advanced optimus' where it may not be necessary to go through this.
H.265 / HEVC
H.265 is a setting that reduces the bandwidth usage by around half, while maintaining the same level of quality as H.264. If the host and all currently connected clients support H.265, the clients can enable it in the settings and use it. If the host or a Windows client doesn't support H.265, the stream will revert to H.264 for everyone. If the client is macOS High Sierra or better, it will revert to software decoding for H.265.
This feature will only work on hosts and clients running:
- NVIDIA: For hosts, a GTX 900 series or better. For clients, a GTX 1000 series or better
- AMD: Radeon GPUs and Carizzo APUs or later
- Intel: CPUs with Cherry Trail or Braswell architectures or later
If H.265 is currently being used, the connected clients can open the overlay and see H.265 in the details at the top-right section.
4:4:4 Color
"Prefer 4:4:4 color" is a setting available for Teams and Warp customers that improves the color volume (chroma subsampling) of the stream. It is helpful in situations where color clarity is important, like graphic design, video/photo editing, animation and colored text rendering.
The default Parsec stream is in 4:2:0, which is the standard for video encoding. It reduces the amount of chroma (color) information while keeping luma (brightness) intact, in order to reduce the amount of data used. 4:4:4 on the other hand keeps the chroma information intact. You can learn more about chroma subsampling here.
Host requirements
Parsec requires an NVIDIA or Intel GPU with hardware encoding support for 4:4:4 at H.265. The host must be a Windows machine.
- NVIDIA: GTX 1000 (Pascal), GTX 1600 / RTX 2000 (Turing), or RTX 3000 (Ampere) consumer graphics cards, and their respective Quadro workstation cards
- Intel: Integrated graphics from 11th gen Intel (Tiger Lake) or newer. On 10th gen, specifically Ice Lake versions can work, but not Comet Lake
Guest requirements
The person joining just needs a Windows/Mac/Linux machine. If the guest has an NVIDIA or Intel GPU with hardware decoding support for 4:4:4 at H.265, Parsec will decode using hardware.
- NVIDIA: GTX 1600 / RTX 2000 (Turing), or RTX 3000 (Ampere) consumer graphics cards, and their respective Quadro workstation cards
- Intel: Integrated graphics from 11th gen Intel (Tiger Lake) or newer. On 10th gen, specifically Ice Lake versions can work, but not Comet Lake
If the guest doesn't have the hardware listed above, it will use software decoding (CPU), which is slower and significantly more performance hungry than the regular Parsec stream (4:2:0). This means performance or battery life on the guest may be lesser when using this feature. If you're using Parsec Warp, keep in mind that the person joining the host needs to be the one with Parsec Warp, for the option to appear.