Using VM (VirtualBox or VMware) for intense programs (games)

[ochieman2000]

I have Ubunut installed on my desktop (dont care what distro i use at the moment, just so you know)

AMD 6 Core 3.2 (will be getting the bulldozer AMD 8 Core when it releases)
16 GB of DDR3 1333 RAM
SSD
some HDD's
Nvidia 560 ti 1GB


My question is, how can I or can I even get a Win 7 VM to play games as well in a main install. Give it 10 GBs of RAM or something along those lines, give it some cores and PLAY games like BF3 or just intense games in general.

I love linux and hate windows but EA and Activision still do not release games for linux. I have heard of WINE but it does not support (as far as I have read) very intense games and at the least does not support BF3 or BFBC2. Another reason it be nice to run some servers form this server which just dont work that great in windows that currently I am running from a dual core 4 BGs of ram slow PC.

If I can do this, any hints on how to config it to streamline better.

Thanks in advance guys and gals.

[Jonathan183]

I suggest you dual boot ... you won't get the same performance from a VM.

[HROAdmin26]

What Jonathan183 said.

This => Nvidia 560 ti 1GB

A VM will not see/know about this video card and you will not be using Nvidia drivers in the VM OS.

[Irithori]

Actually, there are ways for VMs to directly access hardware:
x86 virtualization - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But it needs
- carefully chosen hardware
- some time to get to know the xen hypervisor in detail
- lots of coffee

Sounds like a nice weekend project, though.


See it in action here:
Xen Virtualization & Intel VT-d: Direct Hardware Access to Graphics Card by Windows Virtual Machines - YouTube

[HROAdmin26]

I see you skipped the topic subject of VMware and VirtualBox.

There are lots of virtualization techniques, some more exotic than others. More than likely, if the OP was ready to tackle this in Xen, he would be aware of the many other possibilities.

[Irithori]

Ok, the subject was approached a bit broader.
Letīs see what happens

btw: I tried to find definitive info, if vmwares VMDirectPath can passthru graphiccards.
It can do so for sure with NICs and HBAs.
But the vmware site is a bit too big to scan quickly.
Anyway, xen is the open and less cost intensive solution in comparison, if the OP wants to go that route.

[HROAdmin26]

I work with VMware Player, Server 1/2, Workstation, and ESX on a daily basis - it doesn't support any video pass-through. Support for VMDirectPath is discussed here (note the vSphere requirement.) It is still somewhat experimental and only supports certain NIC's and storage controllers. As for Xen, OP may not be interested in running a Xen kernel (and all that that implies) just to have vidcard passthru for a Windows VM. I don't see any way that is "better" or "simpler" than dual-booting. I see all of this as WAY outside the scope of this thread, so I will leave it at that.

[fellowman]

On the contrary, some ATI Radeons can be passed through, like my silent 6850, though Nvidia have issues. See this thread and blog:

see communites.vmware.com thread 1754453, since I cannot post the link with a new account.

see networkingbunny dot co dot uk "ESXi as a Desktop with VMDirectPath I/O"

Enjoy,

fellowman

I work with VMware Player, Server 1/2, Workstation, and ESX on a daily basis - it doesn't support any video pass-through. Support for VMDirectPath is discussed (note the vSphere requirement.) It is still somewhat experimental and only supports certain NIC's and storage controllers. As for Xen, OP may not be interested in running a Xen kernel (and all that that implies) just to have vidcard passthru for a Windows VM. I don't see any way that is "better" or "simpler" than dual-booting. I see all of this as WAY outside the scope of this thread, so I will leave it at that.

[HROAdmin26]

Is using VMDirectPath with video cards a "supported config" (ESX5)?

Video cards aren't officially supported, but they can be made to work.

So you're rolling the dice as to whether this will work for you. And apparently nVidia is more problematic than ATI. And there are more issues with non-enterprise hardware. And you'd then have to run ESX on the hardware, plus a Linux VM, plus a Windows VM. I don't see how that is simpler/better than a dual-boot config. As always, where there is a will, there is a way.