Are there any cheap GPU's that can be had for GPU passthrough in ESXi 6? I'm interested in testing out running my everyday "workstation" off a GPU and USB passed through VM off a Xeon D-1537 node (no onboard graphics).
Cheap GPU for ESXi passthrough?
- Thread starter IamSpartacus
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I have an HP t310, but you can get any Tera2 based zero client, the firmware is supplied directly from Teradici. Dell/Wyse is another big zero client vendor
Yes, the PCoIP protocol used sends everything over Ethernet, so you can also be located further away from the server if you want. However, I've personally observed a maximum of about 30fps with the Quadro 2000 and the software PCoIP video encoder. You may be able to get more through tweaking, or buying some expensive proprietary Teradici accelerator/hardware video encoder cards. But that may be one disadvantage of zero clients if you need higher fps
I made some tests and I installed a 3D application like Google Earth on a Virtual Machine (Windows 7) under VMPlayer (which was installed under Windows 10 on a small ASUS Pro with i3, 16GB of RAM and integrated Intel Graphic Card).
I connected to that VM from another computer via remote desktop and executed Google Earth. The experience was really nice.
I then took the same Asus Pro computer and using another hard drive I installed VMware ESXi 6 as boot OS. I created another VM with Windows 7 and tested Google Earth again. The experience wasn't the same, it was really slow and sometimes the application wasn't able to run at all. I even set 3D acceleration and gave more memory to the virtual graphic card, but with no success.
Do you think if I insert a video card like Quadro 2000 or HD8490 can I run Google Earth?
I'll probably insert it on a Dell R710 server.
Edit: I found this, the Nvidia Quadro FX1800. Since I am not an expert, I don't know what specs do I have to look for if I need it on a server or if it's compatible with VMware ESXi.
I connected to that VM from another computer via remote desktop and executed Google Earth. The experience was really nice.
I then took the same Asus Pro computer and using another hard drive I installed VMware ESXi 6 as boot OS. I created another VM with Windows 7 and tested Google Earth again. The experience wasn't the same, it was really slow and sometimes the application wasn't able to run at all. I even set 3D acceleration and gave more memory to the virtual graphic card, but with no success.
Do you think if I insert a video card like Quadro 2000 or HD8490 can I run Google Earth?
I'll probably insert it on a Dell R710 server.
Edit: I found this, the Nvidia Quadro FX1800. Since I am not an expert, I don't know what specs do I have to look for if I need it on a server or if it's compatible with VMware ESXi.
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Do any of the older quadro series cards come in low profile form factor so they'd fit in a 2U chassis? Looking to spend under $100 on one.
Ah good catch on the low-prof option.
I'm going to keep an eye on what you end up with to see if power-wise it's worth it to sell and buy something different or just throw this in there.
All ATI-GPUs work for passthrough. Only NVidia locks consumer-GPUs out, and let only pro-GPUs to be used for passthrough...
For me at least, it seemed to be all motherboard. I tried 3 different AMD GPUs from different generations in Windows 7 through 10 and it blue screened every time, almost immediately. Then I picked up the Intel S2600CP deal, and all 3 GPUs came up almost immediately in Windows using the default drivers (at least on Windows 10, and only one at a time which is a different issue
). I think someone mentioned the R7 240, which is one I tried (and works). I have a low profile version, but it's double width due to the cooler. There may be other models that are single width
Just remembered the Supermicro X10SDV-7TP4F only has dual x8 PCIe slots. Is that going to be an issue even though they are open ended slots?For me at least, it seemed to be all motherboard. I tried 3 different AMD GPUs from different generations in Windows 7 through 10 and it blue screened every time, almost immediately. Then I picked up the Intel S2600CP deal, and all 3 GPUs came up almost immediately in Windows using the default drivers (at least on Windows 10, and only one at a time which is a different issue