Cheapest vsphere grid gpu without licensing costs from Nvidia

[Jannis Jacobsen]

As the topic say, what is the cheapest Nvidia Grid gpu I can get to test out vgpu and "slicing" of a gpu to different vm's and still use nvidia driver with cuda in the vm?
(not assigning 1 gpu to 1 vm).
Trying to setup a lab here, do do a cheap poc that I can present at work.
The newest grid cards are not an option, as this is something I have to fund myself
I was looking at the Grid K1 and K2, as it seems they dont need a license to run a vgpu.
(Quote: NVIDIA GRID K1 and K2 GPUs do not require a license to run vGPU.)

However, I dont know if they are the cheapest option
I dont need much performance for the lab, just so I can present a poc for cuda accelerated workloads.
No video/graphics usage, only computational use.
Hopefully I wont need Horizon, or any other VDI solutions, as I want to keep the cost down for the solution I hopefully can present.
(Got vmug advantage, so licenses is not an option for the lab testing)

-Jannis

 

[Docop]

I was looking long time for this, but they are so old and now quite underpower.. I would prefer to go with like basic quadro m or p600 series. Much more performance and less cost overall.

 

[Jannis Jacobsen]

I was looking long time for this, but they are so old and now quite underpower.. I would prefer to go with like basic quadro m or p600 series. Much more performance and less cost overall.

can I slice a p600 to several vm’s without licenses from nvidia?

-j

 

[Docop]

No it's not supported. So you have to go with a direct assign of 1 card per vm. but even the cheapest quadro on ebay, in the Mxxx range will be better than a k1. And you can also go with plx or ioi pci spliter card to get full 4pcie 4x slot if you have a too small mb.

 

[Jannis Jacobsen]

No it's not supported. So you have to go with a direct assign of 1 card per vm. but even the cheapest quadro on ebay, in the Mxxx range will be better than a k1. And you can also go with plx or ioi pci spliter card to get full 4pcie 4x slot if you have a too small mb.

so you did not read what my scope was for choosing the grid k1/k2.
p600 will not help me setup a cheap poc.
I _need_ the grid functionality.
the k1/k2 are to show the flexibility and possibilities without the cost and licensing.
performance is unimportant to showcase the tech.

-j

 

[Rand__]

The old K2's go relatively cheap nowadays, so i don't think its worth the effort to hunt for anything else.
Afaik they are the last cards that didn't require a license before they changed the model.

 

[Docop]

Sorry, when i see a used k2 on ebay at 2000$, i get 3x brand new p series or 4x mxxx series for same price or even lower.

 

[Rand__]

yeah but why would you pay $2k if you can get it for a couple of hundred?

 

[Patriot]

you can also turn a k10 into a k2 with a resistor swap for ~$50

Still weak compared to modern and can't use latest vsphere.

The youtuber who recently did the k10 to k2 conversion was using citrix.

 

[Rand__]

$130... NVIDIA GRID K2 P2055 8GB PCIE GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR VIDEO CARD 180-12055-1005-A03 | eBay

I got one a bit more expensive just a few weeks ago so thats not a one time price...

 

[nk215]

I have a Grid K2 for VDI. Love it. It's more than what I need for light CAD and general GPU web browsing tasks.

It does use quite a bit of power and requires a cooling fan. I 3D printed a holder for an 80mm fan in the back because I don't think the 846 case fan was enough. The smaller dual-fan setup is too loud.

 

[Rand__]

Is the 80mm fan sufficient? I was considering sth similar (less professional) since the small fan rig you can buy (25 bucks) really screams ...

 

[nk215]

Using furmak at 1024x768 on one of the computer (45 fps). The second GPU of the grid get up to 75+ C using 116 out of 117W max. The server is in the basement so it's relatively cool. I didn't try taxing both GPU. I don't think the 80mm fan would be able to cool 234W.

 

[Patriot]

I chopped a 92mm fan to cool the k10 once like the titan-z worked well... other than that you need a baffled forced airflow situation.

 

[tibi]

The GRID K1/K2 cons:

As I now, GRID K1 and K2 driver (VIB) last supported in vSphere 6.5. No vSphere 6.7+ drivers.
I think, nVidia stopped the support for these cards forever... they moved to licensnsig ($$$$$$) GRID on selected Tesla cards.

Additionally, K1 and K2 vGPU not supported (no driver) in Linux guest VMs.

Any solution for problems above?

 

[101]

Can you manually load the VIB with community supported level of SW acceptance on 6.7+?

 

[Rand__]

The GRID K1/K2 cons:

As I now, GRID K1 and K2 driver (VIB) last supported in vSphere 6.5. No vSphere 6.7+ drivers.
I think, nVidia stopped the support for these cards forever... they moved to licensnsig ($$$$$$) GRID on selected Tesla cards.

Additionally, K1 and K2 vGPU not supported (no driver) in Linux guest VMs.

Any solution for problems above?

I assume you have seen Grid driver for Ubuntu and CentOS? - NVIDIA Virtual GPU Forums ?
At least some way to run with Linux guest (no CUDA).

But the 6.7 topic seems to be more problematic... thats unfortunate...