Gaming VM in ESXi 6.5 - Windows+GPU choice?

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sebstr

New Member
May 22, 2017
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Hi,

I've really grown fond of the idea of hosting my gaming rig as a VM with passthrough of GPU/USB Controller etc.

I'm really just wondering a few more before starting to try it out:
Are there's any resource of a successful passthrough of an nVidia GeForce-series GPU?
As Windows 10 have a minimum req of E5 v3 series, I guess i'll need to go with WS2016? Are there any bad sides of gaming in WS2016?
Are there any real performance loss to be counted on?

I currently run a 2x E5-2670v1 platform and would love to utilize my GTX1080, but I'd be fine selling my gaming rig off and go for a Vega56/64 instead as well - just to get this thing going and save some room and power :)

Thanks!
Seb
 

MiniKnight

Well-Known Member
Mar 30, 2012
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Or you could do the smart thing. Just run Hyper-V in Windows 10 and not deal with pass-through.

Everyone that I have known to do this and send me videos or emails on it ends up regretting it at some point. It's like a nerd's wet dream but then you wake up and have to deal with the mess later on.
 

sebstr

New Member
May 22, 2017
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@MiniKnight Yeah, I get your point. But what I'm planning on doing is to sell my actual gaming rig and replace it with my existing vSphere setup as I have quite a lot of unused power in that machine.

Also, according to Microsoft minimum req, my 2x E5-2670 v1 isn't supported by W10 (needs to be V3 or above), which means that I shouldn't be able to do as you suggest anyhow.

From what I've seen, it shouldn't really be a problem to do passthrough with a Radeon-card, which I'm open to switch to. I'm basically just wondering if someone have had any success manipulating vsphere/windows drivers to successfully passthrough a GeForce-card, but also if there would be any difference running games in a WS2016 VM compared to a W10 as my options might be quite limited due to my CPUs not being supported.

I hope what I wrote makes some sense, lol.

Cheers!
Seb
 

RyC

Active Member
Oct 17, 2013
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I'm not sure where you're seeing the minimum requirement is a V3, I'm running a Windows 10 VM with 2x E5-2670 v1 and a GPU passed through just fine on ESXi.

Passing through a GeForce card seems to be possible, but you have to edit the vmx to hide the hypervisor, and it doesn't seem like it works in all hardware combinations (but neither does AMD I guess)
 

sebstr

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May 22, 2017
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I'm not sure where you're seeing the minimum requirement is a V3, I'm running a Windows 10 VM with 2x E5-2670 v1 and a GPU passed through just fine on ESXi.

Passing through a GeForce card seems to be possible, but you have to edit the vmx to hide the hypervisor, and it doesn't seem like it works in all hardware combinations (but neither does AMD I guess)
If you have a look at this HCL: Intel® Processor Support for Microsoft Windows® 10

V3+ only as it seems. But that's good to know that you're running it successfully as a VM. I've only tried WS2016 so far :)

AMD GPU's aren't feature-locked, but nVidia GPUs are feature locked, as they want to move their customers to Quadro and GRID-series

1.Try unRAID for gaming rig. In ESXI, you can passthrough GPU but some game will report cann't play due to virtualization environment. Because there is still VMWARE SVGA 3D adapter

2. AMD and NVIDIA GPU can be passthrough successfully
Did you edit the flags to hide that the machine was virutalized to make the nVidia card work? I haven't tried unRAID at all so far, and I'm not really fond of paying a license. I already pay for a VMUG-license :)

But are you running your VM as an ESXI-vm with your 1070?
 

MiniKnight

Well-Known Member
Mar 30, 2012
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I thought you need V3 for nested virtualization?

Still check out hyper-v with W10. It's really good. Running almost anything in Hyper-V is easy nowadays and you'll save time and headache not troubleshooting your desktop.

The only real reason I like the idea of a virtual desktop is if you want to do WAN gaming and use a thin client or if you're dead set on OS snapshots. I just have all my data on a NAS that's snapshotted with ZFS so I don't care much about desktop snapshots.
 

hitmanbabyvn

New Member
Dec 18, 2015
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Did you edit the flags to hide that the machine was virutalized to make the nVidia card work? I haven't tried unRAID at all so far, and I'm not really fond of paying a license. I already pay for a VMUG-license :)

But are you running your VM as an ESXI-vm with your 1070?
Yes, must edit flags hypervisor.cpuid.v0 = "FALSE"
I mean some game will report cann't run on virtualization enviroment (for example Fifa Online 3 in VN)
I'm currently runing ESXI-vm with MSI GTX 1070
 

sebstr

New Member
May 22, 2017
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I thought you need V3 for nested virtualization?

Still check out hyper-v with W10. It's really good. Running almost anything in Hyper-V is easy nowadays and you'll save time and headache not troubleshooting your desktop.

The only real reason I like the idea of a virtual desktop is if you want to do WAN gaming and use a thin client or if you're dead set on OS snapshots. I just have all my data on a NAS that's snapshotted with ZFS so I don't care much about desktop snapshots.
Yeah, I get your point and I'm thinking about setting up a Hyper-V lab too - but I'm not really fond of running it from a W10 (and invert the whole idea of running a hypervisor) just to be able to play games on it. :)

Yes, must edit flags hypervisor.cpuid.v0 = "FALSE"
I mean some game will report cann't run on virtualization enviroment (for example Fifa Online 3 in VN)
I'm currently runing ESXI-vm with MSI GTX 1070
Ok, cool! I'll definately try that out in a week when I've moved in to my new apt.
 

MiniKnight

Well-Known Member
Mar 30, 2012
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Yeah, I get your point and I'm thinking about setting up a Hyper-V lab too - but I'm not really fond of running it from a W10 (and invert the whole idea of running a hypervisor) just to be able to play games on it. :)
Windows 10 and Server 2016 aren't that diff
 

sebstr

New Member
May 22, 2017
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Windows 10 and Server 2016 aren't that diff
You're right! Call me stupid, but it's more a matter of principle I guess. ;-)

It's hard to tread down the path of trying to learn how to build/maintain an enterprise environment properly and combine it with private needs, haha.
 

Tha_14

Server Newbie
Mar 9, 2017
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Be extra careful, some games that are online or use DRM(Like steam for example) will penalize you. You may even get a VAC ban if you try to play CS:GO inside a VM. I am not sure if what I am referring to still stands so you should do some more research for recent news. Let us know how it all goes. Cheers.
 

Diavuno

Active Member
If you have not already finished the project here is my $.02
Windows 10 runs fine on my x9 with dual 2660's
Windows pro supports hyper well.

Windows 2016 is very similar to win 10, but the GPU guys typically dont write game optimized drivers for server OS(and you will see a large FPS hit)

I had my 4870 in my home server, it worked... poorly.
Same GPU in my desktop gave 20-40% better fps.
Steam on remote PC worked well... on the really old games It didnt (like original DOOM or duke nukem) but those ran fine on my NUC. I like arcade games on the big screen :D
now I run a 1070 and use steam to play any game on the NUC.
only downside I've found is it will not stream surround sound.
(sucks because my main PC is 2.1 but the livingroom with the nuc is 7.1)

Steam In-Home Streaming
 
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