Will GPU passthru help me?

[dodge]

I've got a server running ESXi and a number of CentOS8 VMs, to which I ssh from a Win10 desktop. I'm wanting to do some development using one of the VMs so want to run IDEs/editors (CLion and VS Code), run firefox etc. I tried VcXsrv as an x-server on Win10 and run GNOME on the VM, but was very slow with painful screen redraws. Currently using xrdp/tigervnc-server on the VM and using Remote Desktop from Win10. This is a big improvement, but still not great.

I've got a Nvidia GT710 in the server, used when I was initially setting it up, but now unused. If I passed it through to the VM, would it be utilised even though not physically connecting a monitor, and improve the GNOME performance? If so, any pointers on how I would go about setting this up?

 

[besterino]

Without significant tweaking I guess the GPU won’t be used for remote visuals - with the possible exception of dedicated tasks like GPU rendering in editing software (but still no benefit for remote connections).

What you most likely need is a more efficient transfer over the network connection- e.g. streaming with moonlight or some other tool (not very familiar with Linux though).

 

[dodge]

Without significant tweaking I guess the GPU won’t be used for remote visuals - with the possible exception of dedicated tasks like GPU rendering in editing software (but still no benefit for remote connections).

The answer I was expecting really, just hoping somebody would prove me wrong... Nevermind.

 

[besterino]

Well, with NVIDIA you COULD employ streaming via GeForce Experience on the host (works e.g. with Quadro P400 as well as all consumer cards I could grab) - works quite well also via VPN and up to WQHD resolutions. However, it’s a bit more tricky to set up initially, needs a locally logged-in user at all times and requires a monitor dummy / monitor to be attached to the GPU. Also wouldn’t recommend for 4K resolution.

 

[ttabbal]

You could also try Parsec or NX instead of VNC or RDP. Parsec is designed for game streaming. NX seems to be a more efficient VNC type setup. I played with them on my desktop with some VMs and locally performance was much improved over VNC/RDP. They both work with 4k as well, but there is slight lag when resolution is that high. I liked NX a little better, but plenty of people go the other way.

I find myself working mostly local to the VM when I need one though. It's faster and I rarely need to work on both OSes at the same time. The host runs Linux native, Win10 VMs with GPU passthrough using KVM. With GPU and USB sent into the VM, it works quite well for the Win things I need to use occasionally.

 

[dodge]

So the best tweak has been switching from GNOME to Xfce.

Thanks for the suggestions.