(CC'ing Casey on this, as I recommend his setup for an Intel-based solution) Hello ShadesOfGrey, Hehehe, talk about timing ;) On Sep 20, 2012, at 5:15 PM, ShadesOfGrey <shades_of_grey@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > I'm looking to build a new personal computer. I want it to function as a Linux desktop, provide network services for my home, and lastly, occasional Windows gaming. From what I've gathered, virtualization using a Type 1 Hypervisor supporting PCI/VGA pass-through like KVM or Xen would be an attractive solution for my needs. For reference, reading these threads on Ars Technica may be helpful to understand where I'm coming from, http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1175674 and http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1181867. But basically, I use Linux as my primary OS and would rather avoid dual booting or building two boxes just to play Windows games when I want to play Windows games. I'm also intrigued by the concept of virtualization and would like to experiment with it as a solution for my case. > > My problem is isolating which hardware to choose, specifically which combination of CPU, motherboard and video card. Previously I had been relying on web searches to glean information from gaming and enthusiast web sites and tech specs from motherboard manufacturers. After what I learned during my participation in the referenced threads at Ars Technica, I find myself back at square one. Instead of trying to guess what hardware support KVM & Xen, and vice versa. I'd like to know what hardware KVM & Xen users are actually using to run KVM & Xen? Particularly with consideration for 3D gaming and current generation hardware, BTW. > > If there is need for further clarification, I'll answer any queries you might have. > > _______________________________________________ > Xen-users mailing list > Xen-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > http://lists.xen.org/xen-users As one of the folks on the list who has done this---probably to the most extreme degree---I can tell you it's good stuff. It brings the joys of datacenter consolidation to your gaming desktop, and also to your wallet ;) While my setup is now slightly dated, the 990FX chipset is still at the top of the AMD offering, so you can shop around on CPUs, and buy a cheaper "secondary" USB controller if you're not looking to cram in a 4-to-1 ratio. I've never had much success passing through the onboard USB from an AMD system, so I highly recommend picking up a little PCIe x1 controller at the least. That said, I'm convinced that highpoint has one of the coincidentally-best products on the market for people looking to do this, but I digress! Take a look at, specifically, this post I made to the list some months back, and I'll follow with some errata: http://lists.xen.org/archives/html/xen-users/2012-05/msg00328.html First, I've tested all of the hardware in the build that I recommended, and indeed ended up building a four-headed unit. It works like magic. Came in handy a few weeks ago when several of my friends and I piled into a couple cars for a vacation where we wanted to play games (yup, we're total nerds), but we couldn't fit four desktop cases in addition to our stuff in the cars. :) Second, by the time I got around to building it, the Antec One Hundred wasn't available. Finding a case that supports 8 expansion slots is a tough thing, but I found another similarly priced one, and it was a dream to build. I recommend it highly if you think you may want to max out your slots and/or go deeper down the rabbit hole with consolidated desktops: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112238 Aside from being a very solid case for the price point (good features for screwless installation as well), to give you an idea of the size, it is laid out in such a way that I could fit dual-GPU cards in it (Radeon 5970s). I ultimately had to remove the HDD mounts to pull it off, but you shouldn't have that problem... Mostly because AMDs dual GPU cards won't work for this, so don't buy one for this build. It's a problem with the PCIe switching hardware (well, the firmware thereof, probably) that they use. I'll save you the rambling, but let's just say that it should work, but doesn't :( Also, the case does look good! ;) Finally, and this is unfortunate, for the AMD build, *I* recommend you use ESXi. While Xen _does_ work with the hardware that I've listed, I've never been able to get the VMs to work properly with the GPLPV drivers, and these are crucial to performance. I really, really want to bring this project back up on Xen though, and will try again now that 4.2 has gone RTM. If you aren't buying anytime soon and would like to hit me up in a few weeks, by all means drop me a line, and I'll let you know if I've gotten around to it. ---------------- So, for the Intel route! Casey DeLorme has, just this week, posted a fantastic set of detailed videos and documentation on his setup, where he basically does exactly what you're trying to accomplish. You can find links to all of the documentation, which I'm pretty sure covers his exact hardware, along with videos of the installation process he used and a detailed, written guide. Fine work if you ask me ;) http://lists.xen.org/archives/html/xen-users/2012-09/msg00191.html As far as his hardware goes, I'm not sure if it's the latest Intel chips or not. I've been eyeballing the i7-3770 myself (NOT the 3770K, that one will not work, as [in my opinion] Intel has a pension for artificially crippling their products for profit). Haven't found a board yet, but then again I started eyeballing hardware a day or two ago. Cheers, Andrew Bobulsky -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe kvm" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
