[vfio-users] Minimal host with desktop guest and gaming guest. Is this possible?

[Nick Sarnie]

On Sat, Jul 15, 2017 at 8:59 PM, almer <almertje at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> my motivation: wattage concerns and not utilizing my hardware to the
> fullest. My setup is pretty much historically grown to 3 computers now. one
> for gaming (win10), one for storage/backup (debian stable) and one for
> desktop (latest xubuntu). And the desktop hardware is quite old and weak, so
> it bugs me that the good hardware is "wasted" on a windows system for games
> only.
> also with the next hardware purchase I would have to buy win10 because the
> free w10 upgrade from w7 will break. the short version: I won't buy w10 and
> have decided to switch to wine/steam-OS gaming. ditching windows completely,
> nearly all games that I play, run out of the box in wine/steam anyway.
>
> I've read that some setups utilize two graphics cards or IGP with a graphics
> card. Now I was wondering if both setups could be combined. A minimal stable
> distribution host for storage and providing what ever is needed for the
> guests on the IGP. first guest stable desktop for daily desktop needs and
> work with a passive graphics card for example a GT 710 passed through.
> second guest a more current distribution as wine/steam gaming guest with a
> more beefy graphics card passed through.
>
> Is this even possible? besides audio and mic config witch could get tricky I
> presume and keyboard+mouse for 3 systems.
>
> My hardware pick so far:
> - i5-7600k; mainly because of IGP, providing the 3. graphics card for the
> host.
> - ASUS Nvidia passive GT 710 and ASUS Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti STRIX for the two
> guests; Nvidia because I read that AMD has PCIE reset issues and I would
> like to stop and start guests with the PCIE cards more freely, without host
> reboots.
> - ASRock z270 Taichi; provides enough sata and usb for the storage/backup
> needs.
>
>
> So before I commit to this I would like to hear your thoughts on this.
>
> regards,
> Almer
>
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I believe only the AMD RX 200-300 have the reset issue, and only some
cards at that. My RX480 works fine. Also, if you plan to used the
closed source nvidia drivers, I heard you can't unbind cards or unload
the module, so you would have to reboot. Someone who has first hand
experience should confirm. AMDGPU unloads and unbinds cards fine. No
idea about nouveau.

Sarnex