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Piyo5
Contributor
Contributor

Matching/compatible graphics card for Workstation Pro searched! - Passende/kompatible Grafikkarte für Workstation Pro gesucht!

Hello VMware Community,

which graphics card category would be recommended for enabling 3D acceleration or GPU passthrough (so that virtual systems (e.g. Windows 10) generally run more smoothly, the memory is used directly by the graphics card and more graphics power is available to the VMs)

Would a desktop graphics card (e.g. RX 5500 XT, GTX 1660 Super) be sufficient, or do you need the professional/workstation version (e.g. Radeon Pro WX 3200)?

The Radeon Pro series is also designed for virtualization.

In this context, however, I cannot read anything about VMware Workstation Pro (MxGPU for e.g. cloud environments).

Would Workstation Pro benefit from a Radeon Pro Series?

[Request is for Linux/Windows as host system, where Linux is used concretely (Windows just in case, should be included if there might be differences)].

Thanks a lot!

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Hallo VMware-Gemeinschaft,

welche Grafikkartenkategorie wäre für die Aktivierung der 3D-Beschleunigung bzw. von GPU-Passthrough zu empfehlen (sodass die virtuellen Systeme (z. B. Windows 10) generell noch etwas flüssiger laufen, der Speicher direkt von der Grafikkarte genutzt wird und mehr Grafikpower den VM's zur Verfügung stehen)?

Würden hier auch eine Desktop Grafikkarte (wie z. B. RX 5500 XT, GTX 1660 Super) ausreichen, oder benötigt man hier die Professionell/Workstation Version (wie z. B. Radeon Pro WX 3200)?

Die Radeon Pro Serie ist unter anderem auch für Virtualisierung konzipiert.

In diesem Zusammenhang, kann ich jedoch nichts von VMware Workstation Pro lesen (MxGPU für z. B. Cloud-Umgebungen).

Würde die Workstation Pro von einer Radeon Pro Serie profitieren?

[Anfrage gilt für Linux/Windows als Hostsystem, wobei Linux konkret genutzt wird (Windows für den Fall der Fälle, sollte mit einbezogen werden, falls es hier ggf. Unterschiede gäbe).]

Vielen Dank!!

24 Replies
wila
Immortal
Immortal

At this point I think you've got the idea, we are waiting/hoping, for improved graphics support in consumer level 2 hypervisors.

PCIe Pass-through was available in vSphere 4.x, so we've been waiting for like 10 years.

Don't hold your breath.

If you really must have this in a hypervisor 2 product, look elsewhere.

Linux KVM comes to my mind.

Improvements to the graphics stack are made in almost every revision of VMware Workstation.

But there's only so much you can do without passing through the adapter and virtualizing the graphics adapter is immensely complex to do.

Which is why progress is so slow.

edit: clarified as I realized you could read that different.

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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Piyo5
Contributor
Contributor

Okay, thanks again for all the investments!

Maybe this thread will come back to life in a few years with the news that VMware now offers appropriate features. :smileylaugh:

Is it possible to declare the thread generally as "solved"?

Another question I would have, is outside the topic, but I hope that this is still possible.

Can I run VM's, which were created with an AMD system (in connection with the Workstation Pro) also with an Intel system and vice versa?

I still have in the "back of my mind" that this would not be so good... But maybe this is not up to date anymore(?)

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wila
Immortal
Immortal

Hi,

There is no problem to run VMs made with an intel processor on an AMD processor (or vice versa)

However beware that snapshots made with the VM running or suspended VM will likely show problems as your processor will not have the same features (and CPU registers etc..)

Another note is that a Windows VM might show activation issues if it determines that too much of its hardware has changed.

The CPU is exposed to the VM so it will notice that it has changed.

PS: Clicking the "Correct Answer"  button anywhere would mark the thread as solved, it is up to you which answer you think is best.

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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Piyo5
Contributor
Contributor

Many thanks again!

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AKDub
Contributor
Contributor

Sorry to bump this thread but I have found it interesting reading through.

I am currently waiting for parts to be delivered for a new PC build, and was wondering what type of graphics performance improvements I will be getting. Even though the GPU I have ordered is one of the cheaper ones (RX 5500 XT), it will no doubt be much faster than the one in my laptop that I have been using for the last 8 years (GT 650M). I was wondering if the new card is for example 5 times faster in the host, will this mean its 5 times faster in the VM. It seems from this thread that this might not be the case. Anyway, I will find out soon and either way it should be a big improvement.

One thing to note is that there is definitely some improvement to be made to the graphics performance in VMWare - I have always found the guest graphics performance to be much better in Parallels on the same hardware (I only use for SolidWorks so that is my only benchmark)

As my new PC will run Linux I may try to use QEMU/KVM and buy an additional WX 3100 to pass-thorugh to a windows guest to see the comparison.

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