Hi -
I am completely new to virtual machines. I use a workstation running Ubuntu 18.04 for some engineering stuff, and it uses a Radeon GPU. I would like to also use this machine to run a Windows game (specifically DCS World) which requires a different GPU - and directx 11.
If I install a NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti in it, can I use Workstation Player to run Windows 10, utilizing this GPU, but have the native ubuntu system use the Radeon? Do I also understand correctly that Workstation Player supports DX 11 now?
Thanks!
> can I use Workstation Player to run Windows 10, utilizing this GPU ?
Passthrough of Videocards only works for a very limited list of expensive cards when you use ESXi.
OK. Please bear with me because, as I said, I am completely new to virtual machines, so I do not know what ESXi is or which limited set of cards can be passed through. I do not even really know what "passed through" means.
What does a virtual machine in VM Workstation use as a GPU? Is it a virtual GPU?
Yes - a VM in Workstation uses a virtual GPU with features that can be compared to the ones you would get with a 5 years old cheap onboard-GPU.
With Workstation/Player, the display adapter is a virtual one (in a Windows VM, the Display Adapter in Device Manager is "VMware SVGA 3D" and not the video card that is on the host) and the driver is from VMware Tools. With a GPU passthrough using ESXi, (take it literally, the GPU is passed through to the VM), the Display Adapter in Device Manager would be whatever GPU card was passed through; it is the VM controlling the GPU hardware as a native GPU device with corresponding driver (e.g. Nvidia or AMD).
If the host machine OS is Windows, you could make VMware Workstation/Player use one GPU for one VM and another GPU for another VM. Add to the vmx configuration of the corresponding VM.
#use Nvidia GPU
mks.dx11.vendorID = "0x10de"
#use AMD GPU
mks.dx11.vendorID = "0x1002"
I am not aware how this can be done for an Ubuntu host as Workstation/Player would be using OpenGL instead of DX11 to bring the accelerated graphics capabilities to the VM.
From the release notes, the DX11 capabilities in a Windows VM is available in Linux host if the GPU is Nvidia, no mention of AMD GPUs.
You might need to find a way to select an active GPU within the Ubuntu host (either during bootup or switch on the fly).