Two Computers in One Tower: Possible with my rig?

[Chairein]

I just watched (again) the "2 Gaming Rigs, 1 Tower - Virtualized Gaming Build Log" video from LTT, and was wondering if this is a realistic possibility with my current rig. My girlfriend and I both enjoy playing video games together, and although I just built this new computer (with the help of the LTT community!) for myself I am hoping that this may be a way that we can both benefit from the effort

 

CPU: i7-7700 (this appears to have both the VT-x and VT-d features mentioned in the video)

MOBO: ASRock B250M Pro4 (I am not sure if this allows virtualization - not even sure where to look, frankly...)

GPU: Nvidia GTX Titan X (Maxwell) (I believe I would  need at least one more GPU that would be dedicated to the virtual machine - however, Linus mentions needing three GPUs and I am not sure I understand why)

PSU: Thermaltake 850W 80 PLUS GOLD

RAM: 16 GB

SSD: Crucial 525 GB

CASE: S340 Elite

 

The CPU that Linus uses in this video is pretty crazy, so not sure if that is going to put an end to my hopes and dreams right there. And he also mentioned setting up this rig as a NAS, which I would not be trying to do - just the two gaming rigs. I do not understand very much about setting up virtual machines, but I figured it was worth seeing if this is a pursue-able path. Any help or information is appreciated!

 

 

 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Chairein said:

I just watched (again) the "2 Gaming Rigs, 1 Tower - Virtualized Gaming Build Log" video from LTT, and was wondering if this is a realistic possibility with my current rig. My girlfriend and I both enjoy playing video games together, and although I just built this new computer (with the help of the LTT community!) for myself I am hoping that this may be a way that we can both benefit from the effort

 

CPU: i7-7700 (this appears to have both the VT-x and VT-d features mentioned in the video)

MOBO: ASRock B250M Pro4 (I am not sure if this allows virtualization - not even sure where to look, frankly...)

GPU: Nvidia GTX Titan X (Maxwell) (I believe I would  need at least one more GPU that would be dedicated to the virtual machine - however, Linus mentions needing three GPUs and I am not sure I understand why)

PSU: Thermaltake 850W 80 PLUS GOLD

RAM: 16 GB

SSD: Crucial 525 GB

CASE: S340 Elite

 

The CPU that Linus uses in this video is pretty crazy, so not sure if that is going to put an end to my hopes and dreams right there. And he also mentioned setting up this rig as a NAS, which I would not be trying to do - just the two gaming rigs. I do not understand very much about setting up virtual machines, but I figured it was worth seeing if this is a pursue-able path. Any help or information is appreciated!

 

 

 

All the specs look fine. What resolution and quality will you and your wife play at?

[Chairein]

@Factory OC Thanks for the fast response! We usually play on 1920 x 1080 resolution, and the goal would be to play Witcher 3 (we're both currently on Witcher 2 - we play next to each other) on Ultra settings (although I would be willing to give a little if needed).

 

Do you know where/how I can confirm the MOBO supports virtualization? Is this a thing? Also, what other hardware would I need? Just another GPU? Could we share storage or RAM, or does it not work like that?

[EunSoo]

15 minutes ago, Chairein said:

Linus mentions needing three GPUs and I am not sure I understand why

reason for this is for the software that runs the VMs(i forgot what its called) but you can use integrated graphics for this, I think.

[Chairein]

@SCGazelle Ah, I see - I do not believe I have a integrated graphics in my PC build so I would need to purchase two more GPUs? One dedicated for the VM (gaming-able GPU) and one for the boot-up (any GPU)? Is there any other hardware that I am missing?

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, Chairein said:

@Factory OC Thanks for the fast response! We usually play on 1920 x 1080 resolution, and the goal would be to play Witcher 3 (we're both currently on Witcher 2 - we play next to each other) on Ultra settings (although I would be willing to give a little if needed).

 

Do you know where/how I can confirm the MOBO supports virtualization? Is this a thing? Also, what other hardware would I need? Just another GPU? Could we share storage or RAM, or does it not work like that?

1. I don't believe it's a thing.

2.

6 minutes ago, SCGazelle said:

reason for this is for the software that runs the VMs(i forgot what its called) but you can use integrated graphics for this, I think.

It is possible to use the IGPU

3. Yep, you can.

 

[Guest]

Just now, Chairein said:

@SCGazelle Ah, I see - I do not believe I have a integrated graphics in my PC build so I would need to purchase two more GPUs? One dedicated for the VM (gaming-able GPU) and one for the boot-up (any GPU)? Is there any other hardware that I am missing?

Nope, that should be it

[EunSoo]

4 minutes ago, Chairein said:

@SCGazelle Ah, I see - I do not believe I have a integrated graphics in my PC build so I would need to purchase two more GPUs? One dedicated for the VM (gaming-able GPU) and one for the boot-up (any GPU)? Is there any other hardware that I am missing?

you have integrated. Your CPU and MoBo both support it. You should only need one more gaming GPU. But if you didn't have integrated, then yes, any GPU would work. (Preferably a GPU that has a low heat output as our other GPUs are gonna get toasty unless you watercool them)

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 hour ago, Chairein said:

@SCGazelle Ah, I see - I do not believe I have a integrated graphics in my PC build so I would need to purchase two more GPUs? One dedicated for the VM (gaming-able GPU) and one for the boot-up (any GPU)? Is there any other hardware that I am missing?

id just buy anouther cheap pc. virtulazing is a pain.

 

you will have to reinstall windows on your system.

 

setting up the vms can be a pain.  boot into linux and check the iommu groups are setup right.

 

If you wan to continue id install xenserver  on it. you can do it with just 2 gpu'd with xen server(and xenserver is free)

[Helly]

Unraid also does not need a dedicated gpu (anymore). The whole mmu groups thing and installation is of course a one time thing to make sure everything is working and setup right. After that its just booting up and gaming.

 

the boot stuff will show up on the primary gpu and after unraid is booted you can just assign the primary to the first vm, without problems. At least i can, so i assume any system can. I do this on a 100% AMD system. I did have massive amounts of issues when i tried using nvidia gpu's. 

[SCHISCHKA]

Unraid is the last system you want to use as virtual system host. Install Debian from the net-install so there's no GUI, and xen hypervisor would be the fastest

https://wiki.debian.org/Xen

you only need two gpu and a psu that can handle two gpu