Thread: KVM or Xen for GPU pass-through?

for years i've used virtualbox run xp , vista clients on ubuntu box, , considering taking next step either qemu/kvm or xen. have toyed idea, never made switch because virtualbox easy use whereas kvm has suffered typical linux obscurity/learning curve. reason: afaik virtualbox type 2 virtualizer runs on ring 1 whereas kvm , xen type 1 virtualizers running on ring 0. allows kvm , xen @ least theoretically pass through pci devices virtualized client, bypassing translation layer type 2 virtualizers virtualbox must use. @ least, i've been able gather wikipedia , research on net. may totally off base here , spouting meaningless nonsense.

goal pass through client video demands physical hardware rather emulated virtual graphics adapter. understand xen (with lot of blood, sweat , tears), wonder if kvm there yet (or ever be). have impression kvm more tightly tied kernel xen , runs faster (with important exception of graphics). assume i'm not 1 interested, 1 of biggest attractions of virtualization average user running windows games in vm without having sacrifice major gaming features or video performance. knowledge @ point full of holes , second-hand, , welcome enlightenment assembled gurus here.

question twofold:

1. understanding of type1/ring0 vs type2/ring1 correct? , if so,

2. better virtualizer graphics pass-through? kvm or xen?

just saw post - hope answer still relevant.

1. speaking yes. kvm , xen hypervisors work directly on bare-metal hardware. sit in between operating system(s) (e.g. linux) , hardware.

2. xen first adopt vga passthru , improving on it. of vga passthru success reports xen users, though kvm users have succeeded too.
stands now, xen has far better documentation on subject.

should aware right hardware absolutely critical implement gpu passthrough! means vt-d (iommu) support in both cpu , motherboard, compatible graphics card. in cases amd better choice graphics card.

here references:
http://wiki.xen.org/wiki/xen_vga_passthrough
http://wiki.xen.org/wiki/xenvgapasst...testedadapters

how-to linux mint - should work ubuntu:
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=112013

ubuntu-based how-to: http://gro.solexiv.de/2012/08/pci-passthrough-howto/

fedora:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1205216/g...irtual-machine

should started.

Forum The Ubuntu Forum Community Ubuntu Specialised Support Virtualisation [all variants] KVM or Xen for GPU pass-through?

Ubuntu