Thread 107164021

Qemu, vmware, virtualbox all feel sluggish and laggy. I'm allocating half of my computing power (8gb of 16gb ram and 8 cores of ryzen 7 2700) yet still trashy performance. I tried so many different configs but it's all same.

Is it even possible to create a high-performance VM for software development? I want to do all the dev stuff inside a VM. Should I buy an expensive processor or smth; would it make any difference?

>>107164021 (OP)
have you tried gpu passthrough+ looking glass?

what makes modern OS so snappy is hw acceleration aka gpu passthrough

Yes. Attach a GPU to it. Before anticheats started banning Windows VMs and proton wasn't as good, I was using a virtual machine for gaymen just fine. I passed through my GPU to the VM and plugged my monitor into it. Performance was very similar once you set up huge pages for the VM and your host isn't too busy.

>>107164021 (OP)
learn2kvm
learn2hyperv

For Linux VMs, you might be able to use VirGL, but my understanding is it's a potential security risk.

>>107164021 (OP)
qemu + passthrough is goated

realistically though 99% of development doesn't need a strong computer. I use vmware to be compliant with my workplace requiring windows 11 and its never been an issue.

qemu has to be setup correctly to be good, vmware, if you have to use windows 11, choose "other os" and lookup secureboot bypasses.

virtualbox, I agree, its a laggy piece of shit that I've never had good success with. it was acceptable 15 years ago when virtualization was a novel concept, but it hasn't grown up enough.

>>107164135
What is your understanding? How is it a security risk?

>>107164021 (OP)
Check your RAM and CPU utilization *inside* the VM. Is it maxed out?
Consider upgrading your RAM, 16gb for a host running virtual machines is pretty low. I would recommend at least 32gb, leaving 16 for host OS and provisioning 16 for guest OS.

I'm in a similar situation (using a dev VM), I have Ryzen 5 2600, I upgraded to 64gb RAM and running a VM w/ 16gb is relatively smooth. That's why I suggest the RAM upgrade.

The main problem is that WIndows in qemu doesn't get virtual hardware acceleration and there is no customer SRVIO GPUs, so you need to waste a GPU with the VM or buy an enterprise one and visualize it.
Some dude started working on it almost half a decade ago and silently dropped it.
Anyways, just get a cheap GPU to pass it through if you don't need anything GPU heavy.
Problem is Windows is a mess and even the basic shit kinda demands a GPU.