I am using an unraid setup for running two gaming VMs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuJYMCbIbPk.  The primarily used VM works perfect during any and all gaming when it is the only one turned on.  If the second vm is turned on and starts gaming as well, the first VM, which uses a stronger, more power hungry GPU will lag and stutter in game.  I am assuming the PSU is not strong enough to run both at the same time and is the reason for the stutter and lag.  Any other possible thoughts??

I am using an unraid setup for running two gaming VMs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuJYMCbIbPk.  The primarily used VM works perfect during any and all gaming when it is the only one turned on.  If the second vm is turned on and starts gaming as well, the first VM, which uses a stronger, more power hungry GPU will lag and stutter in game.  I am assuming the PSU is not strong enough to run both at the same time and is the reason for the stutter and lag.  Any other possible thoughts??

Seriously doubt its the power supply, as if it isn't powerful enough you would experience severe stability issues.

 

From a hardware point of view, its far more likely  that the CPU isn't up to snuff for what you're asking from it, the CPU is going into thermal overload and throttling down, (or the GPU's are doing the same thing because you're case doesn't have adequate cooling, etc).

 

From the software side, it could be as simple as pinning cores.

 

For starters it might be prudent to post the specs of your machine, and the VMs XML files so that the experts here (of which I am not one) can help you.

I don't have access to the specs and XML at this moment but will post asap.  Whats the best thing to post to provide you guys the fullest specs? The System Devices list?

All your hardware specs (like my sig), the xml's of the VM's in question, and the diagnostics (tools - diagnostics) should cover it

 

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 DMI2 (rev 04)

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 PCI Express Root Port 1a (rev 04)

00:02.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 PCI Express Root Port 2a (rev 04)

00:03.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 PCI Express Root Port 3a (rev 04)

00:05.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 VTd/Memory Map/Misc (rev 04)

00:05.2 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 IIO RAS (rev 04)

00:05.4 PIC: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 IOAPIC (rev 04)

00:11.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation C600/X79 series chipset PCI Express Virtual Root Port (rev 06)

00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation C600/X79 series chipset MEI Controller #1 (rev 05)

00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82579V Gigabit Network Connection (rev 06)

00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation C600/X79 series chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 06)

00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation C600/X79 series chipset High Definition Audio Controller (rev 06)

00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation C600/X79 series chipset PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b6)

00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation C600/X79 series chipset PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev b6)

00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation C600/X79 series chipset PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev b6)

00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation C600/X79 series chipset PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev b6)

00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation C600/X79 series chipset PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev b6)

00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation C600/X79 series chipset PCI Express Root Port 6 (rev b6)

00:1c.7 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation C600/X79 series chipset PCI Express Root Port 8 (rev b6)

00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation C600/X79 series chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 06)

00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev a6)

00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation C600/X79 series chipset LPC Controller (rev 06)

00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation C600/X79 series chipset 6-Port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 06)

00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation C600/X79 series chipset SMBus Host Controller (rev 06)

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF119 [GeForce GT 610] (rev a1)

01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GF119 HDMI Audio Controller (rev a1)

02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GK104 [GeForce GTX 680] (rev a1)

02:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GK104 HDMI Audio Controller (rev a1)

03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GK107 [GeForce GT 640] (rev a1)

03:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GK107 HDMI Audio Controller (rev a1)

06:00.0 USB controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller

07:00.0 USB controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller

08:00.0 USB controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller

09:00.0 USB controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller

0a:00.0 SATA controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1062 Serial ATA Controller (rev 01)

0b:00.0 SATA controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1062 Serial ATA Controller (rev 01)

ff:08.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 QPI Link 0 (rev 04)

ff:09.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 QPI Link 1 (rev 04)

ff:0a.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Power Control Unit 0 (rev 04)

ff:0a.1 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Power Control Unit 1 (rev 04)

ff:0a.2 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Power Control Unit 2 (rev 04)

ff:0a.3 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Power Control Unit 3 (rev 04)

ff:0b.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 UBOX Registers (rev 04)

ff:0b.3 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 UBOX Registers (rev 04)

ff:0c.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Unicast Registers (rev 04)

ff:0c.1 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Unicast Registers (rev 04)

ff:0c.2 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Unicast Registers (rev 04)

ff:0d.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Unicast Registers (rev 04)

ff:0d.1 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Unicast Registers (rev 04)

ff:0d.2 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Unicast Registers (rev 04)

ff:0e.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Home Agent 0 (rev 04)

ff:0e.1 Performance counters: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Home Agent 0 (rev 04)

ff:0f.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller 0 Target Address/Thermal Registers (rev 04)

ff:0f.1 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller 0 RAS Registers (rev 04)

ff:0f.2 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller 0 Channel Target Address Decoder Registers (rev 04)

ff:0f.3 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller 0 Channel Target Address Decoder Registers (rev 04)

ff:0f.4 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller 0 Channel Target Address Decoder Registers (rev 04)

ff:0f.5 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller 0 Channel Target Address Decoder Registers (rev 04)

ff:10.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller 1 Channel 0-3 Thermal Control 0 (rev 04)

ff:10.1 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller 1 Channel 0-3 Thermal Control 1 (rev 04)

ff:10.2 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller 1 Channel 0-3 ERROR Registers 0 (rev 04)

ff:10.3 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller 1 Channel 0-3 ERROR Registers 1 (rev 04)

ff:10.4 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller 1 Channel 0-3 Thermal Control 2 (rev 04)

ff:10.5 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller 1 Channel 0-3 Thermal Control 3 (rev 04)

ff:10.6 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller 1 Channel 0-3 ERROR Registers 2 (rev 04)

ff:10.7 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller 1 Channel 0-3 ERROR Registers 3 (rev 04)

ff:13.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 R2PCIe (rev 04)

ff:13.1 Performance counters: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 R2PCIe (rev 04)

ff:13.4 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 QPI Ring Registers (rev 04)

ff:13.5 Performance counters: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 QPI Ring Performance Ring Monitoring (rev 04)

ff:16.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 System Address Decoder (rev 04)

ff:16.1 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Broadcast Registers (rev 04)

ff:16.2 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v2/Xeon E5 v2/Core i7 Broadcast Registers (rev 04)

 

 

 

VM 1:

<domain type='kvm' xmlns:qemu='http://libvirt.org/schemas/domain/qemu/1.0'>

  <name>GTX 680</name>

  <uuid>47bfc6e1-d459-e299-379c-d65b7d69bd6c</uuid>

  <metadata>

    <vmtemplate name="Custom" icon="windows.png" os="windows"/>

  </metadata>

  <memory unit='KiB'>13107200</memory>

  <currentMemory unit='KiB'>13107200</currentMemory>

  <memoryBacking>

    <nosharepages/>

    <locked/>

  </memoryBacking>

  <vcpu placement='static'>4</vcpu>

  <cputune>

    <vcpupin vcpu='0' cpuset='4'/>

    <vcpupin vcpu='1' cpuset='5'/>

    <vcpupin vcpu='2' cpuset='6'/>

    <vcpupin vcpu='3' cpuset='7'/>

  </cputune>

  <os>

    <type arch='x86_64' machine='pc-i440fx-2.3'>hvm</type>

  </os>

  <features>

    <acpi/>

    <apic/>

  </features>

  <cpu mode='host-passthrough'>

    <topology sockets='1' cores='4' threads='1'/>

  </cpu>

  <clock offset='localtime'>

    <timer name='rtc' tickpolicy='catchup'/>

    <timer name='pit' tickpolicy='delay'/>

    <timer name='hpet' present='no'/>

  </clock>

  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>

  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>

  <on_crash>restart</on_crash>

  <devices>

    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64</emulator>

    <disk type='file' device='disk'>

      <driver name='qemu' type='raw' cache='writeback'/>

      <source file='/mnt/cache/vDisk/GTX 680/vdisk1.img'/>

      <target dev='hdc' bus='virtio'/>

      <boot order='1'/>

      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x04' function='0x0'/>

    </disk>

    <disk type='file' device='disk'>

      <driver name='qemu' type='raw' cache='writeback'/>

      <source file='/mnt/disk1/vDiskArrays/Windows 10 GTX680/vdisk2.img'/>

      <target dev='hdd' bus='virtio'/>

      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x05' function='0x0'/>

    </disk>

    <disk type='file' device='cdrom'>

      <driver name='qemu' type='raw'/>

      <source file='/mnt/user/ISOs/Windows10(microsoft).iso'/>

      <target dev='hda' bus='ide'/>

      <readonly/>

      <boot order='2'/>

      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='0' target='0' unit='0'/>

    </disk>

    <disk type='file' device='cdrom'>

      <driver name='qemu' type='raw'/>

      <source file='/mnt/user/ISOs/virtio-win-0.1.112.iso'/>

      <target dev='hdb' bus='ide'/>

      <readonly/>

      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='0' target='0' unit='1'/>

    </disk>

    <controller type='usb' index='0'>

      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x2'/>

    </controller>

    <controller type='pci' index='0' model='pci-root'/>

    <controller type='ide' index='0'>

      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x1'/>

    </controller>

    <controller type='virtio-serial' index='0'>

      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x03' function='0x0'/>

    </controller>

    <interface type='bridge'>

      <mac address='52:54:00:b6:f7:ea'/>

      <source bridge='br0'/>

      <model type='virtio'/>

      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x02' function='0x0'/>

    </interface>

    <serial type='pty'>

      <target port='0'/>

    </serial>

    <console type='pty'>

      <target type='serial' port='0'/>

    </console>

    <channel type='unix'>

      <source mode='bind' path='/var/lib/libvirt/qemu/channel/target/GTX 680.org.qemu.guest_agent.0'/>

      <target type='virtio' name='org.qemu.guest_agent.0'/>

      <address type='virtio-serial' controller='0' bus='0' port='1'/>

    </channel>

    <hostdev mode='subsystem' type='usb' managed='yes'>

      <source>

        <vendor id='0x045e'/>

        <product id='0x028e'/>

      </source>

    </hostdev>

    <hostdev mode='subsystem' type='usb' managed='yes'>

      <source>

        <vendor id='0x093a'/>

        <product id='0x2521'/>

      </source>

    </hostdev>

    <hostdev mode='subsystem' type='usb' managed='yes'>

      <source>

        <vendor id='0x413c'/>

        <product id='0x2105'/>

      </source>

    </hostdev>

    <memballoon model='virtio'>

      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x06' function='0x0'/>

    </memballoon>

  </devices>

  <qemu:commandline>

    <qemu:arg value='-device'/>

    <qemu:arg value='ioh3420,bus=pci.0,addr=1c.0,multifunction=on,port=2,chassis=1,id=root.1'/>

    <qemu:arg value='-device'/>

    <qemu:arg value='vfio-pci,host=02:00.0,bus=root.1,addr=00.0,multifunction=on,x-vga=on'/>

    <qemu:arg value='-device'/>

    <qemu:arg value='vfio-pci,host=02:00.1,bus=root.1,addr=00.1'/>

  </qemu:commandline>

</domain>

 

 

 

 

VM 2 XML:

<domain type='kvm' xmlns:qemu='http://libvirt.org/schemas/domain/qemu/1.0'>

  <name>GT 640</name>

  <uuid>58a9fb17-ba35-9530-c086-f2848ce6aa67</uuid>

  <metadata>

    <vmtemplate name="Custom" icon="windows7.png" os="windows7"/>

  </metadata>

  <memory unit='KiB'>13107200</memory>

  <currentMemory unit='KiB'>13107200</currentMemory>

  <memoryBacking>

    <nosharepages/>

    <locked/>

  </memoryBacking>

  <vcpu placement='static'>4</vcpu>

  <cputune>

    <vcpupin vcpu='0' cpuset='4'/>

    <vcpupin vcpu='1' cpuset='5'/>

    <vcpupin vcpu='2' cpuset='6'/>

    <vcpupin vcpu='3' cpuset='7'/>

  </cputune>

  <os>

    <type arch='x86_64' machine='pc-i440fx-2.3'>hvm</type>

  </os>

  <features>

    <acpi/>

    <apic/>

  </features>

  <cpu mode='host-passthrough'>

    <topology sockets='1' cores='4' threads='1'/>

  </cpu>

  <clock offset='localtime'>

    <timer name='rtc' tickpolicy='catchup'/>

    <timer name='pit' tickpolicy='delay'/>

    <timer name='hpet' present='no'/>

  </clock>

  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>

  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>

  <on_crash>restart</on_crash>

  <devices>

    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64</emulator>

    <disk type='file' device='disk'>

      <driver name='qemu' type='raw' cache='writeback'/>

      <source file='/mnt/cache/vDisk/GT 640/vdisk1.img'/>

      <target dev='hdc' bus='virtio'/>

      <boot order='1'/>

      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x04' function='0x0'/>

    </disk>

    <disk type='file' device='disk'>

      <driver name='qemu' type='raw' cache='writeback'/>

      <source file='/mnt/disk1/vDiskArrays/Windows 7 GT640/vdisk2.img'/>

      <target dev='hdd' bus='virtio'/>

      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x05' function='0x0'/>

    </disk>

    <disk type='file' device='cdrom'>

      <driver name='qemu' type='raw'/>

      <source file='/mnt/user/ISOs/Windows7sp1[danhuk2k13][kickass.to].iso'/>

      <target dev='hda' bus='ide'/>

      <readonly/>

      <boot order='2'/>

      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='0' target='0' unit='0'/>

    </disk>

    <disk type='file' device='cdrom'>

      <driver name='qemu' type='raw'/>

      <source file='/mnt/user/ISOs/virtio-win-0.1.109.iso'/>

      <target dev='hdb' bus='ide'/>

      <readonly/>

      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='0' target='0' unit='1'/>

    </disk>

    <controller type='usb' index='0'>

      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x2'/>

    </controller>

    <controller type='pci' index='0' model='pci-root'/>

    <controller type='ide' index='0'>

      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x1'/>

    </controller>

    <controller type='virtio-serial' index='0'>

      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x03' function='0x0'/>

    </controller>

    <interface type='bridge'>

      <mac address='52:54:00:87:ec:ff'/>

      <source bridge='br0'/>

      <model type='virtio'/>

      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x02' function='0x0'/>

    </interface>

    <serial type='pty'>

      <target port='0'/>

    </serial>

    <console type='pty'>

      <target type='serial' port='0'/>

    </console>

    <channel type='unix'>

      <source mode='bind' path='/var/lib/libvirt/qemu/channel/target/GT 640.org.qemu.guest_agent.0'/>

      <target type='virtio' name='org.qemu.guest_agent.0'/>

      <address type='virtio-serial' controller='0' bus='0' port='1'/>

    </channel>

    <hostdev mode='subsystem' type='usb' managed='yes'>

      <source>

        <vendor id='0x045e'/>

        <product id='0x078c'/>

      </source>

    </hostdev>

    <hostdev mode='subsystem' type='usb' managed='yes'>

      <source>

        <vendor id='0x046d'/>

        <product id='0xc52f'/>

      </source>

    </hostdev>

    <hostdev mode='subsystem' type='usb' managed='yes'>

      <source>

        <vendor id='0x10f5'/>

        <product id='0x0230'/>

      </source>

    </hostdev>

    <memballoon model='virtio'>

      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x06' function='0x0'/>

    </memballoon>

  </devices>

  <qemu:commandline>

    <qemu:arg value='-device'/>

    <qemu:arg value='ioh3420,bus=pci.0,addr=1c.0,multifunction=on,port=2,chassis=1,id=root.1'/>

    <qemu:arg value='-device'/>

    <qemu:arg value='vfio-pci,host=03:00.0,bus=root.1,addr=00.0,multifunction=on,x-vga=on'/>

    <qemu:arg value='-device'/>

    <qemu:arg value='vfio-pci,host=01:00.1,bus=root.1,addr=01.0'/>

  </qemu:commandline>

</domain>

 

 

VM 1 is running the stronger, more power hungry GPU. GTX 680 vs GT 640.  I just noticed that the MOBO has a supplementary 6 pin power for the PCI slots that is not currently plugged into the PSU

Have you pinned all 8 cores leaving none for the underlying unraid OS?

 

What happens if  you assign only 2 or 3x cores to each vm?

Your issue is you are pinning the same CPUs to each vm (5-.  One VM should be pinned to one set of CPUs and the other to the other set.

It is a 6 core, 12 thread processor.  Each vm has 2 different cores (4 threads) and the last 2 cores are currently unassigned.  The two vms do not overlap cores

What Jon is saying is that you are assigning the same vcpu's in each VM:

 

This is the same in each XML

 

<vcpupin vcpu='0' cpuset='4'/>

    <vcpupin vcpu='1' cpuset='5'/>

    <vcpupin vcpu='2' cpuset='6'/>

    <vcpupin vcpu='3' cpuset='7'/>

 

So you are using VCPU 0-3 and cpuset 4-7 in both vm's, Jon is saying it needs to be different for each VM.

The XML you copied and pasted begs to differ.

What Jon is saying is that you are assigning the same vcpu's in each VM:

 

This is the same in each XML

 

<vcpupin vcpu='0' cpuset='4'/>

    <vcpupin vcpu='1' cpuset='5'/>

    <vcpupin vcpu='2' cpuset='6'/>

    <vcpupin vcpu='3' cpuset='7'/>

 

So you are using VCPU 0-3 and cpuset 4-7 in both vm's, Jon is saying it needs to be different for each VM.

^^^^^^

This

Hmm, I see what you guys mean.  When I edit the vms (not through xml) I select different cores for each.  What would be the best way to fix this issue??

Uhg, I may be a moron.  The same cores were selected for both. Testing now to see if that was it

You guys are geniuses...and I am mildly dumb lol. It is working flawlessly again. thank you so much