Unraid and gaming

[Coxeroni]

I have not yet set-up unraid, since I am still waiting for my server to arrive (Christmas break, you know), but I have issues understanding how gaming would work with Unraid. 

The server will run a Xeon with IGPU in the beginning (E3-1225v6) but might be joined by a GeForce soon. 

 

At first, I thought I could simply fire up any remote desktop/vnc app (or moonlight, steam link and the like) and enjoy gaming on my dated laptop. Guess latency will not allow me to play FPS games...

 

So then I guess I need to hook up screen and control devices direcly to my server, is that correct? Will it show the screen of the VM as it boots up? 

 

Sorry to ask those noob questions, but I just have not yet fiddled with such a setup and therefore do not get how this works in practice. 

 

So if anybody could tell me what best practice for gaming is, I would appreciate it. 

[Coxeroni]

I thought this was an easy one, seems as I am wrong. Guess I have to test it out myself by first trying a "remote" session and if that sucks switching the place of the server to where my desk is...

[FreeMan]

There is a fair bit of info available on running games in VMs on Unraid, have you taken a look at the link here on the Unraid main page?

https://unraid.net/product/hardcore-gamers

 

 

[Coxeroni]

Thanks for your answer, it is probably too trivial for anybody already running unraid. I already tried to read a lot to be prepared whenever my server arrives.

So if let's say I smack a GeForce into the server and hook up a monitor to it, will I always see the VM output when it runs? Can I pass the video card to multiple VMs if I want to run another one?

Can I stop and start VMs apart from the unraid web interface?

My experience with VMs is limited to running Virtual box on my Linux machine so that is why I have problems understanding these principles. Maybe something is able to enlighten me, basic stuff like that is disclosed nowhere

thanks in advance.

[Squid]

21 minutes ago, Coxeroni said:

Can I pass the video card to multiple VMs if I want to run another one?

Sure, but only 1 can run at a time

21 minutes ago, Coxeroni said:

Can I stop and start VMs apart from the unraid web interface?

 

There's the controlr app for your phone that will allow you to do that.  And also I believe a virt-vm manager docker app that you can interface with.  And of course if you're so inclined you can always drop down to the shell.

[Coxeroni]

OK thanks mates. Android app should be fine for me, shell is also ok.

I might then also "transfer" my Linux workstation to a VM on that new server and put the workstation away. Not what I planned for in the beginning, but the less devices the better I think

I guess I am starting to understand it a little better now how this unraid thing works

Thanks for helping a noob out.

[FreeMan]

2 hours ago, Coxeroni said:

it is probably too trivial for anybody already running unraid.

No, no it's not. I've managed to get 2 VMs running - one Win10 (which isn't responding now, and I haven't invested the time/effort to get it working again), and one MacOS (for playing/testing/kicks - haven't fired it up in a long time). 

 

I'm by no means an expert, but I manage to muddle my way through by reading and asking a lot of questions. Remember - it's your data on your server, so if in doubt, ask first!

[Coxeroni]

Regarding choice of graphics card:

If been reading a lot about passthrough but I am not sure which GPU to get for gaming in a Windows 10 VM. 

Are Radeons working properly? Is it depending on the respective model and/or age of the GPU? Is any GeForce working? There is the thread about device compatibility in the VM forum,but this is from 2017 so probably a lot has changed since then.

Do I necessarily need a second GPU for running a VM or can I start by using the iGPU of the CPU? I read that unraid reserves one GPU for itself, but I have no clue if this means I have to have a second one for VM usage.

I don't have any GPU lying around so since I would need to buy one I want to make the right choice so I don't run into problems when setting up a VM. I probably don't need a high end one, but a GTX 1060 ist probably already sufficient for what I want to do.

And by the way I don't plan to use the GPU for transcoding (yet), which I probably leave to the iGPU if possible.

 

Edit:

I have researched further and is it true that there are no general statements about GPUs possibly since successful passthrough also depends on the rest of the hardware (CPU, mainboard etc.)?

It seems as Radeons should work just fine so I might go for the RX 580 which seems to be a good deal currently.

Edited December 29, 2019 by Coxeroni

[TyantA]

I'm running an RX 470 currently and while I'm not doing much with the VM atm (Plex as a client, for the most part) it's running fine. You should have no problems with a 580 provided your motherboard supports VT-d.

[Coxeroni]

Thanks for your reply, but it came differently....

Since I only have a 250 W PSU which I cannot swap (thanks for that Fujitsu) I went for a GTX 1050 Ti and sent prayers to the low power gods that it still might work. End of story is, that I could not pass it through to the VM (I still don't know why) and therefore I had to bury this project before it even started...

[testdasi]

11 hours ago, TyantA said:

I'm running an RX 470 currently and while I'm not doing much with the VM atm (Plex as a client, for the most part) it's running fine. You should have no problems with a 580 provided your motherboard supports VT-d.

Hmmm not really. The RX 580 is notoriously difficult to pass through.

 

39 minutes ago, Coxeroni said:

Thanks for your reply, but it came differently....

Since I only have a 250 W PSU which I cannot swap (thanks for that Fujitsu) I went for a GTX 1050 Ti and sent prayers to the low power gods that it still might work. End of story is, that I could not pass it through to the VM (I still don't know why) and therefore I had to bury this project before it even started...

If I read the topic correctly, you haven't described what current Fujitsu hardware you have.

At 250W though, I doubt it can handle 2 GPU (or having an iGPU for Unraid to boot with). Passing through a primary / only GPU is generally not something that can be done with a prayer.

[Coxeroni]

True, I described the issue in more detail here:

It is a premade system from Fujitsu with a proprietary PSU, so I cannot upgrade it. The cherry on top was, that the iGPU got disabled as soon as I plugged in the 1050 Ti. So I was left there with only one GPU. Since the 1050 Ti should only consume 75 W at maximum, I was hoping to get it to work...

I thought about smacking in a 710 GT, but as you say this would have probably not worked due to the low-powered PSU, so I also discarded that option. In the end, I would have never known if the issue was driver/mainboard/passthrough related or if it was due to the underpowered PSU. But GPUs together (1050 Ti and GT 710) would have accounted for 75+35=110 W. Only 140 W left for the rest.... When the machine was idle, i registered around 40 W of energy consumption.

Edited January 20, 2020 by Coxeroni