Creating a mini-itx VM gaming rig

[Noego]

Hi!

 

I haven't used VM very much, but I want to start using it.

My idea is to create a mini-itx set up with the following parts:

https://dk.pcpartpicker.com/list/LJGq7T

+ a graphic card I have laying around. (Geforce GTX 560 Ti) 

 

But when I watch something like the 2 gamers, 1 cpu by Linus Tech Tips, I noticed that I should have an extra graphic card just for the UNRAID consol.

Is there any way around it? Because I can only have one graphic card on the mini-itx motherboard?

Will it be impossible to only hook this computer to a monitor and game on it? 

 

Best regards 

Noego

[Hoopster]

27 minutes ago, Noego said:

But when I watch something like the 2 gamers, 1 cpu by Linus Tech Tips, I noticed that I should have an extra graphic card just for the UNRAID consol

One option is to go with an Intel CPU that has a built-in iGPU (unRAID will use this if set to Primary in the BIOS) and have your Nvidia GPU in the x16 slot available to your VM 

 

However, assuming you prefer the Ryzen build, even if unRAID claims your GPU on boot, once the VM starts and takes control of it, unRAID no longer can use that GPU.  This does not matter too much because for console access you can always just use the Terminal functionality from the GUI or SSH/Telnet in from a PuTTY session, etc.  You will lose the console output to a monitor attached to the server, but, there are other ways to get to a console.

[Noego]

2 minutes ago, Hoopster said:

One option is to go with an Intel CPU that has a built-in iGPU (unRAID will use this if set to Primary in the BIOS) and have your Nvidia GPU in the x16 slot available to your VM 

 

However, assuming you prefer the Ryzen build, even if unRAID claims your GPU on boot, once the VM starts and takes control of it, unRAID no longer can use that GPU.  This does not matter too much because for console access you can always just use the Terminal functionality from the GUI or SSH/Telnet in from a PuTTY session, etc.  You will lose the console output to a monitor attached to the server, but, there are other ways to get to a console.

Hey Hoopster!

 

I have never used the console showing when it's directly plugged in, and mainly I am managing everything in the web-GUI from a Macbook laptop I have.

So does what you are saying mean, that I can boot unRAID and if the VM starts on boot, it will/can automatically change the output window to the VM? 

It's going to be in my living room, connected to my TV. So what I am trying to ask is, will I be able (with the current set I linked), be able to just boot unRAID and wait until the VM boots, and then the output on my screen will be the VM? 

Sorry if what I wrote is a mess 😅

 

[Hoopster]

3 minutes ago, Noego said:

It's going to be in my living room, connected to my TV. So what I am trying to ask is, will I be able (with the current set I linked), be able to just boot unRAID and wait until the VM boots, and then the output on my screen will be the VM? 

 

I am not a VM expert, but, yes, that is how I understand it works.  If the GPU has been passed through to a VM and that VM auto starts on boot, you will see the VM output to the monitor/TV attached to the GPU.

 

I you need unRAID console access, just start a Terminal session from the GUI on your Macbook.

[Noego]

3 minutes ago, Hoopster said:

I am not a VM expert, but, yes, that is how I understand it works.  If the GPU has been passed through to a VM and that VM auto starts on boot, you will see the VM output to the monitor/TV attached to the GPU.

 

I you need unRAID console access, just start a Terminal session from the GUI on your Macbook.

That would be amazing. So the key word is that I passthrough the GPU to the VM. I will try to see if I can find some more information on how to do it right! 😁

[testdasi]

15 hours ago, Noego said:

That would be amazing. So the key word is that I passthrough the GPU to the VM. I will try to see if I can find some more information on how to do it right! 😁

I would still recommend Intel with iGPU for gaming ITX build with a motherboard that allows you to boot with the iGPU instead of the dedicated GPU.

Having a GPU for Unraid to boot with, while not guaranteeing anything, does help a lot (e.g. a user I recently helped had success just by booting Unraid with the iGPU).

New users tend to struggle a lot trying to pass through with only 1 GPU and with an ITX build, you don't have the option to plug in a cheapo GPU as an easy way out.

[Noego]

Hey @testdasi!

What would the problems be, with not having a GPU for unRAID? Will I have problems booting, or will it just be that I can't access the console and Web-gui directly from my pc? 😁

[JonathanM]

2 hours ago, Noego said:

What would the problems be, with not having a GPU for unRAID?

If there are no GPU's at all, some motherboards don't boot. If there is a GPU present, the motherboard will claim it for the boot process, and unraid may have issues reassigning it for use other than unraid's console.

 

It's hardware specific whether and which issues you will have. If you have a specific goal in mind, find someone successfully doing what you want and copy their hardware list, down to the exact BIOS and firmware.

[Noego]

Ok. Does it make a difference whether it's an AMD or Nvidia GPU?

[testdasi]

1 hour ago, Noego said:

Ok. Does it make a difference whether it's an AMD or Nvidia GPU?

No, it doesn't - sort of.

You are trying to generalise which is highly imprecise when it comes to GPU pass through. Both brands have their problems.

• All Nvidia GTX / RTX graphic cards can have error code 43 if the Nvidia driver detects that it is being used in VM (that's how Nvidia tries to force users to fork out more money for a Quadro). Error code 43 is a generic "it's not working" error so it muddles the situation so you don't know if you configure things incorrectly or the card has failed or the aforementioned artificial error, etc.
• All AMD graphic cards can have reset issues which make it impossible to pass through and/or requires the whole server to reboot in order to reboot the VM. This is particularly prevalent with RX500, Vega and Navi (i.e. all the recent AMD GPUs).

 

Resolutions and workarounds center around these common fixes.

• Pass through all the devices of the graphic card together. E.g. RTX card has FOUR devices (GPU + HDMI Audio + 2 USB devices), typical other graphic cards will have TWO devices (GPU + HDMI Audio). This is one of the most frequently made new user errors.
• Having a GPU for Unraid to boot with ALWAYS HELPS - even more so than a vbios!
  • This is why I previously recommended you consider Intel offering with iGPU, especially for an ITX build for the reason I already mentioned.
  • The only success stories with AMD RX500 series on here involved booting Unraid with another GPU.
• Using a vbios can help both AMD and Nvidia but it's easy for new users to download / dump / edit incorrectly.
• AMD Vega and Navi are basically impossibilities without the vega / navi patches.
  • These patches are not included in Unraid by default because they mess up other otherwise working cards. So the only way to get them is to compile custom kernel. There's a forum member who compiled 6.8.3 with all the patches if you don't know how to compile them yourself.
• Miscellaneous fixes e.g.:
  • Hyper-V and KVM xml tags to deal with error code 43
  • Boot Unraid in legacy mode

 

 

[Noego]

59 minutes ago, testdasi said:

No, it doesn't - sort of.

You are trying to generalise which is highly imprecise when it comes to GPU pass through. Both brands have their problems.

• All Nvidia GTX / RTX graphic cards can have error code 43 if the Nvidia driver detects that it is being used in VM (that's how Nvidia tries to force users to fork out more money for a Quadro). Error code 43 is a generic "it's not working" error so it muddles the situation so you don't know if you configure things incorrectly or the card has failed or the aforementioned artificial error, etc.
• All AMD graphic cards can have reset issues which make it impossible to pass through and/or requires the whole server to reboot in order to reboot the VM. This is particularly prevalent with RX500, Vega and Navi (i.e. all the recent AMD GPUs).

 

Resolutions and workarounds center around these common fixes.

• Pass through all the devices of the graphic card together. E.g. RTX card has FOUR devices (GPU + HDMI Audio + 2 USB devices), typical other graphic cards will have TWO devices (GPU + HDMI Audio). This is one of the most frequently made new user errors.
• Having a GPU for Unraid to boot with ALWAYS HELPS - even more so than a vbios!
  • This is why I previously recommended you consider Intel offering with iGPU, especially for an ITX build for the reason I already mentioned.
  • The only success stories with AMD RX500 series on here involved booting Unraid with another GPU.
• Using a vbios can help both AMD and Nvidia but it's easy for new users to download / dump / edit incorrectly.
• AMD Vega and Navi are basically impossibilities without the vega / navi patches.
  • These patches are not included in Unraid by default because they mess up other otherwise working cards. So the only way to get them is to compile custom kernel. There's a forum member who compiled 6.8.3 with all the patches if you don't know how to compile them yourself.
• Miscellaneous fixes e.g.:
  • Hyper-V and KVM xml tags to deal with error code 43
  • Boot Unraid in legacy mode

 

 

Ok thanks! I will consider how to approach this. 
I have looked through a lot of post, but I can not seem to find anybody that have done the mini-itx as I was thinking. (Maybe I am using the wrong search-words).