VFIO Desktop
WIP
^^^ Wanted to publish something to test Hugo workflow
I feel rather proud about my setup albeit dated. Sure, I’d love to update to a latest generation Ryzen or perhaps Alder Lake with 3080 but the shortages and price gouging continue to this day. It’s really just the 3080 that’s holding me back - I could procure a new machine but I want to create an entirely new build and pass on the old to another gamer - or maybe just build something much lighter on resources, a topic for another post.
Why am I proud about my setup? I struggled with dual booting for a long time. I enjoy games and enjoy the Linux desktop environment for just about everything else. I tried virtualizing my Linux side but it just never felt sanppy with a GPU. I’ve tried WSL and it’s fantastic for most usages. I really wanted that native desktop feel for both Windows and Linux. My plans paid off when I eventually upgraded to a higher refresh rate monitor.
My desktop is built around VFIO. The host operating system is Arch. Windows runs is a slightly optimized VM with GPU passthrough. Everything is funneled to my display via a sweet KVM. I can easily switch between Linux and Windows with a keyboard shortcut and have near native performance at all times.
Starting with the right hardware is the most important part.
Hardware
KVM - https://store.level1techs.com/products/14-kvm-switch-single-monitor-2computer
https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty%20Z370%20Gaming%20K6/
1070ti https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_10_series