Using Hyper-V for a high-end desktop computer
I often get asked what my recommendation is for a high-end desktop computer for the virtualization enthusiast. The root problem that causes this question is the well noted issues with Hyper-V and high-end video cards. Thankfully – this can now be a problem of the past.
With Windows Server 2008 R2 we added support for processors that have second level address translation (Intel EPT or AMD RVI). On these systems everything “just works”.
Something that I can now attest to.
As an avid virtualization junkie and a gamer – I have been frustrated by the Hyper-V graphics issue, and dealt with it using a separate Hyper-V server for virtualization at home. But in October last year I decided that it was time to update my desktop computer. I now have a computer with an Intel Core i7x980 (with EPT – as all Core i7 processors do have) and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480.
I have Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 installed on this system – and it does everything that I need it to. It is always running at least three virtual machines under Hyper-V (and often times – many more than that). It is almost always playing media (I like to have TV playing in the background while I work – at the moment I have Mythbusters playing on a side monitor).
It has also proved its metal as a gaming system – as I have been able to happily play many games – including:
- Fallout 3
- Blur
- Torchlight
- Civilization V
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
- Street Fighter IV
And most of these have run perfectly at their highest settings.
An interesting thing to note here is that when I tried to use Windows Server 2008 as a desktop computer there were a lot of games that would not run, and needed a lot of tweaking. With Windows Server 2008 R2 most of my games have “just worked”.
In fact – the only notable things that I needed to do to make this work well as a desktop was to install XBMC as an alternative media center (so I could watch movies in the background).
Cheers,
Ben
Comments
Anonymous
January 17, 2011
I didn't know about that issue on Hyper-V and that makes me ask this question: How is that issue going to impact virtualization servers with Hyper-V that use Xeon processors that doesn't have the MMU when they'll be using the RemoteFX technology? And how that already impact on Xeon 5500 and superior processors that have that MMU? Cheers, AkumaAnonymous
January 17, 2011
Hi Akuma, RemoteFX requires that your processor has SLAT support. If you try to use it on a system without SLAT support we will not let the virtual machine turn on at all. Cheers, BenAnonymous
January 17, 2011
Is there any way to run Window Media Center on 2008 R2? Specifically I'm interested in support for Cablecard tuners like is available on Windows 7.Anonymous
January 17, 2011
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January 17, 2011
Running multiple screens it is the biggest problem for me to run windows server hyper-v on my dev machine, since Windows Server 2008 R2 doesn't support multiple screens. In addition, it seems impossible to get the screen resolution that I want to work with: 1920x1080. (I installed the ATI drivers).Anonymous
January 18, 2011
Ben Whats the rest of the spec of your PC? Sounds like a tempting project! ThanksAnonymous
January 18, 2011
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January 18, 2011
On Windows 7/Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1: Right now the only way the public can get the RTM is using torrents. Why is it taking so long to officially release when Sandy Bridge already came out with AVX that requires SP1 to use, and Hyper-V on Sandy Bridge also requiring it?Anonymous
January 18, 2011
Andrew Fidel - Not that I have been able to figure out Tharen - I have 4 monitors, two of them in portrait mode, being driven by two NVIDIA cards. And yes - USB redirection does work with RemoteFX. Itzik - I have three of my monitors running at 1920x1200 - but I am using NVIDIA. VMWareGuy - Intel Core i7x980, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480, 12GB RAM and 256GB SSD (plus spinning media for virtual machines). It is very nice :-) yuhong2 - I cannot comment on that. Cheers, BenAnonymous
January 19, 2011
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January 20, 2011
My question now would be is there really any reason to not run Hyper-V as the main operating system for day to day use?Anonymous
January 20, 2011
My question now would be is there really any reason to not run Hyper-V as the main operating system for day to day use?Anonymous
February 21, 2011
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July 04, 2011
How do you deal with mouse issues with running a 3d intensive applications such as a game or AutoCAD? When we run a game or AutoCAD with our setup the mouse is lagged inside AutoCAD and the mouse is really weird inside first person shooters.Anonymous
December 02, 2011
I'm running Windows 2008 R2 server enterprise on a Dell T110 power edge server with a quad core xeon and 16gb ram running hyper-V as it's primary role. The server has an ATI 5450 pci-e video card installed and I am running dual monitors. No sound card installed yet (hope to get one soon). I have two VMs going. One Win 2008 R2 server enterprise guest OS, and one windows 7 guest OS. I was contemplating installing and playing some games on the Win 7 guest OS. Specifically some FPS games. I read that this may not be possible because Hyper-V does not support Direct X in the guest OS. Am I dreaming?Anonymous
June 23, 2013
Hi Ben, i must say that enabling Client Hyper-V reduce the hosts gaming performance in Windows 8. And Windows 8 use the same Hyper-V like Windows Server 2008 right ? So maybe we could play some older DirektX 9 Games in a brake and than go further working with our VM´s but with Games like Assasins Creed III or BF3 this wont work. WIth Hyper-V installed the utilization of the GPU drop from 99% to 60% - no matterif using AMD or NVidia.Anonymous
July 12, 2013
why are you holding me in tax pools? do i need to be dr leddy again? its a church.....Anonymous
June 15, 2015
I have found all manor of problems with Hyper-V enabled and games