POV: You Discover GPU Passthrough

Technology/Product/Guide Summary (GPU Passthrough POV)

Motivation / Use case

• The speaker was stuck using Windows because of Adobe workflows, specifically:
  • After Effects
  • Premiere Pro
• They tried alternatives like Kdenlive and DaVinci, but couldn’t match the “heavy GFX” workflow.
• Instead of dual-booting, they replaced it with Linux + a Windows VM using GPU passthrough—aiming to remove Windows from bare metal entirely.
• They also mentioned needing Windows for games that require kernel-level anti-cheat (e.g., Counter-Strike 2).

What GPU passthrough does

• GPU passthrough passes a physical GPU into a virtual machine, allowing performance “very close to native.”
• Common reasons given:
  • Run Windows-only games on Linux
  • Run potentially risky Windows software in a safer, isolated environment

Hardware/software setup described (virt-manager / QEMU)

• Virtualization stack:
  • virt-manager
  • QEMU
• GPU used:
  • An older GTX 1050-class card (the summary notes “GTX 1050” / “1050 Ti” in benchmark context)

BIOS requirement: enable IOMMU

• First critical step: enable IOMMU in BIOS.
• Common naming:
  • Intel: often VTD
  • AMD: often AMD-VI
  • Sometimes simply IOMMU
• Purpose: required for proper device assignment to VMs.

Identify the GPU devices

1. Boot into the host OS.
2. Run:
   • lspci -nn
3. Record the device IDs for the GPU, including both:
   • Video function
   • Audio function

Kernel/bootloader configuration (GRUB)

• Edit GRUB to bind the GPU to vfio-pci using the device IDs.
• Then run:
  • sudo update-grub
• Reboot.
• Note: if using a bootloader other than GRUB, they suggest looking up the equivalent steps (no details provided).

Verify vfio-pci is active

After reboot:

1. Run:
   • lspci -nn
2. Then run:
   • lspci -k -s <device_id>
3. Check the kernel driver in use:
   • If it’s vfio-pci, passthrough is working.
   • If it shows NVIDIA/AMD drivers, passthrough isn’t configured correctly.

Important limitation: single GPU vs native Linux

• The speaker warns you can’t pass a GPU through to a VM and still use it natively on Linux.
• With typical single GPU passthrough, you must choose:
  • GPU for Linux, or
  • GPU for the Windows VM
• Their needs/wants:
  • Linux-native gaming isn’t an option for them because they want Linux-native gaming capabilities, which they consider incompatible with single-GPU passthrough.

Display + input approach

• VM display:
  • Uses Spice (they explicitly mention not using VNC/other options in this demo).
  • Warning: a Spice/virtual display can look slow/disgusting compared to direct monitor output.
• Recommended for best performance:
  • Connect HDMI/DisplayPort directly to the passed-through GPU.

Input options:

• Pass through the mouse/keyboard (may stop working on Linux natively, depending on setup)
• Or use a second mouse/keyboard dedicated to the VM

Windows VM driver installation

• In Windows:
  1. Download and install NVIDIA drivers from the NVIDIA website
  2. The speaker notes the NVIDIA app caused an error, so they installed the drivers manually
  3. Reboot after installation
• Result: performance becomes stable after the driver installation and reboot.

Performance and outcomes

• Benchmarks:
  • Performance is reported as roughly consistent with a 1050 Ti
• Game example:
  • Counter-Strike: about ~90% of native performance
• Key success:
  • They regained the ability to use Premiere Pro + After Effects, solving their original reason for staying on Windows.
• Conclusion:
  • They’re able to “escape Windows” and plan to avoid using it on bare metal.

Future plans

• Upgrade the passthrough GPU to something faster—mentioned as before GTA 6—to run newer games through the VM.

Safety / “condom” joke

Closing advice: treat Windows as risky—use a virtual machine as the “condom.”

Main speakers/sources

• Single primary speaker: the “POV” narrator (channel host), describing their own setup using:
  • virt-manager
  • QEMU
• Referenced sources/tools:
  • virt-manager
  • QEMU
  • GRUB
  • NVIDIA driver website (for downloading GPU drivers)