2020 GPU passthrough build

To make things easier around here just include some extra info so we can tailor you better.

OK so I have AMD FX-6300, ASUS M5A97, tried GPU passthrough with GTX 1050 and was able to get into a game but the mouse was not cooperating. I was using barrier for mouse/kb sharing. Anyway I wasn’t able to get it sorted and rage quit.

It’s tax season and I am able to build a new PC. I use Linux daily and when the game I was playing with friends dropped Linux support (Rust), so I bought another ssd and installed Windows on it to be able to continue playing with my friends. I haven’t played Rust in over 4 months because I hate rebooting into windows.

I want to build a new PC specifically for being able to have a Windows VM I can play my steam games in. With that said…

  • Budget. How much are you willing to spend?
    $1500
  • Where do you live (what country, don’t post specific details), and what currency do you use?
    US USD$
  • Is there a retailer you prefer?
    Nope
  • Do you need or already have peripherals? (this can add to costs)
    I have monitor, kb, mouse, headphones, etc.
  • What will you be using your Glorious computer for? Gaming? Rendering? Mix of both? Or is this a home media PC or Steam Box?
    I will be using as my daily driver, and gaming in a Windows vm
  • Do you overclock or want to get into overclocking?
    NO
  • Do you plan on going for custom water-cooling now, or in the future?
    I plan on getting one of the closed loop pre-built water coolers
  • Operating System. Do you need a new one?
    NO

If you Game-

  • What kind of settings do you like or what FPS do you want to play at?
    As long as it’s playable.
  • What resolution will you be playing at? //or would like to play at.
    1920x1080
  • What kind of games do you like to play?
    FPS survival, CS:GO, Rust, 7 Days to Die, etc.
  • What specific game will you be playing (if you really only play one)
    CS:GO, Rust, 7 Days to Die, etc.

If you Render or Edit things-
Nope

So I have two pcpartpicker lists and I’m wondering if anyone knows of any issues with either list, if these will work for my use case (IOMMU groups). Any suggestions, warnings, etc.

pcpartpicker[DOT]com/list/bvxH8M

AND

pcpartpicker[DOT]com/list/NnZvq3

Sorry for the URLs, I can’t post links.

Thanks all,
-BB

Solid budget, we can definitely work with this.

The CPU is the biggest question here. I don’t think you really need more than 8 cores, but it’s your choice.

With the 1920x build, you’re selecting obsolete hardware and spending half your budget on it. I’d highly recommend against it, unless you specifically need quad channel memory or tons of PCIe lanes.

Now, let’s talk my recommendations. Here’s my list:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qcJRwh

Note that I’ve chosen a GT1030 for your Linux GPU. This GPU will be used only for your Linux machine, and it’ll be able to handle watching videos and playing low-end games.

I’ve chosen the 3800x because this thing’s great. It’s faster than the 1920x and cheaper too. (when you count the full cost of CPU+mobo)

I’ve chosen the Mugen 5 because it’s a solid air cooler and despite being an 8 core CPU, the 3800x is only a 105w CPU. Now, I saw that you chose liquid cooling for yours. I personally disagree with AIO liquid coolers, after having 3 of em. They’re big, unreliable, difficult to work with and don’t actually provide increased cooling capacity. If you want to go watercooling, go custom loop.

Now, the motherboard is what I consider to be the most important one. You need a board that works with your system and it gives you at least 2 16x physical slots that are capable of running at at least x8/x8 electrically when they’re both populated. The Aorus Pro Wifi is. It’s a fair bit more expensive, but I’ve seen x570 boards up to $350. (and don’t even get me started on threadripper boards)

Regarding the rest of the build, I chose 16GB dimms because you will probably want to upgrade at some point, trust me, I did. I went SeaSonic because I know and trust them. If you want to choose something else, go for it.

For Passthrough GPU, I’m going to recommend the 2060 (or the 1070/1080 if you can find a deal):

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/QNn8TW/msi-geforce-rtx-2060-6-gb-ventus-xs-oc-video-card-geforce-rtx-2060-ventus-xs-6g-oc

Let’s talk about why nvidia?

Nvidia GPUs are easiest to work with in passthrough. AMD GPUs suffer from what’s called the “reset bug” and it makes them very difficult to work with. Essentially, when a computer (or VM) is turned on, the GPU needs to be in a certain state. AMD is trusting the motherboard to power off the GPU to get it into that state, but that’s not the case with VMs, so they are left in a “dirty” state on a reboot of the VM. This causes them to fail to work.

The obvious workaround here is to reboot your physical machine when you want to reboot the VM, but that more or less eliminates the entire purpose of the VM, in my opinion.

Now, why did I choose the gt1030 when it’s running on Linux? Well, that’s because while AMD works fine in Linux, the drivers are still “second class citizens” from AMD’s perspective and I prefer running Nvidia GPUs even if it means using their proprietary drivers. Also, Nvidia GPUs can have the drivers unbound from them (and consequently rebound) so that if you’re working with the gpus, you have more flexibility.

So I’d snag whatever Nvidia GPU that tickles your fancy and fits snugly in that $300 hole I left in your budget.

All in all, this should just barely squeak into your $1500 budget. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know.

Hope this helps!

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