OK, I finally managed to get back to this. Thanks to the following post I was able to get the VM to boot:
*I basically added “kvm.ignore_msrs=1” to my grub parameters and got it to work.
https://patchwork.kernel.org/patch/42605/
I then followed the CPU tune setup from Wendell’s guide:
The next step was to install the VFIO drivers. The approach I took to this was to just create a disk image set as VFIO, with the VFIO ISO connected on my virtual cdrom. Installed VFIO drivers through device manager, shutdown VM then delete the disk image I just created. I then changed my 2 pass-through HDDS from SATA to VFIO and then booted the VM without issues. I had read about this method some time back on a forum but unfortunately I cannot recall where the post came from.
*Just something to note when referring to the first link, I did upgrade my Windows version to 1806 before attempting the duel boot. Windows had installed as MBR by default and I needed to use mbr2gpt to convert the install to GPT or basically reinstall Windows 10 with boot mode set to UEFI only. Mbr2GPT was only available from 1806 I believe. I don’t know if it would have worked on the earlier version of windows without the MSRs option.
<domain type='kvm'>
<name>win10</name>
<uuid>9639211b-8cd4-4418-bfd9-eb5ee187c0db</uuid>
<memory unit='KiB'>8388608</memory>
<currentMemory unit='KiB'>8388608</currentMemory>
<vcpu placement='static'>8</vcpu>
<iothreads>4</iothreads>
<cputune>
<vcpupin vcpu='0' cpuset='0'/>
<vcpupin vcpu='1' cpuset='1'/>
<vcpupin vcpu='2' cpuset='2'/>
<vcpupin vcpu='3' cpuset='3'/>
<vcpupin vcpu='4' cpuset='4'/>
<vcpupin vcpu='5' cpuset='5'/>
<vcpupin vcpu='6' cpuset='6'/>
<vcpupin vcpu='7' cpuset='7'/>
<iothreadpin iothread='1' cpuset='0-1'/>
<iothreadpin iothread='2' cpuset='2-3'/>
<iothreadpin iothread='3' cpuset='4-5'/>
<iothreadpin iothread='4' cpuset='6-7'/>
</cputune>
<os>
<type arch='x86_64' machine='pc-q35-2.12'>hvm</type>
<loader readonly='yes' type='pflash'>/usr/share/OVMF/OVMF_CODE.fd</loader>
<nvram>/var/lib/libvirt/qemu/nvram/win10_VARS.fd</nvram>
<boot dev='hd'/>
</os>
<features>
<acpi/>
<apic/>
<hyperv>
<relaxed state='on'/>
<vapic state='on'/>
<spinlocks state='on' retries='8191'/>
</hyperv>
<vmport state='off'/>
</features>
<cpu mode='host-passthrough' check='none'>
<topology sockets='1' cores='4' threads='2'/>
</cpu>
<clock offset='localtime'>
<timer name='rtc' tickpolicy='catchup'/>
<timer name='pit' tickpolicy='delay'/>
<timer name='hpet' present='no'/>
<timer name='hypervclock' present='yes'/>
</clock>
<on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
<on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
<on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
<pm>
<suspend-to-mem enabled='no'/>
<suspend-to-disk enabled='no'/>
</pm>
<devices>
<emulator>/usr/bin/kvm-spice</emulator>
<disk type='file' device='cdrom'>
<driver name='qemu' type='raw'/>
<source file='/mnt/141092881092710A/ISOs/virtio-win-0.1.126.iso'/>
<target dev='sda' bus='sata'/>
<readonly/>
<address type='drive' controller='0' bus='0' target='0' unit='0'/>
</disk>
<disk type='block' device='disk'>
<driver name='qemu' type='raw' cache='none' io='native'/>
<source dev='/dev/sdd'/>
<target dev='vda' bus='virtio'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x06' slot='0x00' function='0x0'/>
</disk>
<disk type='block' device='disk'>
<driver name='qemu' type='raw' cache='none' io='native'/>
<source dev='/dev/sde'/>
<target dev='vdb' bus='virtio'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x07' slot='0x00' function='0x0'/>
</disk>
<controller type='usb' index='0' model='ich9-ehci1'>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x1d' function='0x7'/>
</controller>
<controller type='usb' index='0' model='ich9-uhci1'>
<master startport='0'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x1d' function='0x0' multifunction='on'/>
</controller>
<controller type='usb' index='0' model='ich9-uhci2'>
<master startport='2'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x1d' function='0x1'/>
</controller>
<controller type='usb' index='0' model='ich9-uhci3'>
<master startport='4'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x1d' function='0x2'/>
</controller>
<controller type='sata' index='0'>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x1f' function='0x2'/>
</controller>
<controller type='pci' index='0' model='pcie-root'/>
<controller type='pci' index='1' model='pcie-root-port'>
<model name='pcie-root-port'/>
<target chassis='1' port='0x8'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x0' multifunction='on'/>
</controller>
<controller type='pci' index='2' model='pcie-to-pci-bridge'>
<model name='pcie-pci-bridge'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x01' slot='0x00' function='0x0'/>
</controller>
<controller type='pci' index='3' model='pcie-root-port'>
<model name='pcie-root-port'/>
<target chassis='3' port='0x9'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x1'/>
</controller>
<controller type='pci' index='4' model='pcie-root-port'>
<model name='pcie-root-port'/>
<target chassis='4' port='0xa'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x2'/>
</controller>
<controller type='pci' index='5' model='pcie-root-port'>
<model name='pcie-root-port'/>
<target chassis='5' port='0xb'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x3'/>
</controller>
<controller type='pci' index='6' model='pcie-root-port'>
<model name='pcie-root-port'/>
<target chassis='6' port='0xc'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x4'/>
</controller>
<controller type='pci' index='7' model='pcie-root-port'>
<model name='pcie-root-port'/>
<target chassis='7' port='0xd'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x5'/>
</controller>
<interface type='network'>
<mac address='52:54:00:f0:c0:10'/>
<source network='default'/>
<model type='rtl8139'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x02' slot='0x01' function='0x0'/>
</interface>
<input type='mouse' bus='ps2'/>
<input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'/>
<hostdev mode='subsystem' type='pci' managed='yes'>
<source>
<address domain='0x0000' bus='0x2e' slot='0x00' function='0x0'/>
</source>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x03' slot='0x00' function='0x0'/>
</hostdev>
<hostdev mode='subsystem' type='pci' managed='yes'>
<source>
<address domain='0x0000' bus='0x2e' slot='0x00' function='0x1'/>
</source>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x04' slot='0x00' function='0x0'/>
</hostdev>
<hostdev mode='subsystem' type='usb' managed='yes'>
<source>
<vendor id='0x046d'/>
<product id='0xc52b'/>
</source>
<address type='usb' bus='0' port='1'/>
</hostdev>
<memballoon model='virtio'>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x05' slot='0x00' function='0x0'/>
</memballoon>
</devices>
</domain>