Graphics performance of Windows 7 as a virtual machine with 780G

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andysh

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Master Geek

#44412 27-Oct-2009 13:42

Hey,

I am looking at using ECS A780GM-A which has got onboard 780G. Using the AMD 5050e. Looking to run a WHS and watch FreeViewHD

I am looking at running Windows7 MC on a virtual PC which is on a WHS. Now is it possible to get hardware acceleration on the virtual PC, would it be sufficient? Looking at past threads I see that people can watch freeview HD fine on the 780G.

Or would it be better to maybe get a cheaper mobo and a dedicated graphics card?

Any suggestions / help would be great!

[Moderator edit (MF): moved to correct forum]

Andysh

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#267234 27-Oct-2009 13:45

You won't get any hardware acceleration - or 3D performance - out of virtual graphics. Virtual Machines do not provide drivers for that.

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andysh

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#267384 27-Oct-2009 18:33

Would it be better to run the WHS in virtual PC instead then, or is that even possible?

Would use lights out or something similar to make the comp sleep when it is not in use.

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#267385 27-Oct-2009 18:34

WHS can be run in a virtual machine fine. The downside of doing this is that HDD management isn't quite as simple as it is running it on a dedicated machine.

andysh

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Master Geek

#267387 27-Oct-2009 18:40

Do you think Is it worth the hassle to try and combine the two machines into one?

P.S sorry about wrong forum before!

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#267389 27-Oct-2009 18:44

The strength of Windows Home Server is the easy drive management. By running it on a virtual machine (possible) you will make it hell on Earth. You will need to create virtual HD, which will be reserved space on your HDD. You can make those of dynamic size but performance will be hit.

Running Windows 7 on a virtual machine and expecting good graphics performance is not going to happen.

So you can do whatever but you won't have the best of both worlds - either one or another...

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andysh

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Master Geek

#267401 27-Oct-2009 19:00

Bugger, thought it may be like that. I have got all these old computers but they all seem to be lacking. None of them have pci-x and no sata ports, so looks like I have to build two comps.

Unless if there is a PCI graphics card out there that can handle FrewView HD?

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gbwelly

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#268809 31-Oct-2009 15:19

andysh: Bugger, thought it may be like that. I have got all these old computers but they all seem to be lacking. None of them have pci-x and no sata ports, so looks like I have to build two comps.

Unless if there is a PCI graphics card out there that can handle FrewView HD?

You could buy a cheap PCI gigabit NIC, a PCI SATA card, and a few 1TB drives and use an old computer for WHS. Or you could get a HD homerun, connect a virtualised Windows 7 media center to it, then use an Xbox 360 as an extender for presentation on your telly.

I would favour the 1st option for price performance, and really the set and forget backup of WHS is a killer feature, putting it all on the same box defeats the purpose.

PANiCnz

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Ultimate Geek

#268831 31-Oct-2009 17:02

Make sure you try WHS before you buy. Its a pretty painful home server solution. Really limits what the end user can do and forces you to do things the Microsoft way. I ran WHS for about a month before giving up and installing Ubuntu.

Why do you need two seperate OS's? All that WHS offers over W7 is harddrive management and automated backups, both of which can be obtained in W7 with third party apps.

Just install W7, install some harddrives and run Media Center.

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#268845 31-Oct-2009 17:47

You obviously are not the intended market for Windows Home Server. WHS is for home users who want an automated backup solution, strong media streaming and remote access to their content and PCs.

Can you do this with third party software? Yes you can, but you will need to install bits and pieces. Windows Home Server makes it a lot easier to just install and use it.

There isn't a "Microsoft way" there, there's a use case model and that's it. Not everyone can (or want) to install five different sofware, from different vendors, to achieve something simple as backup.

Did you install Ubuntu server? If you so, did you have a backup solution that could manage all PCs at home, allow restore of entire machines or just some files, stream media, allow remote access to content, allow remote management of PCs? No, there isn't.

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