CPu - What’s the best

[kaleme]

Hello everyone,
I'm looking to build a tower that runs h24.

It has to run VMs with :
- Windows 11
- Bluestack, an android emulator (virtualization within virtualization) that would run a small, not greedy game.

I need 6Go go ram and I don’t know about core /VM

The idea is to launch as many VMs as possible (at least 6 VMs, 10 would be better).
I don't know which processor to start with, but I could go as high as 450€.
I'm looking for a good VMs/price ratio.
If for 300€ I launch 6 VMs and 400€ → 7, I'd rather put 300€. But if for 300€ I run 3 and 450 8, I'd rather put 450.

I'm aware that we're not on a PC configuration site, but I imagine that by choosing my processor to work best with VirtualBox (and my goal), I'm in the right place.

For the record, I don't feel comfortable going for a double xeon kit etc., I'm more on an i5, i7, i9 r5, r7 and r9 logic.
Thank you and I wish you a very happy new year 2024.
Kr

[scottgus1]

Recent Xeons and AMDs have had some incompatibilities that the devs have worked or are working on. Some older Xeon or dual-Xeon from a few years ago may be more stable a platform.

Bluestacks inside a VM might be tricky. That's nested virtualization, and the CPU needs certain features to do nested virtualization well. For an Intel CPU, these features will show up in a Virtualbox log like this:

VMX - Virtual-Machine Extensions
Ept - Extended Page Tables
UnrestrictedGuest - Unrestricted guest
VmcsShadowing - VMCS shadowing

You'd want to see a "(1)" at the end of the log line for each of these features, then you'll probably be OK for nested virtualization. If...

If Bluestacks wasn't involved. Virtualbox does nested virtualization for Virtualbox inisde Virtualbox, or maybe KVM inside Virtualbox. Bluestacks inside Virtualbox might not work well or at all. You really need to find an Intel-CPU computer with all four features to try Bluestacks inside the VM before dropping cash for the big server.

Assuming Bluestacks works in a VM, core count & RAM are pretty much addition:

Allow maybe 4 processers per VM: two for 11, two more for Bluestacks within. You might get decent performance with two processors or three, you'll have to experiment. Final experimented processor count x number of VMs plus 2 more for host OS = number of host cores needed. Hyperthreading doesn't count: a 10-core hyperthreaded CPU is 10 cores for Virtualbox, not 20. Also, some CPUs have power & efficiency cores now, you want to avoid those if possible, so Virtualbox gets the most strength.

Each VM's regular RAM plus video RAM, added, plus 4GB for the host OS <= number of GB regular RAM on the host.

Video card RAM is not used for Virtualbox. The video RAM for the PC is provided by regular host RAM. 3D acceleration in the VM through Guest Additions may help, but the VM OS and Bluestacks won't see the host video card.

SSDs are a must. A spinning-platter drive can't handle more than two modern OS's running at a time.

I personally don't think you'll get anywhere near the capability you want for 300-400€. Toss a 2 or a 3 on the front, then you'll be in the range the war chest needs to be.

[kaleme]

Thank you for your comprehensive answer.
Aren't Intel's e-cores interesting? (8+8e often and +8 threads)?
We don't assign threads but cores, I didn't know.
So what do you recommend?

I'd like to build a configuration between 600 and 1100€ (max). Something with the best value for money so that I can run as many VMs as possible.

I was thinking that with a 450€ cpu (e.g. 7900) I'd be able to run more than a dozen VMs. If for 600€ I launch 2 and 1100€ I launch 3, you'll understand that I'd stick with the 600€ model!

I don't have the possibility to test all this in order to estimate the quantity I need, my MacBook Pro runs badly and prevents me from launching a vm and my girlfriend's computer the same...

If you agree to do the test, I'd be eternally grateful!
Kr

[scottgus1]

If you agree to do the test, I'd be eternally grateful!

I'd be eternally grateful to have the money and/or the hardware to do it!

I have no recommendations on which specific hardware to buy. You'll just have to do due diligence and as much research as you can. Ask around your area to find folks with higher-end PCs that would let you try Virtualbox on them, to check the log for those nested virtualization indicators and see if the nested Windows 11 Bluestacks can run. (You can make up a VM with Windows 11 and Bluestacks preinstalled, and stored on a USB 3 external SSD drive - not a thumb-drive, full SSD is needed - to make the test faster on your friends' PCs.)

FWIW there's no doubt that Virtualbox will run on just about any PC made since 2010, Intel or AMD, If the CPU is at least a couple years old. The newest CPUs may have a glitch that the devs might have to work on, maybe not. It's the Bluestacks requirement that is the real unknown.

You can always wait for any folks who have done this before to post here. But you may be waiting a while. Maybe a Bluestacks forum might help, if such exists.

[kaleme]

I'm rather surprised that with a 50k bench, you can only run 2-3 vms max.

I'd have to find someone who could try installing bluestacks on a VM running Windows to find out how much it consumes.

Should I prioritize a 7900 or a 13700?

Thank you very much!