Can any expert here recommend some hardware for me? I want to run 10-20 guests (android) to test a video server at the same time. The guest will play the video continuously.
Should I go with amd or intel? If I add a graphic card, will it improve the performance? Any recommendations? Thanks a lot.
hardware recommendations
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mpack
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- Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
- Primary OS: MS Windows 10
- VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
- Guest OSses: Mostly XP
Re: hardware recommendations
You understand that Android-x86 is not a supported guest, and Android-ARM won't run at all?
I would favor Intel over AMD. The host graphics card will not really help performance (no GAs == no way to access host GPU), video will be rendered in software so performance will be poor. RAM and CPU: you'll need rather a lot of both to run 20 guests simultaneously. The usual rule is one CPU core per VM, leaving at least one for the host. RAM allocation for Android can vary a lot, but pick a number and multiply by 30 - that's what you need in the host.
I would favor Intel over AMD. The host graphics card will not really help performance (no GAs == no way to access host GPU), video will be rendered in software so performance will be poor. RAM and CPU: you'll need rather a lot of both to run 20 guests simultaneously. The usual rule is one CPU core per VM, leaving at least one for the host. RAM allocation for Android can vary a lot, but pick a number and multiply by 30 - that's what you need in the host.
Re: hardware recommendations
A couple of other questions related to this topic:
[*]Intel i7 4770k - this is currently a popular CPU, but lacks support for Intel vt-d (directed IO). There is a range of opinions out there whether this really matters much for using with VirtualBox. Can anyone clarify how important this is or may become?
[*]Graphics - the new Intel i7's come with significantly improved onboard graphics. Would a dedicated graphic card translate into any improved graphic capabilities in Virtual Box guests? I am not a gamer, just looking for reasonable video performance in VB guests.
Thanks for any guidance!
[*]Intel i7 4770k - this is currently a popular CPU, but lacks support for Intel vt-d (directed IO). There is a range of opinions out there whether this really matters much for using with VirtualBox. Can anyone clarify how important this is or may become?
[*]Graphics - the new Intel i7's come with significantly improved onboard graphics. Would a dedicated graphic card translate into any improved graphic capabilities in Virtual Box guests? I am not a gamer, just looking for reasonable video performance in VB guests.
Thanks for any guidance!
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mpack
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 39134
- Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
- Primary OS: MS Windows 10
- VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
- Guest OSses: Mostly XP
Re: hardware recommendations
Lack of VT-d is not a show stopper IMHO - I don't know of anyone successfully using it.
As to graphics performance, I imagine you didn't notice that this thread is specifically about an Android guest. Supported guest OS types have GAs which means better graphics performance - but Android is not a supported guest OS.
VirtualBox is an application running on the host. If you buy a fancy-doody graphics card then VirtualBox will in general benefit just like any other host app. However guest apps will only benefit in general - they can't access host hardware directly (that being a working definition of "VM").
As to graphics performance, I imagine you didn't notice that this thread is specifically about an Android guest. Supported guest OS types have GAs which means better graphics performance - but Android is not a supported guest OS.
VirtualBox is an application running on the host. If you buy a fancy-doody graphics card then VirtualBox will in general benefit just like any other host app. However guest apps will only benefit in general - they can't access host hardware directly (that being a working definition of "VM").