Can you do a GPU pass through with an external graphics card?

My ultimate goal

Have a Linux laptop running a Windows virtual machine that uses the full potential of an external graphics card. The Linux machine would run normally on the laptop screen and the virtual machine would use the external graphics card to output directly onto an external monitor or TV, just like you would with a PCIe pass through on VT-d capable hardware.

Question and followups

Can you do this with an external GPU? Do you need VT-d capable CPU and Motherboard just like the PCIe pass through? Would it be the fully potential of the card or would the pass through eat up some potential?

Pluc

Posted 2017-01-25T20:32:44.300

Reputation: 111

Answers

Check out https://davidyat.es/2016/09/08/gpu-passthrough/ the Author wanted the same setup and managed to achieve it.

You DO need a VT-d capable CPU and Motherboard. I'm not sure about the capability since I'm just trying to set this up myself and haven't yet succeeded, but I would expect to get the full potential of the card.

Jesse the Wind Wanderer

Posted 2017-01-25T20:32:44.300

Reputation: 121

1I am already aware of how to do this with an internal GPU. My concerned is how this would work with an external GPU, which this article does not tackle. – Pluc – 2017-08-14T14:45:25.243