2
It seems that one disadvantage of Intel i3 processors versus their more capable i5 and i7 brothers is the consistent lack of VT-d support. I understand the basics of IOMMU hardware and how it would benefit people that want their virtual machines to access their hardware directly.
What I am wondering is whether VT-d has any other uses besides that. Could it benefit in any way a user that is content letting their host OS handle the hardware? For example, is there any hypervisor that uses VT-d e.g. to speed-up paravirtualized devices somehow? Or, say, to run nested guests?
Note: I am not asking for either speculation or shopping advice - just concrete information, if possible...
1The K series core i5 and i7 lack this as well, for some reason. – Journeyman Geek – 2012-06-29T00:22:26.257