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echineko · ‎06-25-2013

Hi guys,

Just wanted to know if anyone here knows whether the Maximus VI Extreme supports Intel virtualisation (VT-D)? I'm thinking of getting one, just want to make sure, I need this feature for work.

Thanks!

mark0409mr01 · ‎06-25-2013

Hi,

Officially Z87 chipset does not support VT-d you need a board that uses the Q87 chipset see below:

Z87
http://ark.intel.com/products/75013/Intel-DH82Z87-PCH

Q87
http://ark.intel.com/products/75007/Intel-DH82Q87-PCH

A suitable board should be something like below:

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Q87ME/

echineko · ‎06-25-2013

mark0409mr01 wrote:
Hi,

Officially Z87 chipset does not support VT-d you need a board that uses the Q87 chipset see below:

Z87
http://ark.intel.com/products/75013/Intel-DH82Z87-PCH

Q87
http://ark.intel.com/products/75007/Intel-DH82Q87-PCH

A suitable board should be something like below:

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Q87ME/

Well colour me disappointed 😕 I was really hoping to get a ROG board, looks like I'll have to pass. Cheers for the info anyway eh?

echineko · ‎06-25-2013

Looking around further (this admittedly sparse page) on Wikipedia, I found that there are some Z68 and Z77 boards that are listed as being supported, when they supposedly shouldn't.

I'm only interested in running a licensed copy of VMWare Workstation 9+ for work testing, can anyone here who has a Maximus VI Extreme and tried running VMWare on it get back to me? *crosses fingers*

Luridis · ‎06-25-2013

echineko wrote:
Looking around further (this admittedly sparse page) on Wikipedia, I found that there are some Z68 and Z77 boards that are listed as being supported, when they supposedly shouldn't.

I'm only interested in running a licensed copy of VMWare Workstation 9+ for work testing, can anyone here who has a Maximus VI Extreme and tried running VMWare on it get back to me? *crosses fingers*

I just did, look at the link to the Haswell 4770K, supports VT-x and VT-x with extended page tables. That's how your VM's can run code natively on the CPU. The chipset won't explicitly say it supports VT-x, and it doesn't have to. Those are handled by the Northbridge/MMU, which is part of the processor die now.

echineko · ‎06-25-2013

Luridis wrote:
I just did, look at the link to the Haswell 4770K, supports VT-x and VT-x with extended page tables. That's how your VM's can run code natively on the CPU.

My understanding (and feel free to step in if I'm wrong) is that I'd need both the CPU and the board to support virtualization to get my VMs running. That made me decide on the 4700, instead of the 4700K. Looks like you're saying I have the option to go with the 4700K as well if I'd like, correct?

However, as for the board, I'd always planned on the Maximus VI E, but it seems like the chipset wouldn't be compatible, and I'd not be able to run VMs no matter which CPU I end up going with?

Somehow the info available online doesnt seem very conclusive, that's why I was hoping someone who actually had a newly-built system on the Maximus VI E would help confirm

Luridis · ‎06-25-2013

echineko wrote:
My understanding (and feel free to step in if I'm wrong) is that I'd need both the CPU and the board to support virtualization to get my VMs running. That made me decide on the 4700, instead of the 4700K. Looks like you're saying I have the option to go with the 4700K as well if I'd like, correct?

However, as for the board, I'd always planned on the Maximus VI E, but it seems like the chipset wouldn't be compatible, and I'd not be able to run VMs no matter which CPU I end up going with?

Somehow the info available online doesnt seem very conclusive, that's why I was hoping someone who actually had a newly-built system on the Maximus VI E would help confirm

VT-d (the I/O) requires both to support. VT-x & EPT do not require chipset support because they're functions of the North Bridge, which is part of the CPU now. 10 years ago when we had 2 pieces per chipset this would be the case, not now.

echineko · ‎06-25-2013

Luridis wrote:
VT-d (the I/O) requires both to support. VT-x & EPT do not require chipset support because they're functions of the North Bridge, which is part of the CPU now. 10 years ago when we had 2 pieces per chipset this would be the case, not now.

Thanks for your help so far. Unless anyone steps in having tried to get VMs running on their Maximus VI E and failing, I think I'm set 🙂

Luridis · ‎06-25-2013

echineko wrote:
Looking around further (this admittedly sparse page) on Wikipedia, I found that there are some Z68 and Z77 boards that are listed as being supported, when they supposedly shouldn't.

I'm only interested in running a licensed copy of VMWare Workstation 9+ for work testing, can anyone here who has a Maximus VI Extreme and tried running VMWare on it get back to me? *crosses fingers*

I just did, look at the link to the Haswell 4770K, supports VT-x and VT-x with extended page tables. That's how your VM's can run code natively on the CPU.

Luridis · ‎06-25-2013

echineco,

I know how you feel, I'm a developer and enterprise management administrator. I run a lot of virtual machines on VMWare workstation 9, in addition to having my fun with nVidia and games. Keep in mind that VT-d is direct I/O virtualization only. Software based I/O connections still work. i.e. I can plug a USB in and have it recognized by the VM. The only place it really hurts is not being able to run XP + DirectX for older accelerated games. VT-d is also not perfect, when I've had it working there were still clicks and pops in the audio on machines that support it.

You should also keep in mind K-Series processors don't support VT-d themselves. So, if you're looking to overclock then you're out of luck. However, Z87 and K-Series both DO support VT-x and VT-x EPT so performance virtualization IS there. I've had 5 servers and 2 workstations, including SQL running on my Maximus IV and there's no visible difference between running them on bare metal boxes.

Maximus VI Extreme VT-D support