[SOLVED] Help With Windows10 VM Stuttering Games

[Shadow_Guo]

Good evening guys. This is the first time I post a thread here, please be a little lenient to, thanks!

I recently set up a homelab Proxmox 7.4-3 server for study use and gaming, and here is the hardware:

• CPU: i5-12400
• GPU: ZOTAC rtx3060ti
• Mother Board: ASUA b660m-k
• Ram: Sumsung DDR4 8g 3200hz x2
• SSD: 1TB Samsung SATA x2

I set up Windows 10 vm following this guide: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to GPU Passthrough, the windows desktop worked all right, no lagging or input latency under remote desktop. However, as soon I tested games like The Darkest Dungeon, Baldur's Gate 3, and Terraria, I experienced a significant stuttering and lag. Expecially Terraria, the input latency was about 2 seconds, accompanied by tearing and lagging.
I've tried different methods in other threads like changing bus type, blindly trying different combinations of config files, and unplugging GPU. So far I only know that the problem isn't with the gpu, with or without it, the lagging remains. I really don't know what else I can do.

Here is my grub:

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_TIMEOUT=5
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet intel_iommu=on iommu=pt video=vesafb:off,efifb:off"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

My VM config file:

agent: 1
args: -cpu 'host,+kvm_pv_unhalt,+kvm_pv_eoi,hv_vendor_id=NV43FIX,kvm=off'
bios: ovmf
cores: 5
cpu: host,hidden=1,flags=+pcid
efidisk0: Windows:base-241571-disk-0,efitype=4m,pre-enrolled-keys=1,size=4M
hostpci0: 01:00,pcie=1,romfile=rtx3060ti.rom
ide2: local:iso/Win10_22H2_English_x64v1.iso,media=cdrom,size=5997046K
machine: q35
memory: 14336
meta: creation-qemu=7.2.0,ctime=1702522533
name: Lan
net0: virtio=9A:DA:F8:02:6C:33,bridge=vmbr0,firewall=1
numa: 0
ostype: win10
scsi0: Windows:base-241571-disk-1,backup=0,cache=writeback,iothread=1,replicate=0,size=300G,ssd=1
scsihw: virtio-scsi-single
smbios1: uuid=2b267285-6e8a-456d-a0f4-e7fd337f907a
sockets: 1
template: 1
vga: std
vmgenid: e03732c7-261d-460c-bec7-641720497d90

(I converted it to a template for testing. )

I've added drivers to blacklist, IOMMU interrupt remapped, added GPU to VFIO according to the Ultimate Beginner's Guide.
To this point, I'm pretty much desperate, any suggestions is appreciated, thank you.

 

[cwt]

You‘re sure about the total RAM of 8GB in your system? That can‘t work smoothly. And you comitted 14GB to your VM - nearly double the amount of total RAM.

Beside that with only one consumer SSD both for Proxmox and VMs I wouldn‘t even run a simple desktop OS on this.

Edit: overlooked 2x8GB. I think the stuttering results from the single SSD which is used for both systems.

 

[Shadow_Guo]

You‘re sure about the total RAM of 8GB in your system? That can‘t work smoothly. And you comitted 14GB to your VM - nearly double the amount of total RAM.

Beside that with only one consumer SSD both for Proxmox and VMs I wouldn‘t even run a simple desktop OS on this.

Edit: overlooked 2x8GB. I think the stuttering results from the single SSD which is used for both systems.

Sorry, I forgot to put that I also have a M.2 ssd. My proxmox is installed in M.2, and windows in SATA.

 

[Shadow_Guo]

For anyone who has met similar problem:
Try Parsec instead of Remote Desktop. The stuttering was signifcantly decreased after I switch to Parsec instead of RD. If you don't want to have RD open while using Parsec, install VB-Cable and Amyuni virtual desktop on your vm.

 

[Shadow_Guo]

One more thing, the core count of proxmox is thread instead of cores. I have 6 core 12 thread, so the cpu count in proxmox is 12 instead of 6. I had been runing vm with only half of the cpu the whole time...

 

[leesteken]

One more thing, the core count of proxmox is thread instead of cores. I have 6 core 12 thread, so the cpu count in proxmox is 12 instead of 6. I had been runing vm with only half of the cpu the whole time...

Not using all cores often works better because you are never at 100% and therefore CPU usage from Proxmox and virtualization overhead (network, disk, etc.) or other VMs then don't cause stutter.