Greetings,
I’m new to virtualization… trying VMware Workstation v9 for my first experiments. Since I evaluate lots of software, I’m attracted by the promise of rapid and reliable trees of VM snapshots for alternative configurations (if, in fact, they turn out to be more rapid and reliable than dozens of Acronis True Image TIB files and the hassles of making and restoring them). Nothing fancy here… just one physical host workstation, but hundreds of applications, each with multiple versions.
I do realize that Windows Experience Index isn’t terribly sophisticated, but I’ve learned that it does correlate roughly with my own perceptions of performance, so that’s where I’m starting.
Host configuration: Dell XPS 8300, Intel 8-core i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40 GHz, 16 GB RAM, AMD Radeon 6870 (1 GB), OCZ Vertex 4 SSD (256 GB, firmware v1.5).
Guest configuration: 1 CPU, 8 cores, 8092 GB RAM, 3D acceleration enabled, latest VMware Tools. I am unaware of any other relevant guest parameters, which is probably why I’m having problems (see below).
Both host and guest run Windows 7 Professional / SP1 64-bit.
Most WEI scores are similar: CPU (7.6), RAM (7.6), Disk (7.7-7.9).
Graphics are not: Graphics (7.8 vs. 4.9-5.5), Gaming (7.8 vs. 6.0). Exclusive mode is no faster than full-screen.
Searching for optimizations, I stumbled across the suggestion to add:
svga.vramSize = "67108864"
in the .vmx file. Before I go thrashing around blindly, I’m hoping that you experts can advise whether that technique – or any others – are going to help. Or is this as good as it gets? Is the problem simply that modern graphic cards have yet to be virtualized on workstation platforms?
Thanks in advance for your assistance!
Regards,
M. Miller