High Performance VPC for Kids & Games

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Davy Crockett - 20 Oct 2007 13:25 GMT

I have two computers with intel dual core processors (one Pentium D, one
Pentium Quad Core Extreme) and each has as great video card (ATI 1900XTX and
NVidia 8800 GTX). One computer is the family computer and the other is my
toy for home recording, gaming, playing around with different OSs, etc.

On the family computer (Pentium D, ATI 1900XTX), I'm thinking of using VPC
for the kids so they can't mess anything up on the host. So my primary
questions related to the family computer are:

1) Can the host system be Windows XP/Vista 64-bit to get the most
performance out of the multi-core processor and RAM?
2) If I run a guest system as Windows XP Pro 32-bit, then does this guest
system get any performance boost by running on a 64-bit host?
3) Can the VPC guest system take advantage of the decent video card on the
host?
4) Can I force VPC to load a kid's guest system when the log in to the host
and/or make it impossible for them to do anything to the host other than log
on and run their VPC (kind of like a kiosk in a public place)?
5) Does VMWare (sp?) provide any better features for squeezing performance
out of the host?

On my "toy" computer (Quad Core Extreme, 8800 GTX, 3 Wester Digital 150GB
Raptors in Raid0:

1) Will guest systems be able to utilize all of the hardware performance for
which I've invested (i.e. paid dearly)?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Regards,
Davy Crockett

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Robert Comer - 20 Oct 2007 14:16 GMT

1) If you have more than 4G of RAM, yes, otherwise the performance
isn't going to be all that different.

2) No, not really.

3) That's definitely a no. VPC emulates an S3 Trio, and that's all
you get. No direct3d.

4) You can force it to load the VM, but that's it, you can't lock out
the Host OS.

5) A bit better video performance with some experimental like
advanced video card features. It doesn't work that well, and
certainly not as well as what the host would do running the same game.
VMWare also has USB if you need it, and VPC does not.

It all depends on what you are running in the VM, but VMWare generally
has a *little* better guest performance, but at the cost of host
performance. For normal work type stuff, I prefer VPC because it
doesn't bog the host as much, but I think you're talking a whole
different set of tasks.

Second 1) No, VPC can only use 1 of your cores and, of course, the
video card doesn't pass through like that. VMWare can use more cores,
but not many games actually use more than one anyway. On good thing
is that you could run a VM at pretty much full speed without hardly
even affecting the host.

Signature

Bob Comer <Microsoft MVP Windows - Virtual Machine>

>I have two computers with intel dual core processors (one Pentium D, one
>Pentium Quad Core Extreme) and each has as great video card (ATI 1900XTX and
[quoted text clipped - 27 lines]
>Regards,
>Davy Crockett

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Sylvain Lafontaine - 20 Oct 2007 17:25 GMT

Your kids want to play, so forget about VPC and/or VMWare (unless they are
very young and that you want them to play with old games that don't require
any kind of modern performance). Same for you and all the hardware
performance for which you've invested your dairly money.

If you want to protect your systems from/for the kids; the only way is to
make backups and have a decent anti-viruses firewall protection. BTW, this
is also good for you.

For the kids, using multi-boots and things like SVS from Altiris Juice
(http://juice.altiris.com/node/86) can help; however, nothing will replace a
good backup.

Signature

Sylvain Lafontaine, ing.
MVP - Technologies Virtual-PC
E-mail: sylvain aei ca (fill the blanks, no spam please)

>I have two computers with intel dual core processors (one Pentium D, one
> Pentium Quad Core Extreme) and each has as great video card (ATI 1900XTX
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
> Regards,
> Davy Crockett

Reply to this Message

Benjamin Armstrong [MSFT] - 21 Oct 2007 00:35 GMT

Check out Windows SteadyState:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/default.mspx

This is what I use on my kids computer.

Cheers,
Benjamin Armstrong
============================
Windows Virtualization Program Manager
Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/Virtual_PC_Guy
Book: http://tinyurl.com/ysxcbm

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights. You assume all risk for your use.

> I have two computers with intel dual core processors (one Pentium D, one
> Pentium Quad Core Extreme) and each has as great video card (ATI 1900XTX and
[quoted text clipped - 27 lines]
> Regards,
> Davy Crockett

Reply to this Message

Computer & Sound System Tech - 21 Oct 2007 05:10 GMT

windows steady state sux it's only for xp, when are they making it for vista

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Licensed Boating Capt. Jonathan Perreault
http://www.AllAboutGames.BraveHost.com
- note: click continue, when it ask about security certificate -

Best Comments From Users:
Vista is satan's way to bring hell to earth. -Me

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely
foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. -Web

No Matter The Problem Even With Linux, It's Microsoft's And Windows's
Faults -Everyone

> Check out Windows SteadyState:
> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/default.mspx
[quoted text clipped - 43 lines]
>> Regards,
>> Davy Crockett

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David B. - 29 Oct 2007 19:59 GMT

If it sucks why are you worried about Vista compatibility?

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> windows steady state sux it's only for xp, when are they making it for
> vista
[quoted text clipped - 46 lines]
>>> Regards,
>>> Davy Crockett

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