From ebfeee76356079d914e3c8a7fd25f2eb9628a7f4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Colleirose <167055039+colleirose@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2025 04:48:41 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] Add more information about GPU-accelerated tasks It is possible to run GPU-accelerated tasks on Qubes if you have one GPU for the Qube and another for dom0, but it comes with significant trade-offs. I added information about this. --- introduction/faq.md | 17 ++++++++--------- 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-) diff --git a/introduction/faq.md b/introduction/faq.md index 49ddeeb1..22bbf191 100644 --- a/introduction/faq.md +++ b/introduction/faq.md @@ -344,18 +344,17 @@ For the same general reasons as listed in [FAQ: Why do you use GitHub?](/faq/#wh Absolutely. -### Can I run applications, like games, which require hardware acceleration? +### Can I run applications, like games and video editors, which require hardware acceleration? -Those won’t fly. -We do not provide GPU virtualization for Qubes. -This is mostly a security decision, as implementing such a feature would most likely introduce a great deal of complexity into the GUI virtualization infrastructure. -However, Qubes does allow for the use of accelerated graphics (e.g. OpenGL) in dom0’s Window Manager, so all the fancy desktop effects should still work. -App qubes use a software-only (CPU-based) implementation of OpenGL, which may be good enough for basic games and applications. +This is possible, but not recommended. It's usually a better idea to have a separate device for GPU-intensive tasks, but if that's not possible for financial or other reasons, this can be done with significant effort and security trade-offs. -For further discussion about the potential for GPU passthrough on Xen/Qubes, please see the following threads: +Qubes does not implement GPU virtualization, so any GPU-based tasks will require giving a Qube full access to your GPU, so any security vulnerabilities in your GPU will be exploitable if the Qube is compromised. Furthermore, your system will need two GPUs - one to render the Qubes desktop, and one for your GPU-accelerated Qube. If you have an integrated graphics chip on your CPU, you can use the CPU graphics to render Qubes and the dedicated graphics for your GPU-accelerated Qube. -- [GPU passing to HVM](https://groups.google.com/group/qubes-devel/browse_frm/thread/31f1f2da39978573?scoring=d&q=GPU&) -- [Clarifications on GPU security](https://groups.google.com/group/qubes-devel/browse_frm/thread/31e2d8a47c8b4474?scoring=d&q=GPU&) +Also note that you will likely experience noticeably worse performance in video games unless you have a good CPU due to the hardening and virtualization features of Qubes. + +For instructions, see [Create a Gaming HVM](https://forum.qubes-os.org/t/create-a-gaming-hvm/19000) on the Qubes forums. + +There are plans to implement GPU virtualization in Qubes, but it will take a while before this is available. See [the GPU acceleration project on GitHub](https://github.com/orgs/QubesOS/projects/17/views/1) for more information. ### Is Qubes a multi-user system?