Score:2

Does virtualization improves gaming or dual boot performance?

ua flag

In my laptop's BIOS menu there is an option named Intel (R) Virtualization Technology which can be enabled/disabled by the user.

BIOS Intel (r) Virtualization Technology option

Does this feature has any performance effects on dual booting Windows and Linux? What about gaming performance?

sudodus avatar
jp flag
No, if I understand correctly, virtualization means another layer of abstraction between the software and the hardware, and it will make things slower, more or less, because it needs some 'computing power' (in some cases not much slower, but it cannot make things faster). - Enabling virtualization in that menu will make it work better to run virtual machines (compared to having it disabled), but running a program on bare metal should be faster anyway.
ChanganAuto avatar
us flag
Unless you need to run virtual machines leave it disabled. It has nothing to do with dual-booting or running software including games, it is necessary only for better support/performance ONLY for virtualization. The comment above above by @sudodus already explains what it is but if there's any negative impact of having it enabled I haven't noticed it yet (I usually enable it because sooner or later I'll be running one or two VMs).
user avatar
us flag
@sudodus If the host OS has better power management/fan management (or just more efficient drivers in general) then it can run the hardware cooler, and can potentially run with less thermal throttling. Such a situation could be seen as having higher performance than just running the virtualized system directly on the bare hardware. It can also potentially expose virtualized/generic interfaces to hardware if the guest doesn't have drivers for it, which may also provide performance benefits over just running the guest OS directly.
Score:7
sa flag

The purpose of Intel VT is to improve the performance of virtual machines. Intel VT CPU virtualization features enable faithful abstraction of the full prowess of an Intel CPU to a virtual machine (VM). All software in the VM can run without any performance or compatibility hit, as if it was running natively on a dedicated CPU Intel , however for gaming you generally need DirectX from Wine or Proton which defeats the purpose of running Windows in a VM just to play games. Quora unless your are running VMware Workstation which supports DirectX 11 and earlier. DirectX support in VirtualBox is currently 8/9 which is OK for older games.

Enabling Intel VT in the BIOS doesn't have any performance effects on dual booting Windows and Linux except in virtual machines.

za flag
(I then wonder:) why do OEMs consider shipping a BIOS with Intel VT disabled?
karel avatar
sa flag
@KeeleyHoek The purpose of Intel VT is to improve the performance of virtual machines, There's no reason to enable Intel VT in an operating system that has no virtual machine application installed.
mckenzm avatar
in flag
@Keeley Hoek and actively recommend keeping it disabled? I wonder if it helps those AV solutions that claim visualisation of some components?
SaveUkraine-StartPeaceTalk avatar
cn flag
@mckenzm probably, not an expert :P
Peter Cordes avatar
fr flag
@KeeleyHoek: One reason to disable it in firmware if you're not using it is to prevent malware from using it to install itself as a hypervisor outside your OS, hiding it from any virus detection that could be done by programs running under the OS. Other than that, no particular downside to having it available if you don't actually use it; saves a reboot if you ever do want to set up a VM, for any reason, like to play with another OS without rebooting, or for an Android emulator or whatever.
ali HOZA avatar
ua flag
OK, but in following video it is claimed that virtualization will improve gaming performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjpTdh5LsUk
karel avatar
sa flag
@aliHOZA Your comment is correct. According to the YouTube video author's comments he is using Gameloop 7.1 Android emulator. Better known as Tencent Gaming Buddy before, Gameloop is the same emulator with more features and offering a couple of phone games on PC. If you already use Gameloop on your system you can turn Virtualization on for Gameloop to increase performance.
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