is vGPU necessary for hardware 3D acceleration in VirtualBox

[user18081972]

is vGPU necessary for hardware 3D acceleration in VirtualBox?
Also, do i need to check 'Enable 3D acceleration' for it to work? Because when i check it, it always reverts back to VBoxVGA.

I'm just trying to play some Win98 games with 3D acceleration with a RTX 3080.

[JHRobotics]

Hello,

yes you need it. Please switch guest type to Windows 10 (to use VBoxSVGA) or Linux (to use VMSVGA) - there isn't real difference, but VirtualBox switching automaticaly GPU type base on guest type regardless of the user's opinion.

[user18081972]

Thanks.
OK well enabling vGPU on my 3080 feels a bit risky, because i cant figure out the exact model i have. I really really dont want to brick it.

No where did i find instructions telling me i need vGPU, or set the vm guest type to Windows 10 to use VBoxSVGA. Either im blind or naive, or adding those instructions somewhere would be nice.

[Torinde]

I don't think you can brick something (hardware wise) on the host by doing anything in the Virtual machine.

Also, you don't need to know the exact type of host GPU - see the installation instructions.

[user18081972]

I don't think you can brick something (hardware wise) on the host by doing anything in the Virtual machine.

My gpu doesnt have vGPU enabled by default. As far as i can figure out by researching online, to enable it, you need to patch the GPUs firmware, which i imagine can brick the GPU. The install instructions you link dont explain how to enable vGPU on a GPU.

[Torinde]

I don't think SoftGPU uses "vGPU" (paravirtualization). Just follow the instructions and report back when/if there is a problem.

[user18081972]

I don't think SoftGPU uses "vGPU" (paravirtualization).

The project maintainer told me in the reply that it does need vGPU. #93 (comment)

[ride2x4]

He meant that you need to enable "Enable 3D Acceleration" checkbox.
In this case "vGPU" is a virtual software GPU emulated by VirtualBox within the guest environment. It can emulate VBoxVGA, VBoxSVGA or VMSVGA video cards (vGPUs), to put it simple.
No hardware modifications (including BIOS patching) are needed for vGPU to work. All you need is a more or less modern PC (assuming you have an RTX 3080- it is more than enough) with VirtualBox or other software hypervisor installed. All the actions you do, you do within the VirtualBox environment, and they don't affect either your host operating system or your real hardware. So there are no chances to brick anything.
The typical settings for Virtual Box include:

1. A virtual machine created with "Windows 10 32bit" or "Other Linux 32bit" OS type selected.
2. "Enable 3D Acceleration" checkbox enabled with VBoxSVGA or VMSVGA controller selected
3. AC97 audio codec selected in the audio settings on the virtual machine.
4. Then you install Windows 98 SE and SoftGPU according to the readme provided in the repository.

[JHRobotics]

Sorry to confuse you. @Torinde and @ride2x4 has right. I’m using “vGPU” for virtual video card in virtual machine – and because this is a bit tough work, I tend to write about these technology problems, but it can be confusing to users. In user point of view in really only mean “tick enable 3D acceleration checkbox”. Please don’t do any firmware or hardware modifications!

Problem of course is that “Virtual GPU” currently have 2 meanings:

Virtual GPU = paravirtual GPU = video card in virtual machine but without emulation of some real hardware. It is primary optimized for fast and universal interpretation on host. Doesn’t require specific hardware = SoftGPU is using this.

NVIDIA virtual GPU = Intel GVT-g = allow split GPU to multiple instances, mainly for GPU computation usage. NOT used by SoftGPU (and without support in VirtualBox, VMWare Workstation and QEMU on Windows). Special HW and SW required.