Gaming VM host: hardware requirements
A VM with GPU passthrough for gaming on the homelab server.
Hardware tiers
| Tier | CPU | RAM | Storage | GPU | VRAM | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum sensible | 6 cores | 16 GB | 1 TB (ssd) | dedicated | 6 GB VRAM | 1 GbE |
| Recommended | 8 cores | 32 GB | 2 TB (ssd) | dedicated | 8 GB VRAM | 1 GbE |
| Comfortable | 16 cores | 64 GB | 4 TB (ssd) | dedicated | 12 GB VRAM | 2.5 GbE |
| Overkill | 26 cores | 103 GB | 8 TB (ssd) | dedicated | 12 GB VRAM | 2.5 GbE |
- Minimum sensible: The smallest build that genuinely works — tight, focused, no fluff.
- Recommended: The sweet spot: handles the service plus the usual side-services.
- Comfortable: Real headroom — this service will never be the bottleneck.
- Overkill: More than you will ever use for this service alone — spend the money elsewhere.
Beyond Comfortable — 16 cores, 64 GB RAM, 4 TB: headroom you will never use for this service alone.
Size it exactly
Pick your stream/play resolution — VRAM scales with pixels.
You need about 12 GB of VRAM for this.
Frequently asked questions
How much RAM does Gaming VM host need?
16 GB is the sensible minimum, 32 GB covers most real setups, and 64 GB gives comfortable headroom.
How many CPU cores does Gaming VM host need?
6 cores are the minimum, 8 cores the sweet spot, and 16 cores comfortable when shared with other services.
Can I run several services on one machine?
Yes — most services share resources. Use the planner and select several services; the engine sums and overlaps the requirements instead of stacking them.
What if I already have hardware?
Register it in My hardware and the analysis shows exactly which services your current system can comfortably run — including an honest “do nothing”.