To use a Hardware 3D renderer, ensure that graphics hardware is available. See Configuring 3D Graphics. If you update the virtual machine compatibility from ESXi 5.1 and later to ESXi 5.5 and later, reinstall VMware Tools to get the latest SVGA virtual graphics driver and Windows Display Driver Model driver. Aug 28, 2013 - With vSphere 5.5, Supported for Virtual Machine Hardware version is Version 10. As compared to previous version of vSphere to run more workloads. VSphere 6.0 – Download Free ESXi 6.0 License Keys.
I’m confused regarding GPU 3D acceleration in VMWare Workstation and ESXi, and looking for an explanation of how this actually works in what I'm trying to test.I have been testing a laptop build under Workstation and ESXi. For each setup, I create the VM, ghost the laptop image into the VM, configure the VM with VMware Converter, then start the VM. N.B The VM guest OS is Windows 7 Ultimate SP1.
ESXi 5.5
Host had an ATI FirePro 2450 GPU.
![Opengl Opengl](http://vinfrastructure.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/WebClient.png)
A specific application in the VM only displayed correctly if 3D acceleration was enabled in the VM settings.
Workstation 10
Host had an ATI FirePro 2450 GPU and its host OS was Windows 7 Pro SP1.
Even with 3D acceleration enabled in the VM settings and the latest VMware Tools 10.0.5 manually installed, the specific application didn’t display correctly.
Workstation 12.1
Host had an ATI FirePro 2450 GPU and its host OS was Windows 7 Pro SP1.
![Vmware esxi 6.0 Vmware esxi 6.0](/uploads/1/2/5/8/125864101/627515024.png)
This had VMware Tools 10.0.5 installed by default. This time the application displayed correctly when 3D acceleration was enabled in the VM settings.
I read Workstation 12 supports newer graphics APIs (DirectX 10 & OpenGl 3.3), and assumed for this reason the application now displays correctly.
I also assumed that any 3D video rendering is done via software, using the VMWare SVGA 3D driver and its emulated GPU.
However, I tried the same setup on a different host with a Nvidia Quadro FX 3800. Again the host OS OS was Windows 7 Pro SP1, and I ran Workstation 12.1. This time the application no longer displays correctly.
Running DXDiag on the both hosts shows DirectX11 and WDDM 1.1
Yet if I run DxDiag on the VMs, 3D acceleration is stated as not available on the VM which has the NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800 installed in its host.
My Queries
I know there are 4 types of GPU acceleration in VMWare: Soft 3D, vSGA, vGPU, vDGA. Are all 4 types available in VMware workstation and ESXi?
Is the default to use Soft 3D if nothing is configured to allow any advanced setup?
I assumed in Workstation, with the VMWare SVGA 3D graphics driver, any video rendering was via software & the VM CPU. Is this incorrect? Does the VM still use the hosts GPU, as there is no pass through of hardware. Does the ability for 3D acceleration still rely on the hosts GPU capabilities in my setup? As discovered when using a different GPU I had issues.
Any explanations of how 3D acceleration, especially in the VMWare workstation is actually achieved, and why its works in some setups and not the others, would be appreciated.
Thanks