Which chipsets support VT-d?

[cholsen]

Hi!

I would like to set up a Linux machine, being able to run Windows via Xen in parallel to play some games. According to http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/XenFaq 7.3 the usage of 3D graphics in DomU is not possible. But point 3 of section 7.3 says that IOMMU would enable this feature. Since VT-d is Intel's equivalent to IOMMU, I would like to buy a mainboard supporting this technology.

Now it is hard to point out which chipsets support VT-d. The appropriate VT-d doc of Xen ( http://lxr.xensource.com/lxr/source/docs/misc/vtd.txt ) only references some sample mainboards and machines, these only seem to be such with Q35 chipset / vPro.
A vmware presentation ( http://communities.vmware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/download/702997-1574/NE-VMUG%20-%20Intel%20Pres%20-%20071907%20-%20p%20King%20-%20revised.pdf Slide 15) says, that Seaburg and Bearlake chipsets would support VT-d - but Bearlake would not only include Q35, but also P35, X38, ...

So please could someone lighten up this a bit?

[Steven_T_Intel]

The chipsets supporting VT-d, are "Bearlake" and "Seaburg". To my knowledge the -B -G and -X refer to various supported SKU options available for the Bearlake, including cache and cpu cores (ex. dual vs quad).

Bearlake and Seaburg are north bridges in the platform, they handle the DMA remapping capability within the chipset (see the VT-d public specifcation etc.). The suffix is more about the SKU fusing than the fundamental chipset capabilities.

Enabling the chipset in BIOS does not guarantee the kernel/OS/VMM is properly configured/compiled to support it.

Xen 3.2 final (released last week) has support for VT-d and tboot (trusted boot).

[volatilevoid]

Dear MADsathomse,

thank you for your reply. I am also interested in the VT-d technology. Anyhow I must admit the question was not really cleared up for me. From your post I get the message that all Bearlake and Seaburg chipsets will support VT-d. Nevertheless this document http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/datashts/316966.htm, page 33 does not say so. It reads "Intel VT-d is only supported by the Intel Q35 Express
chipset." which would exclude the Q33, G33 and P35 based platforms. Could you please clarify your statements a bit?

Thank you in advance.

[vivek_kapadia]

Are these chipsets available in market? Can I buy a server with vt-d capability today?

Thanks,

Vivek.

[Radhakrish_H_Intel]

Xeon 5400 (DP) or Xeon 3200/3210 (UP)based chipset have VT-d technology. VT-d requires BIOS enabling. Please check with the OEMs offering servers and WS based on Xeon 5400 or Xeon 3200/3210 chipsets if they have the VT-d enabled in the BIOS.

[vivek_kapadia]

Thanks MADhradhakr, this is useful.

Vivek.

[mas912]

Hello, MAD.

What about Bearlake or Seaburg chipsets VT-d support?

[the8472]

I would also like a clarification on that one. The series 3 chipset specs state that only the Q35 supports VT-D. The X38 chipset specs contain the string "vt-d" in a chipset configuration table, so i guess someone just copy&pasted it in... or does the X38 support vt-d and people just forgot to mention it?

Some (external) news also state that Eaglelake will have vt-d support, but it'll only arrive 2008Q2

I'd specifically like to know whether the P35 supports vt-d, as it supports DDR3, as opposed to the Q35. It's frustrating that there are no good sources indicating this capability anywhere...

So, a comprehensive list of chipsets that do support vt-d and those that will be released in the near future would be nice.

[knowaboa]

I have been puzzled over this myself. Thanks for the help!

[Craig_W_Intel]

I asked this question recently for Intel Desktop Boards, and the answer I got back was:

VT-d is enabled on the following chipsets:

Intel Q35 GMCH with ICH9 DO (Bearlake chipset)

The following chipsets have VT-d capability, but OEMs may not have enabled in systems based on these:

Intel X38

Intel X48

VT-d will be enabled on these future products:

Intel Q45 (Eaglelake)

For Intel Desktop Boards, these have VT-d support enabled:

Intel DQ35JO

Intel DQ35MP

Intel DX38BT

Intel DX48BT2

These future Intel Desktop Boards will have VT-d support:

Intel DQ45CB

Intel DQ45EK

[razorblade]

Thanks for this great update!
Is there any information when Q45 or in this case the DQ45CB/DQ45CB will be on the market?

I caught some specs here indicating availability in 2Q2008, but from other sources I saw that Q45 will not be available before the second half of 2008, maybe even fall...

Except for the integrated graphics (X3100 vs X3500) and AMT capabilities (3.0 vs 5.0) what will be major differences between Q35 and Q45, especially when looking for virtualization (Xen) support?


Thanks,
Raz

[stoked]

I'd like some further info on VT-d as well. Most of the information on Intel's website is high level marketing speak. The only place I could find device specific information was this thread and the VT-d wiki on Xen's site. I looked at the Asus P5E-VM DO motherboard manual, and VT-d is specifically mentioned as a bios option. I would like to know if the upcoming P45 chipset will support VT-d as opposed to the Q45. Why doesn't Intel have a product matrix so that we can easily find chipsets that support VT-d? The authoritative source of this information shouldn't be coming from forum threads and wikis.

[jjrev]

Does any one know if the D5400XS (SkullTrail) board supports VT?

[bejam]

Sorry if this is a bit of a noob question but have been following this thread and now understand that the Q45 will have vt-d support and an X3500 graphics engine whereas the G45 will not have vt-d but will have an X3500HD graphics engine. The HD is important for me as part of a home media solution (but would still like vt-d). Does the vt-d support in the Q45 allow vt-d graphics mapping from a dedicated gfx card rather than through the onboard gfx?

Thanks

[razorblade]

@jjrev: According to mails in the XEN mailing list all 5400 boards support VT-d but again, it might be a matter of the BIOS. Is there any reference in (BIOS section of) the manual?

@bejam: In theory yes, however I'm not aware of any success yet. I saw people trying this with XEN, but PCI-e passthrough seems to lack some GFX optimizations so far. Another issue could be the closed source drivers from manufacturers like ATI and nVidia. (Praise Intel for their Open Source drivers!)


Best regards,
Razor

[martinjco]

I have a D5400XS board running the latest (0926) BIOS and it doesn't give an option to enable VT.

After contacting Intel support they informed me the board definitely supports VT, and I must not have the option because my CPU didn't support VT. They then included a hyperlink to a page on intel.com that showed my CPU was VT capable...

I find it difficult to believe that a combination of D5400XS and E5320 doesn't support VT properly. Anyone else having the same problem, or found a solution?

[jjrev]

I spoke with a SkullTrail BIOS engineer and was assured that a VT enabled BIOS is in the works for the D5400XS. No ETA though..

[martinjco]

I [perhaps naively] re-raised the call with Intel about this, and was told that although the E5320 does support VT, it's "not supported" on the D5400XS, and tha I should buy a CPU listed on http://processormatch.intel.com/CompDB/SearchResult.aspx?Boardname=d5400xs and all would be fine.

So, silly me, went and purchased a CPU from that list and guess what? It still doesn't offer VT support.

So one snotty email to Intel support later and 554.68 down, I'll listen to your advice and await a BIOS update that enables a feature that, according to Intel's own site, the motherboard already supports.

Grrrr.

[martinjco]

Well, I received an email from EMEA support saying v1140 of the BIOS supports VT. Upgraded and all is now working fine.

[aheinlein]

Sorry to raise this question again, but I need to know if the Intel Entry Server Board S3210SHLX (3210 chipset) supports VT-d. I asked the Reseller and they did not know. Does anyone know at least where to ask? I seem to get lost browsing around the Intel site.

[switch6343]

The only current server chipset which supports VT-d is the successor of the 5000p (server)chipset (by the codename Blackford), codenamed Seaburg or 5400 chipset (http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/5400/index.htm).

The Intel 5400 chipset is designed for systems based on the Intel processors Dual Core Intel Xeon Processor 5100 series, Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor 5300 series, Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor 5400 series, and Dual-Core Intel Xeon Processor 5200 series

So, watch out, there is an Intel 5400 series chipset (aka Seaburg) AND there is a Intel Xeon Processor 5400 series (aka Harpertown). Intel just wants to confuse us :-)

Here is a site with all the Intel Processors listed which support VT (VT-d is NOT specifically referred to!!):
http://compare.intel.com/pcc/default.aspx?familyid=5&culture=en-US&iid=products_xeon5000+body_compare

This link compares the 5000p server chipset (no VT support!) and the 5400 server chipset (with VT support):
http://compare.intel.com/pcc/showchart.aspx?mmID=24664,28047&familyID=9&culture=en-US

So, virtually all current Xeon processors support VT, but currently only one chipset (5400 aka Seaburg) support VT-d. It should be noted, that the BIOS also should allow it to enable VT. And even then, when all three conditions are met, there is no guarantee that it will work flawlessly.

The equivalent of the Seaburg (5400) server chipset for the desktop PCs is the Q35 chipset aka Bearlake-Q, with VT-d support. All other Bearlake variants in the 3-Series chipset do NOT support VT-d, as far as I know.

This is what I understand after I dug into this. I may be wrong, so anyone who can amend my above deliberations, please do so.

To respond to your question: no I don't think your server board with 3210 chipset supports VT-d.