Does NVMe SSD help if I want to run virtual machines under Windows 10?

[modeonoff]

Hello, If I install Mac OS or Windows 7 as virtual machines under Windows 10, does it help if I install Windows 10 on a Samsung 960 EVO NVMe SSD rather than on a 860 Evo SATA III SSD? Will I see noticeable performance gain? I have 64GB on my machine. I may get a 500GB or 1TB SSD. Thanks

 

[USAFRet]

Hello, If I install Mac OS or Windows 7 as virtual machines under Windows 10, does it help if I install Windows 10 on a Samsung 960 EVO NVMe SSD rather than on a 860 Evo SATA III SSD? Will I see noticeable performance gain? I have 64GB on my machine. I may get a 500GB or 1TB SSD. Thanks

I defy anyone to tell the difference in such a blind test between those two configs..
VM running on a NVMe or SATA SSD.

Also, anyone reading this has no idea of the rest of your system config.
What motherboard and CPU, for instance.
Don't answer...but those are two other considerations.

I have VM's running on both an internal SATA III SSD, and across the LAN, living in my NAS box. Can't really tell the difference.

 

[modeonoff]

Sorry my mistake. System config: 8700K, 64GB 3200C14 Trident Z, ASUS Prime Z370-A.

 

[USAFRet]

You want your OS on whatever drive is fastest.
With that level system, an NVMe drive.

Where the VM's live is of secondary consideration. Unless you have known, specific considerations that state otherwise.

 

[modeonoff]

Thanks. If that is the case, I should put the host Windows 10 OS and the virtual Windows 7 as well as Mac OS in the 1TB NVMe SSD. For running such virtual machines, is the Samsung 960 EVO NVMe SSD or the 960 PRO NVMe SSD better?

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks. If that is the case, I should put the host Windows 10 OS and the virtual Windows 7 as well as Mac OS in the 1TB NVMe SSD. For running such virtual machines, is the Samsung 960 EVO NVMe SSD or the 960 PRO NVMe SSD better?

What are you using these VM's for?
960 EVO vs 960 Pro is probably not any real difference.

But the cool things about drives...you can add/change/move as your needs change.

My current system started with a 120GB low grade SSD + a couple of HDD's, back in 2012.
Today, it is all SSD (5 drives), and all the spinning drives live in or are attached to the NAS box.

 

[modeonoff]

Thanks. So get whichever is less expensive.

VM of Windows7: In case some old software are not compatible with Windows 10.
VM of Mac OS: Retiring my Mac that has triple boots. Not satisfied with current Apple hardware. As a long term Mac user, I got lots of software and files under Mac OS. Need a real Hackinotsh of VM of Mac OS. Probably it is more complicated to get Hackintosh working.

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks. So get whichever is less expensive.

VM of Windows7: In case some old software are not compatible with Windows 10.
VM of Mac OS: Retiring my Mac that has triple boots. Not satisfied with current Apple hardware. As a long term Mac user, I got lots of software and files under Mac OS. Need a real Hackinotsh of VM of Mac OS. Probably it is more complicated to get Hackintosh working.

For just random guest OS use....it does not need to live on an NVMe drive.
Or even an SSD for that matter. Any drive will work.

Now...if you were hosting a database server on that VM, with thousands of hits per minute....then the NVMe would make a difference.

 

[modeonoff]

Thanks. So get whichever is less expensive.

VM of Windows7: In case some old software are not compatible with Windows 10.
VM of Mac OS: Retiring my Mac that has triple boots. Not satisfied with current Apple hardware. As a long term Mac user, I got lots of software and files under Mac OS. Need a real Hackinotsh of VM of Mac OS. Probably it is more complicated to get Hackintosh working.

For just random guest OS use....it does not need to live on an NVMe drive.
Or even an SSD for that matter. Any drive will work.

What about the host OS then? Will installing it on NVMe rather than on a SATA III SSD improves the performance of running the virtual machine?
Now...if you were hosting a database server on that VM, with thousands of hits per minute....then the NVMe would make a difference.

 

[USAFRet]

What about the host OS then? Will installing it on NVMe rather than on a SATA III SSD improves the performance of running the virtual machine?

In the reasonably high end system you propose...yes, the OS and your applications should be installed on an NVMe drive.
The VM action is simply extra stuff.
The OS being on the NVMe will not change the performance of a VM living on a regular SSD, or even an HDD.

I'm pretty sure we've gone over this before.

 

[modeonoff]

Thank you very much for your expert advice.

 

[modeonoff]

If I set up a virtual machine (be it Windows 7 or Mac OS) that will contain 500GB storage, how many storage space will it take from the real physical SSD that stores Windows 10 and the virtualization program?

 

[USAFRet]

If I set up a virtual machine (be it Windows 7 or Mac OS) that will contain 500GB storage, how many storage space will it take from the real physical SSD that stores Windows 10 and the virtualization program?

It will consume 500GB, on whatever drive you have the VHD on.

 

[modeonoff]

Thanks

 

[USAFRet]

I use Oracle VirtualBox.
Several VM's, of varying OS's. Win 10, Server 2012 and 2016, various Linux flavors.

1 or 2 VM's live on one of my SSD's. The other VM's live in the NAS box connected to the network.
All controlled from the same VirtualBox client.