GPU Recommendation (for VM passthrough)

[ajgringo619]

I'm almost ready to get rid of my dual-boot - got my HDMI switch (no room to put a dedicated 2nd monitor), QEMU is up and running. What I need now is to get another GPU. I currently have an Nvidia GeForce GTX 960; so far this card does everything that I want/need in Windows 10, but I'm sure there are better options. It also runs great under Mint 19.1 XFCE.

I guess I have a couple of choices:
1) Take the plunge and buy a gaming GPU and pass it to the Windows VM, or
2) Get a cheap card and pass the 960 to Windows

Any recommendations are much appreciated.

[powerhouse]

If you current GPU does everything you need, keep it and don't upgrade. It should be easy to pass it through to the VM. I'm using a GTX 970 and it works fine.

Graphics cards are still ridiculously expensive. If you decide to upgrade, I'd consider Nvidia as my experience has been better with Nvidia and its drivers. That said, Nvidia doesn't deserve a recommendation since they try to restrict virtualization to their expensive Quadro cards. Qemu / kvm has a workaround for that, so technically it's a non-issue.

Edit: If you have a CPU with integrated graphics, you can use that for the host. If you need powerful graphics for Linux, consider a Linux virtual gaming machine.

[NevyNeverKnowsBest]

If you current GPU does everything you need, keep it and don't upgrade. It should be easy to pass it through to the VM. I'm using a GTX 970 and it works fine.

Graphics cards are still ridiculously expensive. If you decide to upgrade, I'd consider Nvidia as my experience has been better with Nvidia and its drivers. That said, Nvidia doesn't deserve a recommendation since they try to restrict virtualization to their expensive Quadro cards. Qemu / kvm has a workaround for that, so technically it's a non-issue.

Edit: If you have a CPU with integrated graphics, you can use that for the host. If you need powerful graphics for Linux, consider a Linux virtual gaming machine.

powerhouse says exactly what I was thinking, I couldn't have said it better myself. I certainly hope your VM pass-through experience is better than mine. The last time I tried, it was just one hurdle after another. The only reason I wanted the passthrough was for a virtual gaming machine running Windows. However, I eventually returned to dual booting since I was using Windows to begin with.

[ajgringo619]

Thanks to both of you. Due to many factors, I decided to just dual-boot until I can afford to really upgrade my system. It's an inherited machine, with most of the parts 4+ years old.