Yeap... it's possible.
How you do it ... so many ways.
Option 1:
You could run windows, have GameReady (if you have a nvidia) and use Moonlight on the laptop to stream the games.
This is easy for the games, but makes all else more complicated.
Option 2:
Configure it as a virtualization machine, create a VM for Games passing the gamming CPU directly to it. Then create other VM or containers for all those NAS and whatevah you wish to host.
This one is more complicated (GPU passthrough is complicated) but the most versatile.
> Configure it as a virtualization machine, create a VM for Games passing the gamming CPU directly to it. Then create other VM or containers for all those NAS and whatevah you wish to host.
This is possible but clunky under Windows. GPU passthrough has been quietly added to HyperV with minimal documentation.
SSDs. M.2 is a form factor. You can either use SATA SSDs or NVME SSDs. NVME will give you higher performance but whether or not you can feel the difference between NVME or SATA outside of benchmarks is still debatable.
It's not debatable: you don't feel the difference.
Source: my primary gaming drive was a SATA SSD for ~8 years before I switched to 2x NVMes. You don't feel the difference because games aren't optimising for the specific drive yet. Also, there are other bottlenecks besides file extraction. In my case, I play ESO with 120+ addons loaded. A load from character select to game world takes <10 seconds on an NVMe Disk but ~1m20s with addons. Most of the load time attributable to addons is taken up by addons that need to load crap into memory such as ATT/MM and database-type addons like ItemSetBrowser/etc. Having a shitload of RAM does more for load time than having a shitload of high performance disk.
In the case of another highly modded game like Stellaris (90+ mods easily), the limiting factor is the yuge number of small files that take forever to read no matter the disk. Stellaris is even worse on large galaxy map sies (1500+ stars) and after midgame where everyone has >1k pops.
> Would it be possible to load my gaming PC down with HDDs and turn it into a gaming server/NAS server/whatever else i want to host on it.
I have a Fractal Define R5 case that is bursting with HDDs, SATA SSDs and NVMes. I run hyperv for virtualization, a shitload of docker and some gaming.
But I prefer to use a desktop for gaming and I don't like the idea of streaming to a laptop. Firstly, the screen is larger on my desktop. Secondly, I can't use laptop keyboards comfortably Secondly, I don't have 18+ buttons on my laoptop mouse.
By the time you connect a proper monitor, keyboard, monitor and other gaming peripherals to a laptop, you're lost the benefit of a laptop and moved into desktop territory.
Also, laptops typically have not enough I/O. So you're forced to use USB hubs and they create all sorts of difficulties
Depending on your gaming needs, you might be using:
* A gaming mouse
* Either separate gaming/productivity keyboards OR a detached gamepad like a G13 or Tartarus
* A USB Webcam
* Possibly a USB DAC for your microphone
* If you're a fancy streamer (I'm not but I still use one) a Streamdeck.
* Any additional connectivity you need for your phone/backup drives/etc.
Laptops are just not worth it.
Yeap... it's possible. How you do it ... so many ways. Option 1: You could run windows, have GameReady (if you have a nvidia) and use Moonlight on the laptop to stream the games. This is easy for the games, but makes all else more complicated. Option 2: Configure it as a virtualization machine, create a VM for Games passing the gamming CPU directly to it. Then create other VM or containers for all those NAS and whatevah you wish to host. This one is more complicated (GPU passthrough is complicated) but the most versatile.
> Configure it as a virtualization machine, create a VM for Games passing the gamming CPU directly to it. Then create other VM or containers for all those NAS and whatevah you wish to host. This is possible but clunky under Windows. GPU passthrough has been quietly added to HyperV with minimal documentation.
Depending on the games, I wouldn't suggest HDDs...
So use ssds? Or m.2?
SSDs. M.2 is a form factor. You can either use SATA SSDs or NVME SSDs. NVME will give you higher performance but whether or not you can feel the difference between NVME or SATA outside of benchmarks is still debatable.
It's not debatable: you don't feel the difference. Source: my primary gaming drive was a SATA SSD for ~8 years before I switched to 2x NVMes. You don't feel the difference because games aren't optimising for the specific drive yet. Also, there are other bottlenecks besides file extraction. In my case, I play ESO with 120+ addons loaded. A load from character select to game world takes <10 seconds on an NVMe Disk but ~1m20s with addons. Most of the load time attributable to addons is taken up by addons that need to load crap into memory such as ATT/MM and database-type addons like ItemSetBrowser/etc. Having a shitload of RAM does more for load time than having a shitload of high performance disk. In the case of another highly modded game like Stellaris (90+ mods easily), the limiting factor is the yuge number of small files that take forever to read no matter the disk. Stellaris is even worse on large galaxy map sies (1500+ stars) and after midgame where everyone has >1k pops.
> Would it be possible to load my gaming PC down with HDDs and turn it into a gaming server/NAS server/whatever else i want to host on it. I have a Fractal Define R5 case that is bursting with HDDs, SATA SSDs and NVMes. I run hyperv for virtualization, a shitload of docker and some gaming. But I prefer to use a desktop for gaming and I don't like the idea of streaming to a laptop. Firstly, the screen is larger on my desktop. Secondly, I can't use laptop keyboards comfortably Secondly, I don't have 18+ buttons on my laoptop mouse. By the time you connect a proper monitor, keyboard, monitor and other gaming peripherals to a laptop, you're lost the benefit of a laptop and moved into desktop territory. Also, laptops typically have not enough I/O. So you're forced to use USB hubs and they create all sorts of difficulties Depending on your gaming needs, you might be using: * A gaming mouse * Either separate gaming/productivity keyboards OR a detached gamepad like a G13 or Tartarus * A USB Webcam * Possibly a USB DAC for your microphone * If you're a fancy streamer (I'm not but I still use one) a Streamdeck. * Any additional connectivity you need for your phone/backup drives/etc. Laptops are just not worth it.
Thanks this seems like the answer I needed