Can I use XenServer GPU Pass-Through without XenDesktop?

Question

XenServer documentation only covers using GPU Pass-Through ("vGPU") to run XenDesktop's "HDX 3D Pro Graphics." XenServer GPU Pass-Through cannot be used with the XenCenter VNC console and it does not appear to accelerate apps over Remote Desktop.

So is there some way to use GPU Pass-Through to run 3D apps without XenDesktop?

(My use case: I will be setting up 2 Windows 7 Enterprise VMs that 2 users need to run old specialized 3D applications on. I am fairly certain the apps use direct3d instead of opengl. My backup plan is to use ESXi 5.5 free edition with its software 3D rendering.)

Answer 1

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Yes, but only with some graphic cards.

GPU passthrough is finicky, and the CPU+chipset must support VT-d for GPU passthrough to work properly on Windows guests.

Have a read of the following discussion: https://web.archive.org/web/20140829074938/http://xenserver.org/discuss-virtualization/q-and-a/gpu-passtrough-the-2nd.html