Qemu. host-passthrough emulation.

Qemu. host-passthrough emulation.

Host debian 12; guest windows;

What is the fastest option cpu emulation: application; hypervisor; neareast host cpu; host model; host passthrought;

For a Debian host running a Windows guest in QEMU/KVM, the fastest CPU emulation option would generally be:

host-passthrough

This setting directly exposes the host CPU's features to the guest, allowing the virtual machine to use the full capabilities of the underlying hardware. It provides the best performance because it minimizes emulation overhead and leverages the full instruction set of the host CPU.

Summary of Options

1. host-passthrough: Fastest option. Passes the entire host CPU features directly to the guest, maximizing performance and compatibility with applications that require advanced CPU instructions.

2. host model: Attempts to emulate a CPU model similar to the host, providing good compatibility but with a bit more overhead than host-passthrough.

3. nearest host CPU: Attempts to match the closest possible CPU model, but it's generally slower than host-passthrough or host model.

4. hypervisor: Abstracts the CPU capabilities more heavily, reducing performance but increasing portability across different host types.

5. application: This option is for use cases with strict compatibility needs, as it creates a more generic CPU model, usually resulting in the slowest performance.

Recommendation

For optimal performance with minimal emulation overhead, choose host-passthrough for your Windows guest. This configuration is especially beneficial for tasks requiring high CPU performance, such as gaming, development, or rendering.