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Yes. Proxmox VE can run a router such as OPNsense in a virtual machine alongside a gaming VM and other services. The catch is that the desktop becomes shared infrastructure: a hardware failure can take down your internet access as well as your games, storage, and applications, and the workloads still compete for the same physical resources.
How can one desktop handle a router and other systems?
Proxmox VE is a virtualization platform: it can run full virtual machines (VMs) with KVM and lightweight Linux containers (LXC). A VM has its own guest operating system; a container shares the host’s Linux kernel. That lets one physical machine run separate systems for networking, gaming, storage, and smaller services.
In Bryan Cockfield’s June 11, 2025 Hackaday case study, an aging desktop became a Proxmox host. It had a ninth-generation Intel Core i7 with eight physical cores, 32 GB of RAM initially, and two onboard network interfaces. Cockfield ran OPNsense as a router VM, alongside other VMs and containers. This is one person’s build, not a tested minimum specification or a guarantee that a different desktop will work the same way.
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The case study used one physical interface for the OPNsense VM’s connection to the modem. The other stayed with Proxmox and connected to a virtual network bridge. VMs, containers, and physical devices on the local network could communicate through that bridge. This arrangement depends on giving the router VM a reliable path to both the internet-facing connection and the LAN.
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Proxmox’s hardware requirements recommend redundant gigabit network interfaces, but the right number and speed depend on your network and design. If your desktop does not have suitable interfaces for the intended connections, an additional network card may be an option; the case-study machine already had two, and the cited sources do not validate a particular card or chipset.
Can the same machine run a game?
It can, if the hardware supports the required passthrough and the game runs in a VM. Cockfield passed a Radeon graphics card and USB peripherals to a gaming guest, while the host used integrated Intel graphics. A passed-through device is reserved for that guest while assigned, rather than being available to Proxmox or another VM at the same time.
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PCI(e) passthrough requires CPU support for Intel VT-d or AMD-Vi, according to Proxmox’s Hardware Requirements page (accessed October 4, 2026). The motherboard, firmware settings, and device grouping also matter, so support for the CPU feature alone does not guarantee a working GPU passthrough setup. Check the specific hardware combination and be prepared for configuration work.
Game compatibility is another separate question. Cockfield’s 2025 article warns that some kernel-level anti-cheat systems may refuse to run in a VM or could create account risks, and names Valorant, Fortnite, and Call of Duty. That warning does not establish the current policy or VM compatibility of any of those games. Check each publisher’s current guidance before risking an account.
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How should CPU and memory be allocated?
Virtualization allocates physical resources; it does not create more of them. In Cockfield’s configuration, four of the desktop’s eight physical cores were assigned to OPNsense, while a Debian VM was configured with six virtual CPUs at a lower CPU-units priority. Over-assignment can let lower-priority guests use capacity when it is available, but it does not turn an eight-core processor into a ten-core one. Heavy gaming and network traffic at the same time can still compete for CPU time.
Memory needs depend on the guests and services you run. Cockfield reported that ZFS memory use combined with file transfers caused guest out-of-memory problems in his setup. He limited the host’s ZFS memory and later increased physical RAM to 64 GB; that figure is specific to his experience, not a general requirement. Proxmox’s requirements page gives an approximate planning figure of 1 GB of memory per TB of storage for ZFS or Ceph, alongside the needs of the host and guests.
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What else can the host run?
Cockfield also ran a TrueNAS SCALE VM with two drives passed through and configured as a mirror. LXC containers hosted services including Pi-hole, Jelu, Navidrome, Vikunja, and ZoneMinder; separate VMs included Debian and Windows 10. These are examples of what he chose to consolidate, not components required for a router-and-gaming setup.
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Should you virtualize the router or keep it separate?
| Consideration | Router and gaming on one Proxmox host | Router on separate hardware |
|---|---|---|
| Host failure | A host outage can interrupt routing along with gaming, storage, and other hosted services. | A desktop failure need not take down the separate router; the router still has its own hardware and failure risks. |
| Network hardware | The desktop needs a suitable physical network layout for the modem-facing link and LAN. | The router has its own network interfaces; the desktop’s NIC layout is less central to routing. |
| Gaming hardware and compatibility | GPU passthrough may be needed, and VM compatibility depends on the game and its anti-cheat rules. | The gaming PC can run the game directly, without relying on GPU passthrough to a guest. |
| Performance | Router, game, and other guests share the host’s physical resources under load. | Router demand is handled on separate hardware, though each device remains limited by its own capacity. |
| Backup and recovery | Backups and a recovery plan must account for multiple services depending on one host. | Separating the router reduces the number of services tied to the desktop, but does not replace backups for desktop-hosted data. |
A combined host suits someone willing to configure and maintain virtualization and accept that a host outage can mean lost connectivity. A separate router is the more isolated choice when internet access must remain independent of the gaming desktop. The decision turns on acceptable downtime, hardware capability, game compatibility, and how much recovery work you are prepared to handle.
How do you protect against a host failure?
A backup stored only on a NAS VM running on the same host may be unreachable when that host fails. Cockfield scheduled weekly backups and recommends keeping another copy on a second computer or external drive. Proxmox Backup’s documentation describes separate backup storage; choose capacity and retention based on the data and recovery needs you actually have.
Before relying on the machine for networking, storage, or other important services, make sure you know how to restore the guests and their data if the host or its boot drive fails. A backup that has never been tested may not be enough to get services back when needed.
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What does Proxmox VE cost?
Proxmox says VE is licensed under GNU AGPLv3 and is free to download and use. Its subscription plans add support and repository benefits; Proxmox states that VE features are available at every subscription level. Current subscription terms can change, so consult Proxmox’s official pricing information for current details.
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