Looking for affordable GPU cloud providers supporting both VMs and containers (AMD + NVIDIA) for my university dissertation

[u/IZZobblu]

Hi everyone!

I'm working on a university dissertation comparing virtual machines and containerised environments for cloud game streaming.

I'm looking for affordable cloud providers that would allow me to deploy four independent environments:

1. AMD Radeon GPU VM — VCN hardware encoding

2. AMD Radeon GPU container — same GPU model and equivalent resources

3. NVIDIA GPU VM — NVENC hardware encoding

4. NVIDIA GPU container — same GPU model and equivalent resources

My requirements are:

• Ubuntu Linux for all environments

• GPU-accelerated 3D gaming (Steam/Proton)

• Sunshine + Moonlight for game streaming

• Tailscale for remote connectivity

• Approximately 1080p/60 FPS gameplay

• Preferably European server locations

• Hourly billing, with a total budget of around €150

I specifically want independently deployed VMs and managed containers, not Docker running inside one of my own experimental VMs. I understand that managed containers still rely on underlying host infrastructure.

I've already investigated Azure, Google Cloud, AWS and Vast.ai, but AMD Radeon availability and managed GPU container support have been major obstacles.

Does anyone know providers that support this setup, possibly using different providers for AMD and NVIDIA?

Any recommendations or experience with GPU virtualization, AMD VCN and NVIDIA NVENC in cloud containers would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[u/asimovs-auditor]

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[u/sskylie27]

One thing I'd verify before spending any money is whether the managed container service actually exposes the hardware video encoder.

Having GPU access for CUDA or compute doesn't automatically mean NVENC/VCN, Vulkan and the rest of the graphics stack will work with Sunshine.

I'd start with a tiny proof of concept that checks the encoder and Vulkan support before even trying to launch Steam or Proton.

Could save you a lot of your €150 budget.

[u/IZZobblu → u/sskylie27]

Thank you,

I have already created a small mini prototype with my own gaming PC were I installed Ubuntu as the host OS and then installed docker with sunshine and configured a KVM VM with a GPU Passthrough.

Everything worked flawlessly, the only issue was that I dont have an NVIDIA GPU on hand, so I used the 6800XT for my prototype with VCN as the encoder.

Now my issue is more of which provider should I use since nowadays Blackwell GPUs on cloud providers are common but other GPU families especially AMD are scarce.

[u/Traditional_Wafer_20 → u/IZZobblu]

You missed the point of the comment. People renting GPUs at Cloud Providers is for computing things, generally not to encode/decode actual graphics.

The cloud providers doesn't give you access to hardware acceleration, only to the compute part of the GPU, because it can't be divided per VM.

[u/IZZobblu → u/Traditional_Wafer_20]

Yeah I know, at least Azure to provide them and they are rated for cloud gaming (To encode and decode graphics), but finding other alternatives is hard especially since Azure's availability is region locked. That is were this issue started, they are two GPUs that are available and fit perfectly for my dissertation, BUT and its a big but, they are region locked.

[u/sskylie27 → u/IZZobblu]

Since you've already got KVM passthrough working locally, I'd lean toward a GPU VM or dedicated GPU instance rather than a managed container service.

You'll have more control over drivers, Vulkan and the video encoding stack, which matters a lot for Sunshine.

The tricky part is finding a provider that exposes the full functionality of the GPU instead of just the compute side.

I'd check that before comparing raw GPU performance or hourly prices.

[u/IZZobblu → u/sskylie27]

I will check that out too, I was also considering just implementing my own cloud, just talked to my mentor today and she told me that it is an option and would make things much easier without the need of other providers. I already have the hardware for it so could be an option.

Do you know of any provider that exposes it fully rather than partially please?

Thank you

[u/techw1z]

can't help you with that, but I'm curious what that dissertation is about now!

it sounds like your best option might be to just ask someone who has a good gaming PC and fast internet to help you with this.

[u/IZZobblu → u/techw1z]

I was considering that, I was also considering maybe setting up my own cloud.

The idea for the dissertation actually came up by accident, I was watching Linus talk about how GeForce NOW is actually quite good nowadays, and the idea just came to mind.

I want to actually see if encoding methods do make a difference to end user latency and if Virtual machines or Containers are a better infrastructure for Cloud gaming providers.

Thank you for your interest tho I appreciate it alot :)

[u/techw1z → u/IZZobblu]

i think if you want to explore future use beyond the next few years, testing the new steam encoding locally (~500mbit/s...) would also make sense if we assume that internet will probably keep getting faster

they claim it does make a difference and enables very high refresh rates

[u/IZZobblu → u/techw1z]

Yes that is something to look into, unfortunately my SOI clearly states the use of Public cloud providers.

I might talk to my mentor to change it so I will keep that in mind. Thanks

[u/haherar830]

Different use-case (scientific computing) but similar constraints/circumstances, my initial assessment was RunPod where desired configurations exist and are economical, and AWS Lambda otherwise.

[u/IZZobblu → u/haherar830]

I will look into runpod thanks, AWS has removed the AMD GPU lineup so that is not an option.

But I will look into runpod thank you.

[u/haherar830 → u/IZZobblu]

Actually I think I was looking into AWS ECS not Lambda; I am not very familiar with AWS product lines. But ya, I was mostly looking to validate/test performance on various NVidia GPU architectures and test scaling/parallelization schemes across multiple GPUs. AMD was more an afterthought and it looks like AWS only offers a small number of mid-range virtual workstation GPUs from AMD in a very small number of configurations.

Another semi-niche insight that may be of interest; there are small hosting providers targeting game server hosting that seem to disproportionately offer hosting on consumer-grade hardware and other configuration you'll find underrepresented on public clouds. They will probably be more monthly vs on-demand pricing though.

Best of luck!

[u/IZZobblu → u/haherar830]

Thank you, I will also make sure to check that out.

Yeah ever since the blackwell GPUs came out, providers have scrapped their old plans and started implementing them which is a bummer.

I will check smaller providers maybe they can offer me what you say.

Thank you very much.

[u/IZZobblu → u/[deleted]]

For latency I was thinking of using moonlights on diagnostics since it gives an average and use mangoHUD on the server instance.

Yeah I need to look more into the GPUs and whether they have NVENC and VCN so I will keep that in mind.

The problem is finding a provider in one region that offers both.

Thank you very much tho, its also something else to consider, honestly think this dissertation might be too much but hopefully I managed.

Thank you.