Ya it's going to be very hard to efficiently run a V.M. with a 3.2 Ghz i5 with no hyper threading. If it is not too late I suggest getting the i5 6600k as it is only a few dollars more and much much for worth the money. It is very very easy to overclock to 4.5 Ghz at around 1.3v which would be a form of future proofing your 1,200$ PC because there will come a time very soon that running some programs are going to somewhat hindered by the 6500's low clock speeds. Not only that but games as well. Also another thing you can do to free up some money is return the Windows 10 because for one you should be able to upgrade from 7 and if not you can get a one machine Windows 10 key from places like g2a.com for around 20-30 dollars. Only reason to pay over 100 is if you're planning on using your key on multiple machines. Seriously g2a is under 30$ for a valid key. I've purchased 10 different games now from that site and registered 8 of them with steam and 2 with origin. That will free up money for the i5 6600k. Theres really no point in having the z170 chipset on a 6500 IMO. And to the others who have posted, I think the point of him wanting Linux is he does not want to be forced to use Windows all the time. He wants the freedom of Linux which usually comes with a tool to install a dual boot. Another reason not to pay 100$ for Windows to and future proof your system with a chip that will give you literally 30 percent more performance for 30 dollars more.